Tag Archives: The Portland Sun

What E.E. Cummings teaches us about love and death

Earlier this summer, after riding my bike along the Greenbelt in South Portland, I pit stopped at Bug Light Park to take a break and watch the waves and kite flyers. There, at a nearby bench, a young man serenaded a beautiful redhead from an open book. The girl sat with one hand over her mouth, hiding a smile, […]

An immigration tale: Yiayia’s American dream

Last week, in my piece on soccer, I wrote about several immigrant boys playing a pick up game on Portland’s Western Prom. They probably came from the neighborhood surrounding nearby Howard C. Reiche Community School. Whenever walking my dogs that way, I wave and nod to families sitting out on their stoops in the cooler sunsets. They come from […]

How can Jurgen Klinsmann really improve the U.S. national men’s soccer team?

This week I was walking my dogs on the Western Prom in Portland and witnessed a rarity: a pickup soccer game. The 5 boys were in the 10-12 year range, and were playing a makeshift half-field contest, 2-on-2 with 1 goalie. As best I could tell, 3 boys were African and 2 Hispanic or Middle Eastern, […]

As the latest wars wind down, can we do better dealing with PTSD?

When I was a boy, there were times my father would break into a cold sweat for no apparent reason, and sit frozen in his recliner like death warmed over. Once, he flew into a rage over some minor infraction and started hitting my sister until my mother intervened. He retreated into his bedroom, sobbing like a baby […]

The Bergdahl matter finally is moving forward; now let’s wait and see

Last week, BDN editorial page editor and blogger extraordinaire Erin Rhoda told the interesting and poignant story of a World War II prisoner swap involving 152 American civilians, including the parents of Tyler H. Thompson of Hancock. In it, Ms. Rhoda made a reference to the more recent swap brokered by the White House of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl […]

On Father’s Day, let’s not forget granddads who mattered

My paternal grandfather George was one tough hombre. Armed with just a grade school education back in the old country, he lived his 92 years there with the energy of a teenager. Known to us by the affectionate Greek moniker of “Pappou,” he possessed drive and ambition that kept his eyes on the horizon, forever dreaming. A former editor of […]

Are northern New England states losing their brightest to the Sun Belt?

John was “a good New England boy,” as my mother said, and I met him a few years back while pumping gas in Cocoa Beach, Fla. This was just a several miles south of Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center, about 40 minutes east of Orlando, and a spit north of Patrick Air Force Base. OK, […]

Can we please finally reform the Electoral College?

Every four years, when I see this map above (or variations thereof), I’m dismayed. Regardless of who wins the presidency, just looking at the potpourri of red and blue for a year leading up to the November general election is tantamount to a national disgrace. It’s not that I’m at odds with the reasoning of the Founding Fathers […]

Memorial Day in myth and memory.

Long ago, in another lifetime, I was a soldier. It’s a noble profession, but in many ways, thankless. That’s not a pejorative, either: mostly appreciated in dangerous times, the soldier often is forsaken during peace and prosperity. We come to expect this, so perhaps that’s how it should be. My college roommate, Dominic Rocco Baragona, would […]