Columnists
Reminiscing About Those Nob City Nights
Indiana has some great poets and songwriters. From James Whitcomb Riley to one of Noblesville’s favorite sons Steve Wariner, there’s no shortage of talent or writers. Let me be crystal clear, I am not in their league. Not by a long shot. But for those of you who grew up ‘round these parts and are…
Read MoreWhat’s So Funny About ‘Drinking Habits?’
Nancy Lafferty loves to laugh, and that’s why she likes “Drinking Habits.” Even the play title is a conversation starter, said Lafferty, who helped design a purple “Drinking Habits” souvenir shirt, another conversation starter, for The Belfry Theatre’s final production, opening Friday, in the theater’s 2021-22 regular season. Lafferty, who chose the comedy in 2019…
Read MoreDartown Road, Decoration Day and Day Camp
Time for another reader column! Remember Dartown Road, one of the “Roads to Nowhere” I wrote about in April? Mary Reynolds, who works at the Sheridan Historical Society, emailed that Jim Pickett, the former president of the society, said the road between 246th and 256th Streets that appears as “Dartown Road” on local maps was…
Read MoreThe Cat Who Came at Midnight
Lilian Jackson Braun was an American novelist, who was famous for writing cozy mysteries. Cozy mysteries are a sub-genre. Some readers like them, because all of the sex happens “off stage,” leaving a more comfortable reading experience. All of Ms. Braun’s bestselling stories have titles that begin “The Cat Who . . .” For example,…
Read MoreIndiana’s Mitch Envy
Shortly after the university announced last Friday he was stepping away from the job he truly loved for the past decade, Purdue President Mitch Daniels’s various text, email and phone inboxes began filling up. Hoosiers were urging Daniels to run for governor, for president, for mayor of Carmel or Indianapolis. When “Based in Lafayette” journalist…
Read MoreWhite Dresses
I’ve been under some stress lately. I’ve written a novel, and now I have to wait to find someone who thinks it’s worth publishing. (I happen to think it is, for the record.) So, while I wait, I get more and more nervous. I know all the standard advice for this, and I try to…
Read More2022 Ford Bronco Plants A Big Foot Despite Gas Prices
Could there be a vehicle more out of touch with our era of high fuel prices and emerging electric vehicles than the 2022 Ford Bronco Wildtrak Sasquatch edition? Well, maybe if you drove a Heavy Duty pickup for your daily city commute, but it’s simply ridiculous as it guzzles gallons of gasoline like they’re martinis…
Read MoreMaker Faire, Juneteenth, String-Time, Movies, Concerts, Plays and More
Flying Toasters concert tonight at Cool Creek Park, Strawberry Festival, Art Fair and Juneteenth are Saturday on the Courthouse Square with a Wayne-Fall Lions Club Rummage Sale on Saturday. Here, we offer our Times readers 25 things to do this weekend and beyond: 1. Bring your family to the Touch-a-Truck event, open 10 a.m. to…
Read MoreProfiling Purdue’s Indiana Football Hall of Fame Inductees, from M – Z
While researching part 2 of my series on Purdue football’s membership in the Indiana Football Hall of Fame, one trend stood out. Some of the state’s finest high school, college and professional football coaches had Boilermaker ties. A few, like Gordon Straley of West Lafayette, Pat McCaffrey of Lafayette Jeff and Bob Springer of Indianapolis…
Read MoreMeditation Repudiation
Mary Ellen and I just got back from a trip to visit my sister and brother. In my sister’s lovely condominium in Great Neck, New York, she has a little windowed room off her kitchen that’s no more than 6 by 8 feet. In that room she meditates every day, and she claims she has…
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