In the early 1980s, in an English Department office space at The Ohio State University, then a graduate student, I met my future self. ...

It’s Oscar time, and, as usual, I’m ranking the ten films nominated for best picture. My rationale for this exercise is a teacher’s...

Illustration by Thomas E. A. Palof My father grew up poor and malnourished. He was the oldest child of Slovak immigrants, transplanted...

One the best choices I have made in recent years is the decision to regularly see a therapist. When the crazy begins to build up in me,...

Painting by my uncle, George Palof. I believe the subject is my grandfather, John Palof My maternal and paternal grandfathers were very...

This weekend brings the Daylight Savings Time change when we turn our clocks ahead and lose an hour. Many people will feel that they are...

Recently, on the news, I’ve been watching them -- the leaders of the January 6th insurrection making their way through the court system...

As a kid, I felt closest to my mom’s side of the family, and every summer brought the eager anticipation of spending a week at my...

When we arrived out west in the mid 1970s, we had little in the way of furniture, so when Marcia’s boss, Jan, said that she had bought a...

A few years back, I was looking through some old family photos, back when that meant prints rather than pictures on a screen, when I was...

This year will mark my fiftieth wedding anniversary. I can’t help but think of my parents because beside my bed is a photo of them...

Nineteen seventy-four was a record year for Detroit. With 715 killings, the city led the nation in homicides, earning it the designation...

The oldest child of Paul Palof and Josephine Palof, I turned five in the summer of 1955. Judging by my parents’ attitude toward me, I...

There are few experiences more delightful in life than departing Edmonds, Washington, on the ferry with the weather mild, the ferry...

“We weren’t broke!” Marcia objects to how I ended Part One. “We just needed to get used to being paid only once a month. Remember we had...

In the summer of 1975, I painted the word “Horace” on the side of our car. We named our vehicle after Horace Greeley because he had...

At risk of appearing to beat a dead horse, I will add my commentary to what has already been said about the Will Smith-Chris Rock...

My parents lived on a main thoroughfare – Ridge Road—between two side streets -- Hi View Drive and Julia Drive. Julia at that...

Starting in public high school in 1964, after the sheltered environment of a Catholic middle school, was difficult for me for many...

Having taught college students for four decades, I can tell you that getting them to read the so-called literary classics is not an easy...