My Great Aunt Mae was a mild-mannered firebrand, a woman who kowtowed to men while also dominating them, a self-made woman in sole charge of her own life at a time when doing so was viewed with deep suspicion. And she was one of my heroes. -- One of the people who forged my own … Continue reading Aunt Mae
The town of Mentone, Alabama, sits on the brow of Lookout Mountain overlooking a valley that runs northeast toward Chattanooga. It is an old tourist and honeymoon resort that once had a spectacular old hotel, which burned down several years ago. Jim, Glen, and I spent some time there yesterday looking at the old mountain top buildings … Continue reading Mentone, Alabama
On May 26, 1838, federal troops moved swiftly over this North Georgia land near present-day Calhoun. They went out hunting Cherokees with orders to bring them to a concentration camp in the same hills that were the Cherokee's ancestral lands. About 4,000 Cherokees would die as the U.S. Army force-marched them a thousand miles to … Continue reading Georgia’s Trail of Tears
Arthur Abernathy Miller built the DeSoto Falls dam for hydroelectric power in the mid-1920s. He had grand dreams. After buying up land around the falls on Lookout Mountain, Alabama, he and his partners began laying the groundwork for a park and resort area, while the generators would supply electricity to small valley towns below the … Continue reading The DeSoto Falls Dam
No historic place in the Big Bend and Tallahassee area has been more overlooked than this one. -- Prospect Bluff on the Apalachicola River was the site of one of the largest massacres of runaway slaves ever officially ordered by the government of the United States. It happened on July 27, 1816, at a strategic … Continue reading Florida’s Slaughter of Runaway Slaves
Today we all are remembering the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The first photo of the iron cross beams was taken in 2002 during a visit to New York, where I spoke to an international group on the subject of crisis communications. We toured the wrecked site of the World Trade Center, which still … Continue reading Remembering 9/11
I have the memory of an Asperger's child. Very detailed. Full of color, and taste, and smell. As if it happened just a moment ago. Fresh in my mind. Things that happened when I was four or five are vivid, clear to this day. Etched like art in permanent glass. And I remember her. -- … Continue reading The Perfume of Her Old Lagustrums
It was the day Elvis died. Forty-one years ago today. It was my first adult encounter with mass grief over the loss of a cultural icon. On August 16, 1977, I was a young summer intern at the Pensacola News Journal. That day I was working the copy desk around midafternoon. It was a simple job … Continue reading The Day Elvis Died
Waiting on the Runway in ATL, August 8, 2018 Haven't all of us been through it before? -- Stuck on the ground at the Atlanta airport. Nothing to do but play with Facebook. Delayed getting here. Delayed taking off again. Computer issues, and unexplained changes. Cranky passengers and frantic crews. Crying babies and loud old … Continue reading Atlanta Airport Blues
Haystack Rock is a basalt remnant of lava flows rising 235 feet above Cannon Beach, Oregon. It is one of the most recognizable images associated with the state and often has been used as a backdrop in movies. Its closeness to the shore means it forms tidal pools full of bright green algae and sea … Continue reading Haystack Rock, Oregon
Robert Craig Waters 