Photos Courtesy of Martin Griff / The Times   Hollywood launched Roots, a blockbuster mini-series that captured our hearts in illustrating the struggles of Negroes in pre-Civil War America.  With Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X at the helm of later struggles, history relates the diverse approaches used to achieve racial equality as […]

Perhaps nothing tells more about a culture than its art.  From paintings on cave walls carved by prehistoric tribes, representational art has evolved to chronicle historical events, fashion, religious and social mores, and political views.  When written language emerged, artists signed their work with pride.  They signed their paintings and chiseled their names onto sculptures […]

The legend of Santa Claus, the jolly fat man who visits good little children on Christmas Eve, has its basis in reality.  Saint Nicholas lived in the fourth century AD in the town of Myra in Asia Minor, now known as Turkey.  As a child, he grew up impoverished; later in life, he inherited wealth […]

A Great Trip to the Raptor Trust in Millington, New Jersey It’s good for the soul to remember that there are beings greater than us. But with the emotional junk that humans cart around, it can be difficult to latch onto that perspective.  A trip to the wondrous Raptor Trust in Millington, New Jersey (http://theraptortrust.org/) […]

As we ponder the origin of things, aside from “The Word,”* we sometimes wonder how the various States of the Union came by their names. When England decided to colonize America, noteworthy citizens received grants from the King, in order to develop what later came to be known as the United States of America. William […]

On March 17th, Irish Catholics around the world will celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.  Liturgical or non-liturgical, Irish or hailing from another culture, this is a day that everyone is wearing the green and celebrating.  But who, exactly, was St. Patrick? According to history, Patrick, whose Latin name was Patricus, entered the world as a Roman […]

In the 17th century, King Louis XIV of France elevated the humble pea by ordering it to be placed, en masse, on the dishes served at the parties in his most elegant palace.   Tasty snow peas were being developed in Holland at about the same time Louis’ guests were rolling them around on their plates […]

As we approach springtime, which heralds Easter, one date in February appears prominent on the Roman Catholic calendar.  That date is February 14th, known far and wide as Saint Valentine’s Day.  As the patron saint of love, youth, and happy marriages, we dedicate this day to those we love.  We honor them with bouquets of […]

Recently, I spotted an article listing the happiest States in which to live.  The article referred to States of the Union, not states of mind … although the two do seem inextricably intertwined.   Guess what?  According to that article, good old New Jersey was very close to the bottom of the list! As you may […]

“Listen, my children, and you will hear Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere.”   No doubt you have heard or read the opening lines of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s famous poem concerning one of our most colorful heroes of the Revolutionary War.  Equally high is the probability that you are not familiar with the entire […]