“I can’t remember if we said goodbye.” That line from Emmylou Harris’s cover of “Goodbye” always gets me, and did again this morning, coffee in hand before the sun cleared the piney woods. It’s a simple lyric, almost plain-spoken, but it carries an unexpected weight. The kind that comes not from tragedy, but from uncertaintyContinueContinue reading “Most Novembers I Break Down and Cry”
Category Archives: Stories & Sound
December 4: ‘On Fairy Stories’ Turns 76
Stories shape worlds, worlds shape stories. And sometimes, a story about stories can change how we see both. On Fairy Stories (1947) The essay got a fresh face in 2008. A lecture becomes a touchstone, a scholarly reflection on imagination, myth, and meaning. On December 4, 1947, J. R. R. Tolkien’s essay On Fairy Stories was published in EssaysContinueContinue reading “December 4: ‘On Fairy Stories’ Turns 76”
The Hobbit That First Opened My Door to Middle-earth — Celebrating the 48-Year Legacy of Rankin/Bass’ Hobbit
I met Bilbo Baggins when I was thirteen years old, standing in the hallway of DeRidder Junior High. The library door carried a poster that stopped me in my tracks. A curious, round fellow stood in his front doorway, pipe in hand, sending smoke rings lazily into the air. The art looked like watercolor washedContinueContinue reading “The Hobbit That First Opened My Door to Middle-earth — Celebrating the 48-Year Legacy of Rankin/Bass’ Hobbit”
Early Waters: First Pages of ‘The Gales of November’
When I was writing a commemorative post about the anniversary of the Edmund Fitzgerald, I stumbled across a new book on the subject. That put me in a bit of a quandary: since retiring, I’ve been trying to downsize my personal library from four six-foot bookcases to two. Ouch! If you’re a bookworm, you knowContinueContinue reading “Early Waters: First Pages of ‘The Gales of November’”
Walking the Enterprise: How a Video Rekindled Childhood Wonder
GEEK WARNING: PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT REQUIRED. Nostalgia levels may spike without warning, so proceed carefully.Hello, my name is Darrell… and yes, I’m a Trekkie. Always have been. Always will be. The Project That Stopped Me in My Tracks Every now and then, some corner of the internet taps you on the shoulder and says, “SitContinueContinue reading “Walking the Enterprise: How a Video Rekindled Childhood Wonder”
Veni. Vidi. Scripsi. 