Category: columns

    Sharon Vander Meer, the Optic’s genial general manager managed to gift the staff in the newsroom and composing room with […]

    In about 1954, when gas sold for 30 cents a gallon and a pack of cigarettes went for a quarter, […]

    About 12 years after the fact, a student ascribed to me an honor I would give my eye-teeth for. In […]

    When it became clear that a young reporter with the New York Times had fabricated stories, made up quotations and […]

    Julian Vigil, an instructor in English at Luna Community College, said the other day, “You NEED proofreaders at the Optic.”

     What may have started out as a game of “Let’s see what happens if. . .” could have had […]

    Eight days ago I opened a birthday package from my son Stan, from Seattle. The number 8 is significant because […]

If you’re able to associate the photo on this column with my visage, please tell me what you see. Do […]

In the 60-plus years I’ve known this city, I can attest to radical changes when it comes to growing up: […]

    Bank checks used to be free; you could help yourself to a pack of them at almost any bank. Each […]