When I was a kid, I read a lot of comic books. My dad would say I was ruining my mind while drinking a quart of whiskey, with no sense of irony. Without asking why. In DC Comics, right always won. 19-page, full color, morality plays, which compensated for the lessons real life was not providing. My favorite hero was Green Lantern. Hal Jordan, born without fear. He had a magical ring, which shot green energy that manifested the wearer’s will. While recharging the r

Wi Citizens For Life, Anti-Abortion Protest, Madison, WI 1972 Welcome to in Qatar! I’m working for the Royal Family at The Doha Tribeca Film Festival. Today we’re at Shafallah Center for Persons with Disabilities – also funded by the royal family. The kids are watching The Amazing Spiderman while making superhero capes. What felt like an obligation has proven to be a joy. Shafallah has a 1:2 student/teacher ratio. Their pool adjusts depth, based on physical needs

Photo by Rachel Kintla, via FB December 28, 2012. My husband whisked me away for a romantic newlywed new year’s weekend at a pre-Airbnb BNB he found on a gay friendly website. Rustic. Beautiful. We were excited. 5 minutes into our stay, we heard the owner say something very biased. Anti-gay. This genius bought an inn near the Forestburg Playhouse, Sullivan County’s only professional Equity musical theater. It seems fair to call him or at least his views, homophobic. And stupi

We’re in a grand foyer. A Beverly Hillbillies staircase winds up to the house’s second level. Me and a bunch of the other kids are corralled past the Christmas tree, so we won’t have to tip-toe to see the big show. My cousin Mary-Esther the dance teacher steps forward. She’s wearing a red leotard, green skirt and a baby bump. Her hair is in a ballerina bun. “Welcome to the VFW Purple Heart Christmas Party!” Her assistant, my cousin Carl Otto, puts the needle down on a high-

Trick or treat is a binary choice. Binary choices are inevitable; but create division, leaving you in one camp or the other. Either or. Blue or Red. What I am against, decides what the world thinks I am for. My brother Butch is many things, including intellectually disabled. He just moved into a supervised home. Getting him approved for that level of benefits took years. Years , despite being the son of a military veteran left permanently disabled by a WWII

Family is like a supermarket bouquet. You’re happy to have it, but you suspect there are better ones out there. Daisies beside tired...

My mother is crying. Sobbing is hard to hide in a small house. Today, due to oxygen issues, a doctor’s mistake, my brother has...

Naughty, willful, childish disobedience, is usually a luxury. One in which I didn’t often participate. My family was too complicated to...

My latest column for the River Reporter.

School trip to France. Hooray! I took French for just that reason. Surely speaking French meant someday going where French was spoken. I...