Checking for the year of the song “Dixie,” I came upon the remarkable fact that the original conceit of this minstrel song was that a freed slave is pining for the land of his birth and servitude. Huh? I always assumed it…

In August of 1992, my mother was diagnosed with a virulent lung cancer. By early December, it was clear that there wasn’t much time left. I was living in Naples, Italy. My parents were in Austin, Texas. I’d arranged to…

Last month we were in southern France and remarkably went to not a single wine tasting. However, we saw and climbed up to assorted castle/fortresses of the 12th C Cathar heretics, who so peeved the pope and king and adventure-loving…

Some years ago, Maurizio and I were on our way home to Italy from  the Greek island of Milos, It was late August, the season of high winds, the sort that plagued Odysseus and prompted Agamemnon to sacrifice his daughter,…

Sitting in a doctor’s office outside of Naples to discuss a stomach issue, I heard a man screaming wildly from the next room. My doctor explained: “He’s getting a gastroscope, a tube down the esophagus. It’s a bit fastidioso.” Now…

In the years I lived in Italy outside Naples, I witnessed two instances of a non-AMA-approved but low cost/high efficiency bedside tactic. First instance: I was coming home late from a meeting. As I mounted the stairs to our apartment,…