Thanksgiving: A list of reluctant thank yous
As I was walking into a White Castle recently, a young man around 19 years old and wearing a Cubs hat skipped ahead and held the door open for me....
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McGrath: Rationalizing animal cruelty
I was 9 when I trapped a footlong garter snake in a shoebox in the backyard of our Evergreen Park home. I tied a string around its head, hung it...
The pallbearers: Carrying the dead was an affirmation of life
We grew up carrying coffins. My family did not own a funeral parlor. Nor did we live in war-torn Iraq or Syria, nor in Dublin when “The Troubles” plagued Ireland....
McGrath: Columbus Day — Illinois still condescending to Native Americans
Columbus Day used to be my favorite holiday. As a student, I got an extra day off from school in early autumn, which was the ideal time of year to...
Column: Patriotism is not measured by our posture during the anthem
I cannot revere a flag. Respect, yes, but not reverence for a piece of cloth or plastic, dyed in multiple colors. Nor can I hold sacred a song written about...
McGrath: Whistleblowers in the workplace
If you know that one of your fellow workers is engaged in wrong-doing, should you report it? At age 18, I was hired by a greenhouse and landscaping business in...
Playing Russian roulette with Hurricane Irma
On Friday night, I entered the house from the garage. Marianne was in the kitchen filling a red and white gallon-size Coleman thermos with water from the tap. The grocery...
Column: My quest for fresh water
University of Chicago literature professor Norman Maclean capped his 1976 prizewinning novel, "A River Runs Through It," with the unforgettable sentence: "I am haunted by waters." Today, as Montana, North...
McGrath: Minnesota jury throws conceal-and-carry permit holders under the bus
I needed a gun. My wife and I and our three children had just moved to a two story farm house that stood alone across the street from a Cook...
McGrath: July Fourth takes on new meaning
With the federal government in the grip of multiple investigations that may challenge the foundations of our democracy, Independence Day is more meaningful than ever, and its commemoration more sorely...