The joy of shoveling
I sing the joy of snow shoveling. I rejoice in the movement of arms and back, legs and shoulders. I exult in the wonder of the cold white beauty. OK,...
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When the world starts afresh
The coming of the new year brings lots of parties. And it's a time when many people sit down and resolve to turn over a new leaf — be kinder,...
Review: ‘A Prayer Journal’ by Flannery O’Connor
There is something breathtaking in the hopes, dreams and faith of young Flannery O'Connor. What I am asking for is really very ridiculous. Oh, Lord, I am saying, at present...
Review: ‘The Wife of Jesus’ by Anthony Le Donne
Was Jesus breast-fed? That's a question that Anthony Le Donne asks near the end of his reasonable and provocative new book, "The Wife of Jesus: Ancient Texts and Modern Scandals....
Review: ‘One Summer’ by Bill Bryson
You probably had no idea that Al Jolson, the star of the first talkie movie, "The Jazz Singer," enjoyed urinating on people as a joke. Or that once, in the...
Perspective: Creaking up and down the court
I started playing basketball when I was 11 years old. That's more than half a century ago. I still play, twice a week, but, more and more there are times...
Hope, baseball and A-Rod
I took my first baseman's mitt to U.S. Cellular Field Monday night for the opening game of a three-game series between the White Sox and the Yankees. I probably should...
Skipping and twirling through life
I don't have any grandchildren yet, so I enjoy seeing little kids with their families in fast-food restaurants. The babies, of course, and the toddlers, and the 2-year-olds, and 3-year-olds....
Did Jesus have a wife?
Yes, yes, it may be a hoax of some sort. But I'm excited by the news that a small rectangular piece of papyrus, seemingly from the writings of early Christians,...
It wasn’t the Fort Dearborn Massacre
What happened two centuries ago on Aug. 15, 1812, on the Lake Michigan shore near what is now 18th Street has long been called the Fort Dearborn Massacre. But it...