Bitten by the blues
Monday night I dragged myself out of the house at 9 p.m., and went to the opening of Ocean Blues (well, it was a soft opening for media-types and friends I think; the actual opening was on Tuesday night if I’ve got my facts straight). Ocean Blues is a restaurant/bar/music venue on Hillview; I think […]
Where you won’t see me tomorrow night!
I’m doing a book-signing on August 16th at Bookstore 1 on Main Street in Sarasota, 6-8 pm I think. But the bookstore inadvertently listed me in the paper and on their website as doing the signing on August 2nd! So, just in CASE you were planning to swing by the bookstore to meet me or […]
Musings on a Park Bench
You’ve got to read this fantastic piece by Marguerite Jill Dye that ran in today’s Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Musings on a Park Bench.
Betting on firefighters the safest bet you’ll make tomorrow night in Osprey!
Want to know what your local firefighters are up to tomorrow night? Think Rat Pack, Vegas, and rolling the dice … it’s Casino Night for the Benevolent Fund! Read my piece in today’s Sarasota Herald-Tribune TICKET (page 30, I think) or click here to read it online: Gambling on firefighters a very safe bet.
Tribute to Pelican Press, Readers and a few words from Matt Walsh
For 40 years, the weekly Pelican Press newspaper has been a must-read for year-round key residents, tourists, and snowbirds alike. At its core, it was a Siesta Key paper, but with its robust reporting on city and county goings-on, it certainly enjoyed a sizable following off the island as well. Week in, week out, with […]
Unspoken truths … articulated by Christopher Hitchens
If you haven’t yet read Christopher Hitchens’ June essay in Vanity Fair … I can’t urge you enough to do so. I’ve been reading Hitch since I was just past knee-high to a grasshopper (give or take a few years) and his writing — his thinking — and most importantly, his feeling — are all […]
Dating do’s and don’ts
I could write a book on bad dates, dud dates, and my own many faux pas made on dates … there’s just a sampling of the many do’s and don’ts that can make or break a first date .. in my Sense and the City column in today’s Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
Pelican Press Sign-Off from Stan Zimmerman (guest commentary)
M.C., I want to thank you and your readers for your outpouring of concern about the fate of the Pelican Press and its stable of writers. An entire chorus of voices was silenced with one swoop of the axe. Only time will tell if this storied community newspaper will retain the affection of its readership […]
Bloodbath at Pelican Press … 18 names missing from new masthead
In addition to the firing of Stan Zimmerman which I reported on last week, the Observer Group has ousted nearly every writer associated with the Pelican Press. Looks like Paul Roat is gone; Diana Colson who did the Social Notes column — gone. Anne Johnson, who’d been a mainstay at the newspaper — as editor […]
Swimming at sunset
Tonight, like a dream. Swimming in the pool at the house I’m watching over for the summer … a man was out fishing in the low tide. He’d rowed up to the sandbar on a small kayak. He threw cast after cast but I never saw him catch anything. I swam. Under the wide open […]