• Feature

    Feb. 13, 1990: The Story of Tiny and Valera

    February 14, 2018 - By 

    In the late summer of 1989, I had an idea to approach the University of Central Florida’s student newspaper, “The Future,” about writing a weekly column. I wrote the first one and very humbly submitted it in person to the editor, Scott Altman. Without much fanfare, it was accepted, and so it went for the next fifteen months. Ultimately, many positive experiences grew from these efforts. One esteemed instructor made much of my work and was instrumental in me winning a Scripps-Howard Foundation Fellowship for the column. Thank you, Keith Fowles.

  • Feature

    Let’s keep the world beautiful

    February 10, 2013 - By 

    We are very proud to be joining 10,000 like-minded friends in Washington, D.C., next Sunday (“President’s Day” in America), to be part of a peaceful demonstration. Why? For me personally, I can say for sure that a key reason is the deep emotional connection that occurred in me when I watched the above ad, and another more famous one named “The Crying Indian,” as a young boy about 42 years ago. It requested of me that I help “Keep America beautiful,” and on some level, I have been trying to do that ever since. Now more than ever, we are…

  • Feature

    KXL ride ends, real fight begins

    February 19, 2012 - By 

    Photos of Tom Weis, president of Climate Crisis Solutions, on his journey to raise awareness of opposition to TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline project. Beginning Oct. 13, 2011, Weis rode his rocket trike from the Canadian border at Montana to Port Arthur, Texas, along the proposed path of the pipeline extension. The following letter from Tom Weis is being republished with the author’s permission.

  • Feature

    Please help stop the Keystone XL pipeline

    October 24, 2011 - By 

    Having recently learned about Canada’s tar-sand mining operations, I have found them to be a monumental man-made disaster. In Alberta, the depth and impact of this immoral business grows daily, expanding exponentially, with devastating consequences for the earth and its inhabitants; just some of us now, but eventually, everyone. Right now, the Keystone XL (KXL) pipeline venture is on a fast-track to approval in America, promising to bring crude from Canada’s oil sands to refineries on the Gulf of Mexico coast of Texas – at high risk to our air, water and other precious natural resources. Many people are unaware…

  • Feature

    Arc of the Poet, Part 12: Resistance

    July 23, 2011 - By 

    Arc of the Poet Part 1: Life Poetry Part 2: Tour de Force Part 3: True Love Part 4: Spinning Out Part 5: Wake-Up Call Part 6: Serious Dreams Part 7: Home Stretch Part 8: Feedback Part 9: Dear Departures Part 10: Good Poetry Part 11: Rewrites Part 12: Resistance Part 13: Fame and Fortune Part 14: Ramblings Part 15: Being In the spring of 1995, I was trying to be many things to many people, and those wide attempts to stretch, please and succeed consumed so much energy that more than once, I was caught unprepared for the results.…

  • Feature

    Apr. 3, 1990: Paying Homage to April Fools

    April 3, 2009 - By 

    In the late summer of 1989, I had an idea to approach the University of Central Florida’s student newspaper, “The Future,” about writing a column. I wrote the first one and very humbly submitted it in person to the editor, Scott Altman. Without much fanfare, it was accepted, and so it went for the next fifteen months. Ultimately, many positive experiences grew from these efforts. One esteemed instructor made much of my work and was instrumental in my winning a Scripps-Howard Foundation Fellowship for the column that appeared July 25, 1990, under the headline, “Wishing for Chicago Life in the…