What happens as we try to come to terms with our past is that we see our lives as a process of continual disenchantment. We long for the security provided by the comforting illusions of our youth. We remember the breathless infatuation of first love; we regret the complications imposed by our … [Read more...]
Lofty Days: Ode to a Childhood Friend
April 14, 2013 By 1 Comment
When I met him in 1946, Tommy Alden was a chubby third-grader with merry eyes, curly black hair, and a jovial intensity. He lived in a white house with green shutters on a poplar-shaded street in old Palo Alto. We grew up together a few blocks apart, waiting at the same bus stops for the same … [Read more...]
A State of Mind
January 22, 2013 By 7 Comments
The surrender of Japan and the assassination of President Kennedy, bracket an era variously known as Pax Americana, Good Times, the Best Years, Happy Days—the American High. It was a time of solid families, effective schools, and reliable careers, a time when government and institutions … [Read more...]
