The line that lingers

by David Benjamin “Vinnie and Hawk lounged in the theater lobby, blending in to the theatrical scene like two coyotes at a poultry festival.” —Robert B. Parker, Walking Shadow MADISON, Wis.—In my newspaper days, it was necessary, if I wanted coverage of high-school sports in my circulation range, to teach a kid from the high……

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It’s only a hypothesis

by David Benjamin “I love coffee, I love tea/ I love the java jive and it loves me/ Coffee and tea and the java and me/ A cup, a cup, a cup, a cup, a cup, boy … ” —Milton Drake & Ben Oakland MADISON, Wis.—“No coffee?” I cried. “What the hell do you mean,…

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Father might know best, but who cares?

by David Benjamin “We cannot get away from the fact that a child is hard-wired to bond with mom. They know her smell, they know her heartbeat, they know her voice. I just think, why should we deny that?” —Jenet Erickson, Institute for Family Studies MADISON, Wis.—I wasn’t interested in my mother. She pretty much…

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The aural imperative

by David Benjamin “ … You are an old man who thinks in terms of nations and peoples. There are no nations. There are no peoples. There are no Russians. There are no Arabs. There are no third worlds. There is no West. there is only one holistic system of systems, one vast and immane,……

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Faster than the speediest pedestrian

MADISON, Wis.—My worst bicycle crash happened when I was in sixth grade, coming down the hill from St. Mary’s School. The hill, pretty much the only one in town, was steep, wide and paved for speed. I wasn’t astride my bike, just perched on the left-side pedal, coasting toward Ninneman’s Funeral Home. My path was…

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