She handles through turns like a dancer with the spirit of a sports car and the mileage of a miser. Her flanks show dings from parking lot encounters, and her roof is a quilt of dents from hail and scratches … Read More
All in a Name
Last time I bought a Powerball ticket, the Rams hadn’t left LA yet. This time I bought one, like almost everybody. I knew my chances were infantesimal, but if you don’t buy a ticket… Turns out I was the victim … Read More
Rock On
Sunday evening. Pedaling my Schwinn Continental through downtown Columbia, I noticed something unusual, so I stopped to watch. Hundreds of tuxedos and gowns bedecking a bizarre bunch of freakers, wild daglo hairdos and stunning face jewelry. Twentysomethings and thirtysomethings, most … Read More
Kingdom Come
It was 10 p.m. when I reached Kingdom City. Fresh water filled a labyrinth of potholes in the parking lot of the Iron Skillet Truck Stop. The depositor, a monstrous thunderstorm, fled the scene, churning east down the highway, framing … Read More
Erifnus Caitnop
So I set out to feel every crack in Missouri’s pavement. As with all stories – and symphonies and carnal acts – it was an uneven ride. Although a dozen friends and a handful of reporters rode with me on … Read More
I drove all the roads
The map called out the names; I traced the stories. Every fold in the Ozarks, every bend in the rivers, every drive down the main drag in 700 towns reminded me that even as my map sets the stage, it … Read More
Book Club Gives Valentine to Governor’s Mansion
On this day, next to the ancient fireplace where generations of Missourians warmed their feet, the Tuesday Club’s gift to the old mansion drew every admiring eye. Over many decades, the needlepoint art that stretched across the old wooden … Read More
Speech at Governor’s Mansion
I never thought I’d utter these words, as I turned to Cheryl: “What do I wear to a tea?” She dressed me, and offered one command: “Don’t slouch.” At the event I stood before five dozen attendees in the Governor’s … Read More
The Genius of Clemson
Samuel Longhorn Clemson said it: “Our long national championship is over.” Well, it was a football fan, mistaking the ghost of Mark Twain, and replacing his real name with a footballized name, lamenting mighty Clemson’s defeat, and misquoting our most … Read More
A Tsunami with Joplin Winds
Scary spectre: “Stronger than Wilma, Katrina, Rita, Andrew. And it could become the strongest hurricane ever on the planet to make landfall when it hits tonight somewhere south of Puerto Vallarta.” Near its path, half a million people live or … Read More