PinnedTHE WOMAN IN THE MINEFIELDSFrom The Attic — for a kinder, cooler America Thousands march for peace, millions hope or pray. Peacemakers get busy. The landmine has been called “the perfect soldier: Ever courageous, never sleeps, never misses.” By the 1980s, some 100 million landmines lay buried and millions more sat in stockpiles. Long…Peace5 min read
PinnedTHE AUDACITY OF VIOLINSFROM The Attic — For a Kinder, Cooler America HARLEM — 2004 — It was “Showtime at the Apollo” and every act was on edge. Please the tough audience and you got applause, a chance to go further in the competition. Suck and you got booed off stage. …Black Lives Matter5 min read
May 10THE MAINE GIRL AND THE SOVIET PREMIERETHIS MONTH IN THE ATTIC: MEET THE PEACEMAKERS THE COLD WAR, NOVEMBER 1982 — The coldest winter loomed. Over protests across Europe, new missiles, Soviet and American, brought the world to the brink. With arms talks stalled, 50,000 nuclear weapons were on a hair trigger. …Peace6 min read
May 2MEET THE PEACEMAKERSFrom The Attic — for a Kinder, Cooler America “Blessed are the peacemakers” — Matthew 5:9 LOS ANGELES, FEBRUARY 1967 — The “living room war” was raging but the anti-war crowd was easy to dismiss. Bearded. Long haired. Burning draft cards. Then one afternoon at her son’s first birthday party, Barbara Avedon began to worry.Peace6 min read
Feb 16THE NEWS IN WHITE AND BLACKFrom The Attic — for a Kinder, Cooler America CHICAGO, FEBRUARY 1916 — On a frigid and windblown day, a small item appeared in a Chicago newspaper. Several hundred black families had quietly left Selma, Alabama, heading north. Their treatment in the South, one refugee told the paper, “doesn’t warrant…African American5 min read
Jan 4LINCOLN AND THE ‘MOBOCRATIC SPIRIT’From The Attic — for a kinder, cooler America ALTON, IL — 1837 — As darkness falls, as the river flows, hundreds of howling men, torches ablaze, surround a warehouse in this small town along the Mississippi. Inside sits their target — a printing press. This is not Elijah Lovejoy’s…January 6 20215 min read
Dec 13, 2021LEATHER SOULFrom The Attic — for a Kinder, Cooler America Leather is a soulful material. Once a living hide, it comes back to life in the hands of skilled craftsmen. Strong yet supple, it bends in a child’s hands but the strongest adult can’t tear it. Leather seems enduring, yet in…Black History5 min read
Nov 29, 2021TALKIN’ WITH TERKEL — THE MAN WHO HEARD AMERICAFrom The Attic — For a Kinder, Cooler America CHICAGO — 1966 — Rumpled and shopworn, the interviewer turned on his tape recorder. His subject was “just a housewife,” but she talked and talked about her life. When the interview was done, the kids asked for a playback. They laughed…Chicago5 min read
Nov 15, 2021HOW TO SPEAK AMERICAN — THE BASICSHOW TO SPEAK AMERICAN — THE BASICS From The Attic — for a Kinder, Cooler America PHILADELPHIA, 1781 — America was still fighting the Revolution when the American language took its first hit. The critic had solid street creds. John Witherspoon, president of Princeton, had served in the Continental Congress…Slang5 min read
Oct 25, 2021THE CHRYSLER BUILDING AND THE RACE TO THE SKYFROM THE ATTIC — FOR A KINDER, COOLER AMERICA MANHATTAN — APRIL 1913 — As dusk settles, thousands gather in City Hall Park. All are looking up, up, at the shadow of a spire stretching to the sky. The new Woolworth Building climbs to a crown, a bronze pyramid that…Chrysler Bilding5 min read
