personal stories - Texas Outlaw Writers (Page 2)

Brave young women cast inspiring light on small town in wake of a bigot at the bar

"You never know when brave and passionate souls will step up to make it clear that small-town sensibilities won’t always stifle a call for at the least tolerance, and at the most justice and a full acknowledgment of civil rights."

personal stories

The Wounds of War

I did not want to live in Canada because it was colder than Michigan, but I figured it was much better than dying in the jungles of VietNam for no apparent reason. With my low draft number, I was certain to be inducted and sent to basic and on to Southeast Asia.

Texas Politics

Ann Richards and the Lost Eagle

The center of attention was a woman, the governor of the state of Texas, who had just released an American bald eagle from her leather-sheathed and extended arm. She'd made plans to raft Santa Elena Canyon with friends before returning to Austin. “Why don’t y’all come along?” She was speaking to us.

education

Back-to-School special

It’s amazing how little has changed from when I was in high school so long ago. We have cheerleaders and jocks. There’s a drill team, speech and debate, theatre, multiple choirs and an orchestra. There are kids in art classes doing interesting things.

personal stories

OK, I'm Moping. Just Go Away.

When interviewed for a job heading up radio news operations in Wyoming, an interviewer actually said, "I guess this will pretty much be your last broadcasting job, eh?" I like to think you don't have to send up smoke signals to get my attention, but in fact, it might require a mineshaft cave-in.

personal stories

Adventures of a Young Man: Starting Out in the West

“You need a tape. Nobody will hire you without a tape.” The DJ struck me as a leather-sandaled beer keg in a tie-dyed tee shirt, but he had a voice that suggested death coming round a curve...

personal stories

In the Belly of the Whale

That abandonment was the core of a grief I’d been trying to kill with alcohol for more than 30 years. Her leaving me stung more than her many other faults, such as attacking my father with a knife in my presence...

US History

What Does America Want?

"Bradley Freeman was a 19-year-old freshman at Mississippi State University in Starkville when he enlisted in the U.S. Army and became a paratrooper. He knew that America was worth fighting for. Freeman, who passed a day before July 4th, would be the last of the "Band of Brothers." "

Abortion

For Love of Mary-Brigid

I find myself in a conundrum due to several events in my life. In short, it isn't cut and dried for either side. But that choice is not mine to make, and certainly not to order for anyone else.

personal stories

You Can Go Home Again

I was ambivalent about going. But there is a lovely truth to a 50th high school reunion: no one has anything left to prove.

US History

Drinking with Doc Holliday

Doc was a man who did not need a myth. His life was equal to the epic expansion of the West and the rule of the gun when law was unavailable.

personal stories

Roads Not Taken

I attended our 20th class reunion, in 1992. I wanted to be treated as an accomplished successful person, but to them I was still just one of the guys.

personal stories

A Southern Sensibility

“Well, James, y’all made good time, then,” she said. “I don’t think you coulda made better time than that.” I swear I saw my father blush. No finer accolade might have been offered.

personal stories

On Grief and Loss

This is what we have. The sheer joy of just living. We might not feel it now. Or like those we know who were lost, maybe we never come to know it. But that joy is what we are given.

Writing

Writing and Being

I am compelled to write and express ideas and images and narratives. My friends always saw this as a job. I view it as a joy, though I’d like to earn a bit more in the process.

faith

On Death and Rebirth in Daily Life

"Tomorrow, or next week, I will be back in a rut but today I am risen."

personal stories

Cutting for Sign

"Ten children were taken by that storm and their bodies were found but the Guadalupe has yet to surrender even the slightest trace of John Bankston, Jr."

personal stories

The Story of Mama and Dr. Larry

This meme -- inspired by Herr Doktor-Professor Trump's hold over his flock -- and a discussion online about murderers or murder victims you have known got me to thinking again about this stray frond from my childhood memories.

Ukraine

The Wounds of War

I read the history of his division. I wanted to know what he saw and did - it might explain his emotional instability and brutality to his family. I refused to relent as the Mississippi night lowered and the crickets made their fractured music in the darkness.

personal stories

Hard Passages

Should you care about any of this? He was just living his life, trying to be successful, taking care of his family. Who takes the measure of our lives? Our families, usually, but the wider world, only a bit. None of us really matters I suppose unless we matter to someone else. Maybe that’s love.

education

Elementary, My Dear Myra

The pandemic rocked our worlds. But some good habits emerged. Are you reading more? It’s time to read again.

personal stories

In the Belly of the Whale: A down-on-his-luck wanderer searches for answers on the lonely coastline of the Golden Triangle

That abandonment was the core of a grief I’d been trying to kill with alcohol for more than 30 years. Her leaving me stung more than her many other faults, such as attacking my father with a knife in my presence...

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