This Side of Seven: Boys to Men Guys, repeat after me: “Honey, I know I watch way too much sports this time of year. So, I am willing to watch whatever YOU want to watch tonight and forget about Tuesday Night Football.” You love sports, you love your woman, and you love harmony.…
On July 8, 2022, I had lunch at a rooftop restaurant called Mallory’s with my friend, Mike Shumaker along the St. Croix River in Hudson, Wisconsin. Ten days later, I received word that Mike had died. The following is the eulogy I shared at his funeral service in our hometown of New Richmond, Wisconsin. …
Onzell Wright has a chair ready for anyone who wants to step back into time. More than 50 years after opening his first Little Rock shoeshine stand, Wright still has plenty of stories and wisdom to share with anyone willing to take a seat. For example, why has educating our youth become more difficult?…
It’s been nearly sixteen years since the Arkansas Razorbacks last defeated the Crimson Tide of Alabama in football. And it has now been sixteen years since we lost the voice that would have narrated that 24-23 double-overtime victory. All the excitement and anticipation of a new football season was steadily building in…
This Side of Seven: 30 Years, and Finally This spring, two former law enforcement officers met privately with Gov. Asa Hutchinson at his office inside the state Capitol. Both made the same request: Set Lowana Carroll free. They weren’t the first to make the request, and Hutchinson wasn’t the first governor to hear it.…
This Side of Seven: And The Winner Is … Anybody up for a road trip to Fargo? On June 25, the National Federation of Press Women will hold its annual communications conference in North Dakota. I’m invited because I was a part of a team effort at the Department of Human Services that…
This Side of Seven: Puppy Love “I’ve got a surprise.” Our 20-year-old daughter was coming home from Fayetteville with her boyfriend, and that is how she prefaced her arrival. I mean, there are certainly more alarming things she could have said. “I have something to tell you,” or, “We need to talk,” come…
This Side of Seven: The Test In school, tests are scheduled. You know what to study, you strive to understand the material, you know when you’ll be tested, and then you get the chance to show off (hopefully) how much you have learned. In life, tests are often pop quizzes. For example,…
This Side of Seven: Defying the Odds This spring, Dylan Johnston will graduate from Harding University. But unlike many of his classmates, he will enter the workforce with no college debt. He has paid for his car in full. And at the age of 22, he no longer pays rent; he pays a mortgage.…
This Side of Seven: There’s No Place Like Home My dad, Joel, had a side hustle long before there was such a term. As a teacher at the local tech college, he had his summers off. So he and another teacher, Dan Richter, decided to build homes. Starting in 1975, P&R Construction built…
