Used car salesmen don’t have a good reputation. Jack Scheberies was a big exception. Friends told me that he and his brother, Jerry gave people the best deals on the most reliable used cars. I’d never heard of them, even though they were running the business their father started in 1942. Maybe it’s because they  »  Read More

Gene Autry is the only person to have five stars on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame. There’s one each for radio, records, film, television, and live theatrical performances. During his career, he appeared in 94 films and released 635 songs that sold over 100 million copies. There were over one hundred episodes of  »  Read More

There are, conservatively, 300 gazillion books published every year. No one has the time to list them, let alone read them or review them. That’s a problem because there’s a lot of value in many books you may not hear about because of the clutter.  “Short Takes” is my small effort to cut through  »  Read More

“Until the middle of the 19th century, Americans used the word vacation the way the English do, the time when teachers and students vacate the school premises and go off on their own.” Robert Siegel used those words in the introduction to an NPR show about vacations. We’re just coming off The Year of COVID. Last  »  Read More