Orrin Keepnews: Hero for America’s Music
Sean MurphyRevisiting a piece from exactly 10 years ago, celebrating an unjustly obscure, sadly under-appreciated hero for American Culture. March 20, 2015 Orrin Keepnews frequently talked about jazz the way war…
Gene Hackman, The Bone Marrow of American Artistry
Once upon a time when I was sixteen I had the great good fortune to be driving my father's car when the alternator died (making it, at least initially, my…
The Problem with the Homeless Problem
i. A question. Who was he? I think the same question each time I see him (once a week, sometimes more often): the same man in the same spot, holding the same…
On This Day, 1979
Chicago police disperse crowd in center field of Chicago's White Sox Park after hundreds of disco records were blown up between games of a double-header between the White Sox and…
Introducing THIS KIND OF MAN
"She didn’t understand how men could do those things. What things? he asked, and she said, The things men do. Then he nodded. Oh, he said, those things." —Tim O’Brien, The…
Introducing “Kinds of Blue”
I am delighted to share that my third poetry collection, Kinds of Blue, is now available! Why Did I Write This Book?My work is as political as ever, but I seldom write…
2/26/12: A Poem for Trayvon Martin
On this day in History: On February 26, 2012, Trayvon Martin, an African American teen walking home from a trip to a convenience store, is fatally shot by George Zimmerman, a…