by Dejustice Coleman, Sr. When I was a youngster, I was taught: “If you’ve nothing nice to say about another, then don’t say anything.” But over the years I have amended those teachings. Much has written about the late President Reagan, characterizing him as “father figure,” “humble boy from the Midwest,” “conscience of the ordinary […]
Archive | Telling Our Stories
Stories from our regular writers.
Eye Witness: A Short Tale of the Uninsured
Name Withheld What happens when an uninsured person needs minor medical treatment? If one lacks a “family” physician, what are his or her options? I am not indigent but I don’t have health insurance. Here’s my story.
Searching for a Stolen Car
by Peter Schmidtke The five hulking bags of groceries are in the trunk, and I’ve got twenty minutes before I have to clock in at work. Normally it wouldn’t be a problem, but this day finds me hunkered over the duct-taped steering column fighting with a screwdriver to get my rig fired up. Sure, the […]
My First Time at the Burning Man Festival
by Eric B. Griswold Like many people my first glimpse of Burning Man came from the now-famous 1996 article in Wired magazine. It seemed almost too good to be true– a counterculture utopia, a do-it-yourself city in the desert where thousands of visionaries came together to create an experiment in temporary community. A place with […]

Racial Change at St. Elizabeth’s
by Tom Tolan – Part 3 of 6 in a series In the early 1960s, St. Elizabeth’s Catholic Church — now St. Martin de Porres Catholic Church, at 128 W. Burleigh — was a relatively thriving parish, with a school attended by more than 1,000 children. Most parishioners were of German ancestry — many descended […]