Frank Delaney, A Reminiscence

The author Frank Delaney has died. He suffered a stroke at his home in Connecticut on Tuesday, and he died on Wednesday. He was 74. Delaney was an occasional guest on Scott Simon’s Weekend Edition Saturday, and that was where I first encountered him. Fifteen-ish years ago — ah, I’ve looked, it was merely twelveContinue reading “Frank Delaney, A Reminiscence”

John Hurt, a Reminisence

In the mid-90s I bought an audiobook read by John Hurt. The book was Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I found the cassette one day at Big Lots, along with some others (Ian Fleming’s “The Living Daylights,” read by Anthony Valentine; Arthur Conan Doyle’s “The Adventure of theContinue reading “John Hurt, a Reminisence”

Harve Bennett: A Reminiscence

There is a generation for whom their Star Trek isn’t one of the television series. It’s the movies. Maroon jackets. Admiral Kirk. James Horner. “Of all the souls I have encountered…” Protomatter and Project Genesis. “My god, Bones, what have I done?” Humpback whales. “A double dumb-ass on you.” Born too late for the animatedContinue reading “Harve Bennett: A Reminiscence”

On the Death of a Friend

It was a strange weekend. A colleague of mine at the office, Lance Woods, did an autographing of his first novel, Heroic Park, at a bookstore about ten minutes from the house, so Saturday afternoon I drove up to Reisterstown. There was a nice group of people crowded into the bookstore, all people I knewContinue reading “On the Death of a Friend”

On Eulogizing a Man I Didn’t Know

Three years ago, I began taking the Baltimore mass transit system to work. There’s a subway station near my house, there’s a light rail stop two blocks from the office that I can see from my sixth floor office. Why drive the Baltimore Beltway, when I can use public transportation? Not only is it theContinue reading “On Eulogizing a Man I Didn’t Know”

On Glastonbury and Robert Byrd

First, fun. Matt Smith’s appearance at Glastonbury last night with Orbital as they performed the Doctor Who theme: I’ve seen other videos of this performance, but this one is, by far, the best quality. In other news, Robert Byrd, the senior Senator from West Virginia, passed away. The longest serving Senator in history — fifty-oneContinue reading “On Glastonbury and Robert Byrd”