It was the second week of February,1983. Very early one morning, my wife Hayden took a self-administered pregnancy test, and we learned that we were going to have our first child. For over a week, Hayden had been expecting this happy news, so, miraculously to me, she fell back to sleep. I was wide awake. I opened an old journal and recorded my thoughts. As I was cleaning out my office this week, I came across that journal for what I'm sure was the first time in 25 years. Her

With heartfelt thanks and photo credit to the Pinehurst Resort, the iconic Putter Boy statue with those great long shadows. He bought 5,800 acres of ravaged scrub pine forest in the Sandhills of North Carolina for a little over $1 an acre. Labelled a fool by the locals, James Walker Tufts, a Boston philanthropist and soda fountain inventor, had a vision. He wanted to create a resort where the middle class could come and recuperate from a range of ailments. The upper class, Tu

A fiery horse with the speed of light, a cloud of dust and a hearty ‘Hi-Yo Silver’… The Lone Ranger! With his faithful Indian companion, Tonto, the daring and resourceful masked rider of the plains led the fight for law and order in the early West. Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear. The Lone Ranger rides again. Yep, we had the Cisco Kid, Roy and Dale, and Hopalong Cassidy, but for me, there was only one...the masked man with a silver bullet, The Lone R

My oldest childhood friend is David Carter Christian, or “Chris” as he is still known by his sister Dale and me. Our moms worked together at the AAA of Maryland Insurance Agency, and we were eventually down the street neighbors. We lived at 302 Thackery Avenue in Catonsville and the Christians lived at 308. Chris is six months older than me and so I guess I don’t remember a day in my early life when Chris wasn’t there. When I was a toddler, my dad built a play enclosure in o

(republishing an oldie but goodie) The saying in our family is “Reverse is not Dad’s best gear.” To that I must plead guilty. I have backed cars into brick walls, posts protecting brick walls, trash cans, and my favorite, other cars. Of all my performances, my least favorite was backing my car filled with well-dressed family and friends into my daughter’s car that was innocently sitting in our driveway. ‘Twas Christmas Eve, on the way to church. I will never live that one dow

The Incomparable Sweet Emma Barrett in her prime, complete with jingle bells on her garters. I learned my love for jazz at the knee of my first cousin Erik. He was a clarinetist and played a little sax in his high school and college days and along with his buddies preferred traditional music to the mainstream sounds of the 50’s and 60’s. We would sit in his bedroom in Catonsville and listen to Benny Goodman, Jack Teagarden, and Pete Fountain records by the hour. We probab

Mirror self-portrait. It's my left ear if you care. When the good Lord put me together On that fateful day in June, He had parts that were left over. He'd delivered me too soon. A beautiful voice and bright blue eyes Were the options he included, With extra chins and bony shins And a head that became denuded. A face designed for radio, Rounded shoulders and big ears All came to define not quite divine As I travelled through the years. Oh what to do to become unique? And

Tredegar Town Clock on VE Day. Tredegar is a town in the Sirhowy Valley of South Wales, UK and the 19th Century ancestral home of the...

Beautiful Swimmers, a nonfiction book by William W. Warner won the 1977 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction. It is about Maryland’s...

I have reached the age where I am collecting fewer Face Book friends and more medical specialists. These are the “friends” who charge you...

If you’ve played the game, you know what I mean. “A good walk spoiled”. “There must be less expensive ways to drive yourself crazy”. “Let the self-loathing begin”. I first swung a hickory stick that had belonged to my Uncle Fred. Dad, who never played the game, bought me some yellow wiffle practice balls and I banged them around the back yard. But without opportunity or family encouragement, baseball, basketball, and touch football occupied my youth. In college, I took a swin

Through the mist of time. John Hayes Metzger and John Allan Constance on graduation day 1972 Many of my fondest memories of life were...

So long in coming; Its arrival delayed by Love. Careful, daily, precise, repetitive Love. Observed and followed by nervous trainees. ...

When I heard the news today of President Jimmy Carter’s passing, my first thought was that he wanted to exit the stage before January 20,...

In a continued effort to prove to my friend Susan Rountree that maybe I am Forest Gump, here is another tale of my intersection with rich and famous personalities of the 20th Century. This one involved a delightful afternoon surrounded by photographs of Glenn Close, Dina Merrill, Mar-a-Lago, countless famous Maryland racing horses, and Best-in-Show winners at the Westminster Kennel Club. Many of the photographs sat atop a full Steinway grand and the rest shared wall space wit

In the midst of the joyful anticipation on this crisp September afternoon, I don’t remember who first noticed, but word spread quickly....

Newly inaugurated President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Roslynn on their walk down Pennsylvania Avenue, 1977 President Jimmy Carter is a...

When you hear or see the word “anticipation” what’s your first thought? If you are of a certain age, it might be the 1971 hit record by...

Dr. Kevin Cherry, Vice President of the Richard Hampton Jenrette Foundation, former state historian of North Carolina, and this year's...

Routine is something that has eluded me in my retirement years. I felt badly about it until I realized that I had been rebelling against...