July 4th In The Willie Way

Click here to read my essay about the legendary Willie Nelson Fourth of July Picnic in the June 29 edition of The New York Times. A slightly abbreviated version ran Monday, July 2, in the Austin American-Statesmen.

Remembering Hank Aaron, Scorning Barry Bonds

My first baseball memory is of watching the Braves with my grandfather and following Hank Aaron's record-breaking campaign. As Barry Bonds nears his record, I recount those days in an essay published in June in my hometown newswpaper, The Cedartown (Ga.) Standard and the nearby Rome (Ga.) News-Tribune. Click here to get a PDF of the editorial page from the Rome paper that included it, or click here to read the text of the essay posted on my web site.

A Lake Where a River Once Flowed

Click here to read my article from the May 25 edition of The New York Times about Lake Oconee's history and its booming home market.

CrossRoads Essay: Ignatius Reilly and his Polish Compatriot

In the 2006 issue of CrossRoads: A Southern Culture Annual published by Mercer University Press, I have an essay comparing the infamous protagonist from John Kennedy Toole's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel A Confederacy of Dunces with Joey Kowalski, the equally eccentric character in Witold Gombrowicz's novel Ferdydurke. It is not published online, but more information about the book is available here.

Hillbillies in...New Jersey?

Click here to read a March 2006 column from The New York Times about a dubious team nickname.

Poker Night, Panhandling and Good Luck in Newark

Click here to read a column from The New York Times from August 2005 about a fortuitous encounter in downtown Newark preceding poker night.