For much too long, we’ve been losing friends and colleagues at The Dallas Morning News. In my 19 years at one of the country’s most respected and once most robustly-staffed newspapers, we’ve had several layoffs and a couple of buyouts. We’ve had an unending exodus of talented journalists making the difficult choice to move on … More The pain of a newsroom’s loss, multiplied
The last time I saw John Reed – the sharp-dressed guy you see below right with his wife Lisa, my wife Kay and me – was almost 48 years ago. I was a 10-year-old sixth-grader at St. Matthew Lutheran School, on Main Street on the outskirts of downtown Houston. John and I had been classmates and … More One reunion of childhood friends in the books, a bigger one on the way at Minute Maid Park
In the late 1980s/early ’90s, Mike Sweeney and I were copy editing colleagues at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. He’d been working in News but was drafted in late 1987 to move to the Sports department at a time of need — coinciding with my being asked to move from the Features desk to Sports a few months … More In the words of the great Bob Dylan … and the great Mike Sweeney
She would hit us with a wooden meat tenderizer, a cutting board, her hands and shoes. Enraged and drunk on wine, she once drove a spiked heel into my right elbow as I reflexively flung up my arm to shield my face. She threw whatever was in her hands or within reach, like the canned … More Please Don’t, Mom
A few days late, but Game No. 1 of the 2019 MLB season for me to attend is in the books. And even though my beloved Astros are off to an unexpected 2-5 start, they managed to snag one Monday night. Our group included eight guys and one lady, and four of us (including the … More I’ll take a ballpark any day … especially when the Astros are playing
It’s always a thrill seeing someone you haven’t seen since you were teenagers. You get a chance to reminisce about the fun times you shared (if your memories allow), catch up on all the years (in this case, four decades), and see how much you’ve both changed while silently picturing what you looked like as … More It’s been a long time, Wes
Opening Day brought out the crazy in me, I guess. (Doesn’t it do that to all baseball nuts?) Decided at the last minute I’d wear my team colors to work today – although I did leave the Astros ballcap at home after the still-ill but beautiful Kay shot this photo in our Arlington backyard this … More Pulling out the Astros jersey and an awesome bat for Opening Day
Felt like 1979 to 1983 again during my weekend trek to Texas A&M, where I joined fellow alumni and current staff members of The Battalion newspaper to celebrate its 125 years as a font of bond- and experience-building for Aggie student journalists. (see what I did there? lol) I don’t get to hear howdys and … More Not the newsroom I remember, but the same dedicated Aggie journalists
Had a memorable night howdying, whooping and reminiscing with these great friends and over 300 other Aggies on Saturday night as we celebrated 125 years of The Battalion, Texas A&M’s student newspaper. We shared wonderful memories of our time together gaining experience that helped us become real journalists. The folks in the group photo were … More 125 years of Aggie journalism excellence at The Battalion
When I wrote the column you see below about the Houston Rockets – one of “my teams,” at least back then – for The Battalion at Texas A&M 38 years ago, I was a sophomore with delusions of becoming a big-time sports writer. That spring semester in 1981, I started writing for our daily student … More A trip back to Aggieland, and in time
