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Columnists

FRED FIRST: Approaching the Longest Night

Yes, you’re right—if you’ve even noticed—that this space has been neglected for some weeks now, and it has been hard to figure out where and how to jump back...

A Life Well-Lived: Shirley Padgett Lester (1947-2025)

Shirley Padgett Lester of Vinton went to her heavenly reward October 4. Below is the...

BOB BROWN: How the White House Functioned With a Diminished Biden “Presidency”

Permit me to think out loud as an old-fashioned person who respects authority, history, and...

JOHNNY ROBINSON: The Gratitude Perch

On the old road up Mill Mountain, part of Roanoke’s fabulous greenway system, there’s a...

ROBERT L. MARONIC: Sometimes President Trump Needs To Think Before He Speaks – Part II

Contrary to what President Trump believes, I think that Lakanwal was adequately vetted before September 2021,...

Two Pets – Two Perspectives . . .

by Lucky Garvin He has no sense of being less than any other. He is tolerant and urbane; and though we have many animals...

Change Comes Fast To Religion Reporting

by Frances Stebbins A few weeks ago columnist Hayden Hollingsworth reflected on how medical education has changed since he was trained as a cardiologist years...

Recipe of the Week: Grilled Chipotle Orange Chicken Legs

by Leigh Sackett There is still plenty of summer weather left for grilling but the signs of the season’s end are all around us....

Time Rolls On . . . And Goodness Comes

by Joe Kennedy Four years ago, I prepared for my imminent retirement by doing what I'd always done: I panicked. My financial advisor assured me...

The Grand Old Men Of Medicine

by Lucky Garvin I attended a medical conference a while back, and was agreeably surprised to hear a younger physician speak of ‘bedside manner,’ and...

Hummingbirds: Pugnacious and Bejeweled Sun-Angels

by H. Bruce Rinker, Ph.D. Having recently returned from a two-week expedition into the rainforests and mountains of Peru, I have come back once...