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Columnists

BOB BROWN: Lost and Found

All of us encounter loss. The meaning we attribute to loss influences our response to it. Our losses accumulate. They range from minor to unimaginable. Last week, two sets of...

FRED FIRST: Where You’re From

In the very early years of writing, I was exposed to a poem called “Where...

ROBERT L. MARONIC: I No Longer Watch Baltimore Orioles’ Baseball Games

I no longer watch Baltimore Orioles’ baseball games. I now only watch innings, and if I...

ANDY PITZER: “Look Mom! No iPhone!”

A very interesting visually recorded interview showed up on my feed the other night. In...

FRED FIRST: There And Back Again

RECAP: I would be able to visit southwest Virginia again–home for almost 40 years, and...

New Generations Change the Face of Churches Over Time

Last month I took you on a journey back to an era 50 years ago, taking a look at church life in the...

Never Heard of FAFSA? Just Wait!

Greetings friends!  If you are the parents of a college bound junior in high school, seek shelter immediately, for a storm is creeping...

The Happy Chef: Mother’s Day Strawberry Pound Cake

Years ago, when my children were toddlers, my husband would give me the day off on Mother’s Day and I could do whatever...

Do You Ever Feel Invisible?

Do you ever feel invisible? Ann Masters was a well-known and much beloved woman in the Roanoke Valley.  After beginning her career as a...

An April Walk Along A Creek and Back Through Time

I have hiked Rock Castle Creek trail a few times since we moved back to Virginia in 1997, but not in April—not until...

My One Moment of Praise

Whenever Louie leaned into the ball, all his 240# transmitted to his bat. But he never learned to get “under” the ball, to...