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Columnists

BOB BROWN: “I Remember World War II”

On December 7, 1941, my sister, Edith, eight years my senior, and I were in Gray’s Drug Store, Hampton Boulevard, Norfolk, Virginia, a few miles from the U.S. Naval...

FRED FIRST: Go West At Last, Old Man

Decades of frugality have come abruptly to an end. I have made the choice to...

ROBERT L. MARONIC: Bring Back The War Department

President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave a prescient and heartfelt speech in Chautauqua, New York, on...

FRED FIRST: Changing of the Guard

The theme for the Lenoir Words Writers Group this month is AUTUMN. And since I...

BOB BROWN: The Truth About Lying

Everyone lies! That’s the truth. Most people are relatively honest most of the time. The average...

A Little Frustration Never Hurt Anybody

Should I do what I can to make my child happy?  It seems like a simple question and it is one that I...

Almost a Game Show Gazillionaire

Show of hands, how many of you would like to earn ,000 for one day of work?  Those of you who failed to...

A Natural Resource: Our Quiet Audiosphere

The matter comes not uncommonly into conversations: how might we sustain, in our corner of southwest Virginia, those  amenities and virtues that make...

Lucky to Live a Most Blessed Life

It is 9:30 in the morning. I look out the window at the counterpane of snow that fell throughout the night, at the...

“Please Don’t Pick That Flower!”

On my frequent “walk-abouts” with students in my biology and environmental studies courses, I set a couple of important rules for our hikes:...

When Suffering Clouds the Sun

It’s a bright time of year, and the beauty of the greater Roanoke Valley has opened to its full splendor. We are so...