At Lane County’s Glenwood Central Receiving Station — better known as “the dump” — I callously toss the cardboard “Jason-Deena Wedding” sign into the paper recycling bin. Seconds later, seeing it lie forlornly amid the debris, I’m overcome with guilt. How could I? I almost feel compelled to dive into the bin and retrieve the sign we made nine years ago so guests could find my son and daughter-in-law’s wedding site. Ah, but I...
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A FEW YEARS AGO, Dave Frohnmayer and I were speaking at Northwest Christian University on the subject of leadership when he shared an adage with students that I’ve never forgotten. “Tell me,” he said, “and I’ll forget. Show me, I’ll remember. Involve me, and I’ll understand.” Now that he’s gone — he died March 9 from prostate cancer at 74 — I realize that that’s how Frohnmayer lived his life: Showing. Involving....
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EDITOR’S NOTE: When Cade Welch, our first grandson, was born in 2005, I began a ritual of writing a once-a-year letter to him in The Register-Guard — and later to his sister and cousins — come birthday time. Today, Cade turns 9. In his honor, here’s that first column. MAYBE YOU’VE experienced it: one of those “whoa” moments when you’re reminded that in the book of life, you’ve ventured far beyond the...
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Editor’s note: Since leaving The Register-Guard Dec. 6, 2013 I’ve had numerous requests from readers who missed my final column. Here it is: Column writing, it’s been said, is a little like running in front of a combine in a farmer’s field: exhilarating, exhausting and fun — until you trip just once. After 14 years as a columnist, 24 years at The Register-Guard and 37 years in the newspaper business, I’ve grown weary of...
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* I’m kidding, I’m kidding! The Great “At Last” Calamity of 2012 (In Which a Lifetime of Sailboat-Launching Problems Occurred in Three Weeks) Friday, May 25 At boat storage place to pick up my 85-year-old mother’s boat, “At Last,” realized trailer lights were not working. Used hand signals for the four-mile trip. While setting up mast, realized that the pulley mechanism for adjusting the back stay had vanished,...
Read MoreNote: I’m snowed so until the end of the year I’m running some stories from long ago. This column ran 10 years ago, Nov. 3, 2000, in The Register-Guard. NOVEMBER ARRIVES and I find myself musing over Shelley’s “Ode to the West Wind,” particularly the lines: O wild West Wind, thou breath of Autumn’s being, Thou, from whose unseen presence the leaves dead Are driven, like ghosts from an enchanter fleeing...
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