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Not that Don McLean asked me, but I was born too late to “recall what was revealed the day the music died.” The terrorist plane crashes of September 11, 2001, though? Those I remember. And how they revealed the paired vulnerability and tenacity of a nation. In fact, on the 20th anniversary of the tragedy, I shared personal details of that day with my readers. And just like that, another five years’ worth of survivors, first responders and witnesses have passed away. Since the 20th anniv...

If you’re like me, the larger-than-life Dolly Parton has intersected numerous phases of your story. My awareness of Dolly goes back nearly 60 years. Nashville’s WSM-TV (now WSMV-TV) carried “The Porter Wagoner Show” (on which Dolly performed from 1967-1974) as part of its Saturday afternoon lineup of syndicated country music shows. (I was born a wee bit too late and too far to the west to see Dolly’s debut at age 10 on grocer Cas Walker’s Knoxville-area “Farm and Home Hour,” but I did shop at a...

Okay, maybe I’m approaching this from a position of privilege. One of my earliest memories is of tagging along to my mother’s former grammar school when she voted. Social Studies was one of my favorite elementary school classes. Mr. Lowry’s junior high Civics class taught us about polling, current events and debate skills. I made straight A’s when I minored in Political Science in college. So I’m a wee bit prejudiced when I applaud the arrival of the book “Restoring the City on a Hill: U.S....

National Newspaper Week (October 1-7) compels me to acknowledge my journalistic catastrophe of fifth grade. Based on my passion for reading Nashville’s two dailies, Miss Bunch handed me the plum assignment of launching a newspaper for our class. I joyously composed articles of my own and proofread the contributions of classmates. Alas, my mechanical ineptitude reared its ugly head and for the life of me, I couldn’t operate the mimeograph! So the project died without its first issue hitting the...

Could pocket change have persuaded Ferris Bueller to forego his day off? That’s what I wondered when I read about a bold experiment by Dohn Community High School in Cincinnati, Ohio. According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, this alternative school (serving mostly at-risk low-income and minority students) gives seniors a $25 Visa gift card each week they have perfect attendance, show up for class on time and stay out of trouble. Underclassmen receive a $10 gift card. The incentive program is f... Full story