I woke up early a few days ago and my first thought was All the Light We Cannot See.    As I’m sure many of you know, that is the title of a wildly successful book written by Anthony Doerr in 2014 for which he won the Pulitzer Prize.  It’s a heart-wrenching tale of a blind […]

On April 29 at the Ostrich Farm restaurant in Los Angeles, the 2018 recipients of the USC Department of English Jimmy Gauntt Memorial Award, aka the Jimmy, were celebrated by faculty members, Jimmy’s family and two of his closest friends.   Congratulations!   We are so very proud of you. Here is a link to […]

I remember reading a story back in August of 2016 about Cincinnati Reds’ relief pitcher, Michael Lorenzen, and his magical evening at the plate.  I made a note to myself to share it.   Better late than never.    The You Tube video that was made about that moment so beautifully captures this wonderful father-son […]

Introduction I began writing a story several years ago and put it up on Write Me Something Beautiful in 2012.   I jotted down the guts of it, McKenzie’s Field-Ole Ole Olson Free, back in 1992. I remember being home sick with the flu or something and reflecting on my years growing up in Itasca, Illinois, […]

THE ZEN DIARIES OF GARRY SHANDLING- A film by and tribute from his good friend and mentee Judd Apatow. Hilary and I watched this two-part documentary on HBO last week.  I encourage you to give it a look.  Garry Shandling, who died of a heart attack at age 66 in 2016, was a brilliant comedian, […]

My wife Hilary came across this very powerful video in Oprah Magazine of Billy Bob Thornton talking about the enormous impact the death of his younger brother, Jimmy Don, has had on his life.  This is short-only about 2 minutes. I’ve Never Been The Same Mr. Thornton’s sage words of advice, particularly these, ring very […]