Category Archives: Viewpoint

Flying High with the Red-Headed Stranger

  By BOB VICKREY   Many years ago while boarding a crowded late-night flight leaving Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, I spotted a familiar face as I passed through the first class cabin. She averted my eye for a moment and then … Continue reading

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Revisiting My Own “Wonder Years” Moment

By BOB VICKREY   There was something undeniably compelling about the television show “The Wonder Years” that ran from the late 1980s into the early ‘90s. The show was set in a middle-class neighborhood against the turbulent backdrop of the … Continue reading

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Finding Novelty in the Lifestyle of our Town’s Jay Gatsby

By BOB VICKREY (aka NICK CARRAWAY) As I walked through our village center the other day, I couldn’t help but notice a distinguished-looking, well-dressed gentleman holding court on the patio at Hank’s restaurant on Swarthmore. I knew at once it … Continue reading

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VIEWPOINT: Councilman Mike Bonin’s Homeless Housing Plan Denies Children Opportunities

Councilman Mike Bonin, in his effort to aid the homeless including the mentally ill and those with substance abuse problems, is overlooking L.A.’s most vulnerable: the children. Will Rogers State Beach, particularly the area that Bonin has suggested being turned … Continue reading

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Searching for the Mysterious ‘Julie B.’ in Pacific Palisades

BY BOB VICKREY Special to Circling the News The letter writer began her tribute to her favorite author with these words: “I am someone who fell in love with Pat Conroy almost 30 years ago. It started with ‘The Prince … Continue reading

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Immigrant Mothers and the Legacy They Leave

Immigrant women come to this country for a better life and maybe even for the chance to dream. My great grandmother and grandfather moved to America from Bohemia, a country that no longer exists. They spoke no English, they had … Continue reading

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Viewpoint: Censorship Is a Dangerous Road to Follow

Who exactly should decide what can or cannot be posted on internet sites such as Facebook and YouTube? Do you go to college to become a censor? Do you take courses in how to determine what people should or should not see? … Continue reading

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Novelist Larry McMurtry Dies at Age 84

(Editor’s note: Larry Jeff McMurtry (June 3, 1936 – March 25, 2021) was an American novelist, essayist, bookseller and screenwriter whose work was predominantly set in either the Old West or Texas. Movies adapted from McMurtry’s works earned 34 Oscar … Continue reading

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VIEWPOINT: Living Life to the Fullest

Emily Dickenson wrote in a poem: “Because I Could Not Stop for Death, “He kindly stopped for me— “The Carriage held but just Ourselves and Immortality.” Somehow, we have forgotten that the end game of life is always death. Or … Continue reading

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Viewpoint: Myths Presented in Economic Research

(Editor’s note: A reader sent the following article that was printed on December 30 in the Economic Institute for Economic Research “The Year in Which Comforting Myths Were Ravaged,” and asked for my comments. I’m sharing the piece, because I … Continue reading

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