It’s a Wonderful Life was my father’s favorite film, and now, years after his death, I see why: it honors the difficult grace of choosing a small life on purpose. George Bailey thinks he has forfeited greatness but the film quietly insists he has achieved it. Part of the movie’s power comes from James StewartContinue reading “It’s A Wonderful Life”
Category Archives: Family
Thanksgiving as Strategy
Because they were educated on the West Coast, my children were taught next to nothing about the original colonies beyond the reductionist claim that the Pilgrims were “colonizers,” a word now used less as description than as accusation.[1] They learned to dismiss the charming saccharine gloss of A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving with knowing irony, andContinue reading “Thanksgiving as Strategy”
The Discipline of Fear
All Hallows’ Eve was my friend Chris Adams’ favorite holiday. He loved its costume and horror that was the foundational décor of Halloween. He made annual pilgrimages to Salem, Massachusetts, drawn to its haunted history. He understood Halloween as America’s truest folk rite: a night when the nation remembers that it was founded on superstitionContinue reading “The Discipline of Fear”
Protective Arts 