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”
Tag Archives: Barker
No Kings
Public virtue cannot exist in a nation without private, and public virtue is the only foundation of republics. But virtue must be vigilant lest it become tyranny. -John Adams, Discourses on Davila This Saturday (10/18/25), Portland filled with 40,000 protesters. The “No Kings March” is meant to remind those in power that sovereignty belongs toContinue reading “No Kings”
The Barker Surname
My Uncle Tony recalled that his grandmother, Lucy Burr Wadhams, thought of her husband [Abram Barker] as a “Johnny-come-lately” without the deep historical connection to America (and Goshen specifically) of her lineage. My Uncle Tony mused that the family name was associated with a carnival barker, yet it seems more likely that the surname derived fromContinue reading “The Barker Surname”
Protective Arts 