November 25, 2010—-
She lived 7,000 steps beyond the truck stop.
The Midway truck stop was pretty much just as I left it about 10 years ago. The Midway is exactly 121 miles each way between Kansas City and St. Louis, which means it is no-way.
That’s why everything is going on at the Midway. There’s a general store stuck in ramshackle 1970s design filled with dusty bottles of Mountain Dew and souvenir wooden toothpick holders for $1.99. A 24-hour diner serves mashed potatoes drenched in gravy and green beans out of the can. There’s a tattoo parlor, a beauty shop and 85-room motel. The boot store has closed.
The country-western bar still plays [...]
Nov. 17, 2010—
I like to think I do my better writing in the twilight. The pace becomes slower, the voices are softer and the mystery of the dark sheds light on all kinds of possibilties. I bet that’s why my Dad stays up until midnight. He watches “The Late Show with David Letterman” before retreating to his computer room. There, he checks out the latest online sales for his grandson Jude and Googles medical remedies for my Mom.
My Dad turns 90 today.
That’s big news. I’ve known only one person over 90 and that was Studs Terkel. At tonight’s dinner I will again ask my Dad to what he has attributed his long life. He will lean back, smile and [...]
Nov. 11, 2010
The turns in life are why you stay on the road. No exit. Just bear down and dream about the next stop. Something better is waiting for you. Sometimes it is someone.
That’s what World Series MVP Edgar Renteria did. He’s in my Midwest League book “Cougars, Snappers and Loons (Oh My!) ” reminiscing about his days with the Kane County Cougars. Renteria was just 17 years old in 1993 when he was the Cougars starting shortstop. He was homesick for his native Colombia.
His host family Brian and Jane Mooberry of west suburban Elgin, Ill. met Renteria when he was fidgeting in the Cougars front office in Geneva. The team was trying to prevent him [...]
Let’s party with Jim Flora album art (shot in D. Hoekstra tiki bar)
Nov. 2, 2010—
While driving around with Playboy founder Hugh Hefner and his extended family during last week’s poignant hometown tour of Chicago, I mentioned the Oct. 24 passing of S. Neil Fujita to Hef.
Fujita (foo-JEE-ta), 89, was the graphic designer known for Miles Davis’ moody “Round About Midnight” album cover (photography by Marvin Koner) and the abstract design of Dave Brubeck’s “Time Out.” He also did the minmalist book cover for the Truman Capote classic “In Cold Blood.” I knew Hef is a jazz fan and who doesn’t love hot, stunning album art of the 1950s and 60s? Along with [...]
