Mark's Blog

It wasn’t the first speech I heard, but was the first one I paid attention to.  I was 9 ½, home for lunch on January 20, 1961,  and watching television as President John F. Kennedy took the oath of office and then give his inaugural address.  My parents weren’t...

I didn’t know the story.  Most of us didn’t know the true story of 855 black women who served as the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion during World War II, dramatized in the recently released  film entitled “The Six Triple Eight”.  The well-trained battalion...

We lost Jimmy Carter yesterday, the most recent death of a long list of prominent Americans who died this past year.  The well-deserved tributes are flooding in from all the media platforms, and the gratitude being expressed his extraordinary service to humanity,...

Christmas is a mystery.  The holiday evolves from a story which, over the centuries, has often been overshadowed by endless commercial appeals for presents, food, activities, along with some visual and cultural benchmarks for what constitutes home and hearth.  More...

Every year at this time the planet gives the northern hemisphere a promise: that the days will get shorter, culminating at the winter solstice, December 21.  And from that darkest day, the promise continued: every day thereafter would provide a little more light.  For...

To Tell the Truth was a popular TV game show that ran from 1956-1968, and then from 1969-1978. It had a long run.  I watched it regularly as a boy.  The show involved three contestants, each of whom would introduce themselves as the same person:  “I am Joe Miller”...

Fight or flight is a physiological response that occurs when we find ourelves in acute stress.  The reaction is triggered by the release of hormones that prepare the body to physically take on a threat or to run away.  Most of us know the fight or flight impulse,...

I am so grateful for the Thanksgiving holiday.  It provides a much-needed break in the relentless pace of the calendar.  Thanksgiving gives us a chance to rest and recollect.   It encourages gathering – loved ones, yes, but also to gather together moments and memories...

I received early admission into the cultural elite when I was accepted by early decision at Amherst College in November, 1968.  I had a slim awareness that I came from a community and family of some privilege, as did a majority of my Amherst classmates; but I was...