Noah Selvaggio misses his wife Joan something rotten. Luckily, she’s still very much present in his head, and 40 years of togetherness ensure he still converses with her regularly in their Upper West Side apartment. He’s about to turn 80 and has finally accepted that retirement is the right course of action, much as he had loved being a chemistry professor. A month into said … [Read more...] about Review of Books
Issues
Sláinte! An Irish Christmas with a Drop of Scottish
Head back to Kansas with Dorothy, fly to Never Never Land with Peter Pan, and read about the two writers that gave us these wonderful characters. It’s mid-November and we are solidly into my favorite time of year. After the clocks are turned back and it gets dark early, for a brief three months I invariably long for the halcyon days of my youth. Then all I had to worry … [Read more...] about Sláinte! An Irish Christmas with a Drop of Scottish
Roots: That’s Not an Irish Name!
Names such as Kelly, Murphy, O’Brien, and Ryan are distinctively Irish and are widely known to be. However, there are many other names that are Irish – but far less obviously so. Names such as Holland, King, Waters, Rabbitte, Woods, Smith, Kidney, Bird, Salmon, Moore, Traynor, Moss, Fox, Dean, and many others can be of Irish origin due to some strange evolutions of language and … [Read more...] about Roots: That’s Not an Irish Name!
“What’re You Having”
1939 - Astor Bar, New York My father, Michael Rogers, was a bartender at New York’s legendary Astor Bar from 1936 to 1965. The photo above was taken for the N.Y. Daily News series, “The Correct Thing,” on tipping bartenders. It’s not a good shot of him, as it doesn’t do justice to his hair, wavy and deep black, a color he likened to “the inside of a raven’s wing.” He was … [Read more...] about “What’re You Having”
Ireland: There’s Never Been a Better Time to Visit
Tourism Ireland’s Executive Vice President, North America & Australia / NZ Alison Metcalfe, explains why Ireland is a unique travel destination, offering beautiful landscapes, a wealth of things to see and do, and a host of special events coming up in 2020. What’s the outlook for tourism from the US to Ireland – you’ve enjoyed several years of double-digit growth. … [Read more...] about Ireland: There’s Never Been a Better Time to Visit