Biography: John Williams: A Composer’s Life

September 1, 2025 Tony Buchsbaum 0

What’s that old saying? That the greatest composers of musicals are able to create melodies and songs we can hum as we walk out of the theater after the show? By that standard alone, the greatest film music composer of our time—and maybe any time—is John Williams, whose melodies are recognizable and hummable from the moment they’re heard in the movie they’re composed for. Think Jaws. Think Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Jurassic Park. […]

Why Reading Matters More Than Ever

August 21, 2025 Linda L. Richards 0

Recent research has brought a sobering revelation: leisure reading among U.S. adults has dropped nearly 40 per cent over the last two decades. Where once nearly a third of Americans reported reading daily for pleasure, now barely 16 per cent do so. On the surface, this looks like a cultural shift. In truth, it may also be a biological one. The Brain on Fiction Reading matters. When we immerse ourselves in a novel, our brains […]

When AI does the heavy lifting

Here’s What Happens When AI Does the Heavy Lifting A.K.A. The Summer Reading List That Couldn’t

May 23, 2025 Linda L. Richards 0

So this is what happens a decade after you fire all of the copyeditors and then swirl AI into the mix. According to NPR: Some newspapers around the country, including the Chicago Sun-Times and at least one edition of The Philadelphia Inquirer have published a syndicated summer book list that includes made-up books by famous authors. Chilean American novelist Isabel Allende never wrote a book called Tidewater Dreams, described in the “Summer reading list for […]

The Young Writers Who Won the 2025 Story Challenge

May 14, 2025 Linda L. Richards 0

Earlier this spring, when Education.Com invited young writers from around the world to unleash their imaginations and submit original works for the 2025 Story Challenge, the responses were nothing short of spectacular. Inspired by National Reading Month, the contest received hundreds of entries from all corners of the world, including Australia, Canada, Egypt, Hong Kong, Mexico, Peru and Spain. The entries were judged on creativity, originality, organization, and descriptive language. Education.Com wanted to spotlight ten […]

Press Club Opines on Air Force One Flying Without Wire Services

May 14, 2025 Linda L. Richards 0

What follows is a statement from Mike Balsamo, president of the National Press Club on POTUS denying wire service reporters access to the presidential plane, Air Force One, for an overseas trip. “Wire service reporters are central to a free and independent press—providing fast, fact-based reporting that millions of people around the world rely on every day. “Their absence from Air Force One today breaks with decades of precedent and limits access to critical information […]

Tom Robbins

Author Tom Robbins Dies at 92

February 11, 2025 Linda L. Richards 0

Today I learned that counterculture novelist (though he would have cringed at the description) Tom Robbins has died. I learned it because a bunch of folks quoted an interview I did with him back in 2000. I returned to that piece today and read the interview. It was good. But it also missed some notes. He was brilliant, Robbins was. And it was difficult — then as now — to do him justice. So the […]

Daily Ethics

Art & Culture: Daily Ethics: Creating Intentional Practice for Behavior Analysts

December 5, 2024 admin 0

In an era when even returning a shopping cart can be controversial, Daily Ethics: Creating Intentional Practice for Behavior Analysts by Tyra P. Sellers, Emily A. Patrizi, and Sarah Lichtenberger can be a potential minefield. The authors combine decades of experience in the chosen field of this book. The modalities span teaching, clinical, and administrative roles in behavior analysis. In Daily Ethics, the authors offer new ways of thinking about ethics. Daily Ethics encourages readers to […]

Art & Culture: How to be the Old Lion by Terry P. Tanner

September 10, 2024 admin 0

Terry P. Tanner’s How to Be the Old Lion is meant to be a roadmap for navigating life’s challenges with confidence and purpose. Drawing from real-life examples and lessons learned over a lifetime, Tanner provides readers with the tools needed to overcome common pitfalls and embrace a life of intentionality. With an emphasis on spiritual and ethical principles, this book serves as a guide to living fearlessly. The core message of How to Be the […]

Fiction: Investigating the Kennedy Assassination: Why Was Kennedy Killed? by Michael J. Deeb and Robert Lockwood Mills

August 25, 2024 admin 0

If there was ever a week where we had enough Kennedy, it was this one. With the son of a former presidential hopeful and the nephew of one of America’s best-loved presidents of all time making headlines for forging deals with political devils, it’s easy to say, “enough already” with the Kennedy’s. Yet, for all their faults, Michael J. Deeb and Robert Lockwood Mills can’t be called on the carpet for the timing of their […]

Teach Me How to Whisper Receives Major Romanian Literary Prize

August 25, 2024 admin 0

A new book of poetry by an American writer of Albanian origin, Gjekë Marinaj, has received Romania’s Mihai Eminescu International Poetry Prize. Conferred by Romania’s Mihai Eminescu International Academy, the literary award honors Marinaj’s collection Teach Me How to Whisper: Horses and Other Poems, published by Syracuse University Press. The award was presented on June 14 in Craiova, Romania, in a ceremony held at the Gloriae Art Gallery. Teach Me How to Whisper is the […]