At Christmas, I don’t think of frankincense. I ponder ‘Frankenstein’

If Mary Shelley’s powerful legend offers any thoughts for a holy season, they lie in the rituals associated with Advent and Epiphany, not the frantic intervening season of Christmas, which is rarely conducive to reflection. The Frankenstein parable casts its light on the two seasons of renewal – Advent, with its messianic prophecy, and Epiphany, the last of the days of Christmas and a customary time of renewal and resolve.

EDWIN M. YODER OF CHAPEL HILL, THE FORMER EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR FOR THE WASHINGTON STAR AND A WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR EDITORIAL WRITING, IS A CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST.

Attribution> Edwin Yoder, newsobserver.com
Full Story> Yoder

Mystery artist solved? Maybe

Brady's art looks a lot like the Schenectady and Saratoga images, but so does Berryman's, and we have Berryman's signature on one of the Saratoga drawings. Might there have been different artists using similar styles to produce these images?

I don't know. I'd like to suggest that Berryman did all of them, but could one artist, who worked for the Washington Post from 1891 to 1907 and the Washington Star from 1907-1949, have done them all? It doesn't seem likely that he would have also done work for the Gazette, the Saratogian and the Post Star?

Attribution> Bill Buell, dailygazette.com
Full story> Berryman

Gail Campbell Woolley Book "Soar" Being Published Posthumously


After battling sickle cell anemia, a rare, painful, and misunderstood blood disease that affects mostly people of color, Gail Campbell Woolley died on March 16, 2015.

Woolley’s powerful story sheds light on the suffering from this horrific illness, and raises awareness of this overlooked disease that affects the African American community. It lacks proper treatment and funding for research. In sharing her story, Woolley hoped to change the quality of care for those suffering and living with this illness, and to pursue a cure for this genetic condition that affects an estimated 100,000 people in the U.S. alone.

Written in engaging, direct no-nonsense prose that reflects her many years in journalism (Baltimore Sun, Washington Times, Washington Star), SOAR chronicles Gail’s life from diagnosis to death and shows how certain aspects of her disease helped shape her indomitable spirit in ways that can inspire each of us – even if death does not lurk in our blood cells.

Attribution> Penny Jordan, eurweb.com
Full Story>  SOAR