Books I Have Read in Korea
• A Book of Travelers’ Tales by Eric Newby, Penguin Books, 1985 [July 2011] • A Brief History of American Literature by John Huh, Shinasa, 2001 [May 2008] • A Brief History of American Sports by Elliott J. Gorn and...
A Tribute to Dr. Lee Kyoung-min
You can find us every Saturday afternoon down the street at Tiny Brown or Banapresso, engaged in an animated discussion or reviewing some article from my website. My coffee-shop companion is Dr. Lee Kyoung-min. Earlier this year he answered an ad...
Steve and Tom—and Me
Having recently read Walter Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs (I give it 4 1/2 stars), I now have a much better understanding of his many accomplishments. What a life! Given up for adoption by an unmarried couple—his father was of Syrian descent...
For Texas, I Did / Memorial Stadium Turns 100
It is a sad and undeniable fact that none of my 23 books have sold worth a darn. I like to think that they constitute quality journalism, but none have come within light-years of making the New York Times best-seller list. I thought something...
The Cambridge Guide to English Literature by Michael Stapleton
I paid 10,000 won ($7.37 at the current exchange rate) for a somewhat battered and tattered copy of this 992-page tome, published by Cambridge University Press in 1983, at a used book store in the Hongdae district of Seoul on June 19. I started...
Thanks a Lot, Park Chung-hee!
Love him or loathe him, he is the most controversial person in modern Korean history. He did a lot of good stuff, such as instigating construction of the Gyeongbu Expressway linking Seoul and Busan; the POSCO steel giant was his doing; he ordered...
Clifford Antone’s Joint
I wish I could remember what prompted me, in the summer of 1976, to drive my Ford station wagon to downtown Austin and find the intersection of Sixth and Brazos, the site of an old furniture store. It had, for the past year, been the home of a...
RAP the Bruiser
I am a calm and harmonious person; like the Buddha, I exude serenity. But occasionally situations arise that demand a forceful response. I have compiled some examples going back a few years, and you can take them for what they are worth. One...
I Offer My Coaching Services to the Los Angeles Lakers
I wrote the following letter, dated June 10, 2024, to Jeanie Buss and Rob Pelinka, owner and general manager, respectively, of the Los Angeles Lakers basketball franchise. Dear Ms. Buss and Mr. Pelinka: I ask you to give serious consideration to...
I Salute Griffin Bruns
Baseball, especially of the major league variety, can be boring (pitchers who take almost half a minute between throws to the plate), infuriating (batters intent on blasting home runs, strikeouts be damned) and alienating (Alex Rodriguez, for...
Rice University Climbs Woke Mountain
Considered one of the USA’s Tier 1 schools, along with the Ivies, top public universities such as Michigan, Texas, California, UCLA, Virginia and North Carolina, and prestigious private ones like Stanford, MIT, Cal Tech, Chicago, Northwestern...
Bill Clinton, You Lying Horndog
Historians and scholars generally agree that of America’s 45 presidents, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin Roosevelt were the best. And the worst? The consensus seems to be, starting from the...