Deconstructing MacArthur

Just to the northwest of Dallas sits the suburb of Irving. One of its high schools is named after Douglas MacArthur. This is far from unique since many other American cities have schools and streets named in honor of the old general. He...

Say it ain’t so, Suzy

Tuesday Weld, Annette Funicello and Angela Cartwright. Most Americans of a certain baby-boom age remember the names of these young actresses in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The blonde-haired Weld (born in 1943) was in several television...

Detroit

Over the course of four weeks spanning December 2012 and January 2013, I read three books purchased on the cheap from Amazon.com. All of them pertained to the history of Detroit, the one-time “Paris of Southeastern Michigan.” Why...

Oh, Dr. Kinsey!

Sex makes the world go around. It is a fact of which you need not try to convince me. And for that reason alone, the work done by Dr. Alfred C. Kinsey and his colleagues at Indiana University from the late 1930s until his death in 1956 merits...

Me and Lance

Me and Lance Armstrong, we were buds. OK, that’s not quite true. Me and Lance, we hung out together all the time. Maybe I exaggerate somewhat. The fact is, I had one fleeting encounter with him. Armstrong sponsored a 5K race in...

Jangchung Gymnasium

Since I am both a sports guy and a history guy, I tend to be fascinated by old athletic facilities. I have looked closely at most of the sites of the 1988 Olympics here in Seoul, Dongdaemun Stadium, Mokdong Stadium, World Cup Stadium and...