From the summer of 1981 until November 2007 when I moved to Korea, I was among the most regular of participants in road races in Austin and the surrounding area. Of the 650-plus races in which I have run, the large majority took place in...
First of all, a brief biography of Dick “Night Train” Lane. He was born on the east side of Austin, Texas in 1928, the son of a prostitute and her pimp. Abandoned three months later, he was taken in by a woman who initially thought...
You talk about getting off-track. Five years after graduating from the University of Texas, I was still doing blue-collar work. There were reasons for this sad state of affairs, but we need not go into them now. In the summer of 1981, I...
How could I forget the blistering heat of the summer of 1980? I was living in Denton, Texas, and in an effort to save money I never used the air conditioner in my apartment near the North Texas State University campus. A window fan...
I played countless games of backyard basketball with my older brother Randy. As far as college hoops, we both liked the hometown SMU Mustangs. In the pros, however, we diverged. He favored the Boston Celtics, and I, almost by default, took the...
I have lately found myself thinking about William Henry (Bill) Gates III. Who can deny that the co-founder of Microsoft is in an enviable position? Whenever he walks down the street—anywhere in the world—kings and queens step...
I went back to the University of Texas in 1982 and took a series of courses in creative writing, journalism and editing. Around the middle of that 18-month period, I passed a test and joined the staff of the Daily Texan, UT’s student...
May 24, 2011 Dave Winfield c/o San Diego Padres P.O. Box 122000 San Diego, CA 92112 USA Dear Mr. Winfield: Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Richard Pennington. I am a native of the USA but have been living in...
Dr. In-Hwan Kim, founder and head honcho of LIKE Schools, had called a meeting of his foreign teachers. We gathered in a large room near the LIKE headquarters in downtown Daegu around Christmas 2007. After having a nice meal, we heard some...
More than two years have passed since I taught my last class at a hagwon in Daegu. It is human nature to remember the good and forget the bad, and I am no exception. Some of those kids, I loved them dearly. In fact, I think about them almost...
In the fall of 1978, I was back in Texas after spending most of the previous 18 months in Kentucky, Michigan and North Carolina. While working at yet another meaningless job, I decided to offer my services as a basketball coach. Somehow I...
During those long-ago growing-up years, my brother seemed quite certain about the identity of his favorite baseball player: Mickey Mantle of the New York Yankees. I liked the Mick too—what was there not to like?—but it was clear...
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