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TAGGED : nick jacobs

OP-ED: Democracy depends on trust

Trust in American institutions has been dissipating for over a half a century. Long before we had the COVID-19 arguments over masks, we already had Watergate, Vietnam, and Iran-Contra. Each of those made us wonder if the folks in charge knew what they were doing or were lying to our faces. For ...

OP-ED: Thursdays with Carl and Ethel

It was a different time. In fact, the crazy fun we had in the ’70s was like a spin-off from the fun sitcom “Delta House” or the movie “Animal House.” Every Thursday night, we had a standing invitation from our friend Jim to go to Carl and EthelĢƵ basement. Jim didn’t live there ...

OP-ED: Leisurely summer days in the other East Liberty

I want to tell you about a typical summer day for a 10-year-old boy in a suburb of Dickerson Run named East Liberty, Pennsylvania. But first, some geographic clarification. The East Liberty where I grew up, or just “Liberty,” as we locals called it, is not a part of Pittsburgh. It is a ...

OP-ED: Learning you’re enough

Like many of you, I have spent large chunks of life chasing shiny things. In that regard, I have been distracted by a desire to appear successful by having the trappings of “success.” You know, the things that say, “I made it. Applause, please.” It started when I was a tween. ...

OP-ED: Eighteen holes of fun … or not

They built a golf course all around my grandparents' house. The 18th fairway nearly cut through their backyard, and until we put wire grates over the windows, flying glass and golf balls were a common threat. Dad attempted to play golf a few times. As a little kid, he had fallen off a horse. ...

OP-ED: A journey through the ‘70s, music, and changing times

As a teacher, husband, and new father in the ’70s, expectations of what it meant to be a man changed. I can remember telling a friend, “I grew up idolizing John Wayne and had to become Alan Alda.” For my younger readers, it meant that men raised to admire the strong, silent, macho type ...