Short Stories

A PIGRIMAGE TO WHISTLING STRAITS

A couple of weeks ago, a group of us made a pilgrimage north to Kohler, Wisconsin — the hallowed ground of American golf — to play their legendary courses. This is the home of the…

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THE BALLGAME BEHIND THE SCHOOL – WHEN LIFE WAS SIMPLER

As you get older, your memory starts to fade. I can’t tell you what I had for dinner last night, but the memories of growing up in Chebanse, Illinois, still play in my mind as…

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MODERN BILLIONAIRES AND ANCIENT TRILLIONS

Musk’s staggering fortune pales in comparison historically. For the record, and contrary to what my children believe, I am not a billionaire, and unless I win the lottery, I never will be. I thought…

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THE RED ’57

Hopefully, writing this memo will keep my mind off the cold. I’m freezing my ass off—no other way to put it. If something happens to me, this will be my record. Heading east with a…

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SING FOR ME

The Phantom’s Epilogue Editor’s Preface In April 1920, it was reported that a reclusive tenant of Apartment 1203 at the Chatsworth Apartments in Manhattan, New York, had died in his bed. “The Chatsworth,” as it…

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THE GREEN, GREEN GRASS OF HOME

Morning seeps through the slit of sky and turns the cell that familiar shade of steel, bunk, tray, toilet that sings when you touch it. I’ve learned the song of this place. Somewhere down the…

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THE DARK SIDE OF PINK

It’s a rainy Monday morning, and I’ve got my personal collection of Pink Floyd queued up on Spotify. The weather is the perfect backdrop for their music—moody, layered, a little otherworldly. Today, inspired by those…

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THE ICE BOWL GAME AND MY DAD

My mother passed away last month at the age of 85. After the services, my two brothers and I sat around her kitchen table in DeKalb, Illinois, sipping bourbon and talking about her and what…

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THE LOUDEST GRIEF IN TOWN

In the spring of 1978, my little sister, Tami, was killed in a car accident in which she was the passenger. She was sixteen, a beautiful, outgoing teenager returning home from her first day of…

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WELCOME TO CLUB 27

I plunged the needle into my vein, surprised how easy it was considering that:a) I hate needles, andb) I was shaking like a train going through the building. But then came the warmth creeping through…

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