America is struggling in the aftermath of police killings of black men in Ferguson, New York City, Cleveland, Florida, and more…and more. Today Time published an essay by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar entitled “Why I Have Mixed Feelings About MLK Day.” Few celebrities utilize their celebrity status for the well-being of society. Mr. Abdul-Jabbar does. I reprint the […]
Category Archives: Cheesie Mack
Are Authors Rich?
November 24, 2014 – 6:38 pm
I end each Cheesie Mack school presentation with a Q&A. And I can count on certain questions always being asked: “How long does it take to write a book?” “How did you come up with the idea for Cheesie Mack?” Those are not surprising. But I also always get questions you might not expect: “How old are […]
On Balance
July 21, 2014 – 11:25 am
There is very little to recommend California’s Interstate 5 except straightness and speed. In a midsummer’s sunset somewhere south of Buttonwillow, I am rolling at 80, glazed by oncoming lights and nearly listening to bad luck and worse love on a Country FM out of Visalia. I lift, drink, and am down to an inch in […]
In Praise of Children’s Librarians
March 8, 2014 – 9:59 am
When I was a boy, elementary schools did not have libraries. We didn’t know what we were missing because our town had a Carnegie Library. Beginning in 1889, steel magnate Andrew Carnegie built homes for books. Eventually his philanthropy erected 2,509 public libraries, two-thirds of which were in the United States. The one in my […]
Dixville Notch: The First Voters
October 21, 2012 – 9:49 am
New Hampshire has held the first-in-the-nation presidential primaries since 1920. With the first presidential “beauty contest” in 1952, our citizens have personally met the candidates and by popular ballot have declared their preference for their party’s nominee. Since 1960, Dixville has been the first community in the state and country to cast its handful of […]
Hurray for Boredom!
July 20, 2012 – 6:21 pm
When I was child, a protestation that I was bored or had nothing to do always got the same response from my father. “Go bang your head against the wall.” The absurdity of his suggestion was meant to reflect back to me the absurdity of my complaint. He was really saying, “Think harder, son. There […]
Cheesie Mack’s Second Book Is in the Bookstores!
June 25, 2012 – 9:03 pm
Cheesie Mack Is Cool in a Duel is everywhere! It’s now available in bookstores and online in every format. With a cast of hundreds at the greatest summer camp in the whole known universe, Cheesie and his best buddy Georgie are stunned to find out they will not be the oldest of the Little Guys […]
Are Milk Duds Duds?
June 5, 2012 – 2:44 pm
I think this will bring a curl to your lip…you tell me whether it’s a smile or a sneer. I am working on the website for the second book in the Cheesie Mack series: Cheesie Mack Is Cool in a Duel. The book will be released later this month. In this book, Cheesie wonders…since the […]
Cheesie Mack in “Publishers Weekly”
March 31, 2012 – 12:29 pm
My first book, Cheesie Mack Is Not a Genius or Anything, was released by Random House Children’s Books almost exactly one year ago. Since then I have visited over 80 schools across the country…in Massachusetts (Cheesie lives in Gloucester), New York, California, Oklahoma, Nevada, Florida, Washington, Idaho, and I can’t remember where else. Kids love […]
Two Lives in a Small Town
February 9, 2012 – 6:22 pm
The following, in Shonnie Brown’s “Neighbors” column, appeared in The Healdsburg Tribune, our local weekly, on February 9, 2012. [Most of the images were not in the original.] * * * * * Ann, born and raised in Casper, Wyoming, has the dubious distinction of attending high school with both Dick and Lynne Cheney and […]
