This week’s column consists of the eulogy that I delivered last week for my dear friend, former Senator Helen Gordon Davis. Other than her children and the rabbi, there were just two speakers, and the family asked that I address the political side of her life. Of course I made a couple of ad lib comments that aren’t here, and those of you who were there will read a few things here that I didn’t say then – one of which I skipped because I feared chocking up. The other is an addendum I made for this column, after the memorial service, when the Tampa Bay Times published another story that included Helen. The rest of the below, however, is the eulogy:  Read More 

You probably have heard about the campaign to replace President Andrew Jackson on the twenty-dollar bill with a woman. The effort began with a girl asking President Obama why there is no woman on any paper currency (or metal, for that matter), and a grassroots movement began to do so. Some 300,000 people participated in a recent ten-week poll between the four runner-ups of an earlier longer list, and the winner was announced Monday. She was not my choice, but more on that later.  Read More 

I write this column on Mondays, and yesterday was Mother’s Day. Although I’ve had bad experiences with mussels before, I nonetheless ate some – and my tummy still is reeling, with my head floating about a foot away from my shoulders. Thus, in a complete switch of topics that will become clear soon:  Read More