I drive most of Kennedy Boulevard, the “main street” of our town, approximately once a week. The one that is named “Main Street” is about a half-mile north, in West Tampa, and just north of I-275. It is no longer “main” to anything, and West Tampa is no longer the separate municipality it was when the street was named. The most constant thing about Tampa is change, and what now is Kennedy used to be LaFayette. It’s interesting, too, that we always call it “Kennedy Boulevard,” not John Fitzgerald Kennedy -- although we say the full name of Martin Luther King, not “King Boulevard.” Read More
Doris writes a weekly column for LaGaceta, the nation's only trilingual newspaper, which has pages in English, Spanish, and Italian. Begun in 1922 for Tampa's immigrant community, it continues to thrive more than a century later. Her column is titled "In Context," as it aims to put contemporary issues in the context of the past.
Pioneer Tallahassee
November 16, 2015
I went over to Lakeland recently for another of the excellent history lectures at Florida Southern College. This one celebrated a book by my friend Mike Denham -- on which he’s labored for 23 years. He’s published three others while working on this close-to-his-heart baby, which required spending summer research time in Kentucky, Texas, and Tarrytown, New York. It is a biography of William DuVal – whose name was spelled that way, not as in modern Duval County. I’m looking forward to reading it and shall tell you more about it later. Read More
Every Child A Wanted Child
November 9, 2015
Just a couple of weeks after they brought down their own Speaker of the House, the rightwing Republicans who targeted Planned Parenthood seem to have forgotten that cause. When the end-of-October budget deadline neared, these hypocrites put a finger to the wind and acknowledged that voters – especially the businessmen they revere -- care more about continuity in government than about encouraging that government to interfere with a private organization dedicated to women’s most private decisions. Read More
There's Always Something To Learn
November 2, 2015
Baby teeth. That’s what has been on my mind lately.
A kitten took up residence on our deck a couple of weeks ago and refused to go away, despite the lack of welcome by last year’s new resident, Valeria. I think there must be an invisible sign in our driveway that says “suckers live here,” and cats can read this and welcome themselves. We also were blessed with an older and pregnant cat last year. We named her Luella for my last living aunt; Valeria was named for an aunt-by-marriage. We managed to give all five of Luella’s kittens to good homes, but she was a disruptive presence compared with this fall’s arrival. He’s a joyous little boy, and we’ve decided to call him Eddie in honor of Hubby’s last uncle. Read More
A kitten took up residence on our deck a couple of weeks ago and refused to go away, despite the lack of welcome by last year’s new resident, Valeria. I think there must be an invisible sign in our driveway that says “suckers live here,” and cats can read this and welcome themselves. We also were blessed with an older and pregnant cat last year. We named her Luella for my last living aunt; Valeria was named for an aunt-by-marriage. We managed to give all five of Luella’s kittens to good homes, but she was a disruptive presence compared with this fall’s arrival. He’s a joyous little boy, and we’ve decided to call him Eddie in honor of Hubby’s last uncle. Read More