I was mystified by this recent outbreak of hostility about transgender folks and public restrooms. They are such a tiny minority of a minority, who could possibly think that their differences greatly affect our societal whole? In all of my long life, I’ve seen perhaps a half-dozen people whose gender I couldn’t determine – not that it was any of my business.  Read More 

You probably will recall that I’ve written before about statues in the nation’s capitol. Each state is entitled to two, and several states recently have updated theirs to be more representative of real people and a true version of the past. Florida’s two have been John Gorrie, the inventor of air conditioning, and Kirby Smith, who was the last Confederate general to surrender in the Civil War. I’ve detailed their biographies in the past, so I won’t repeat that now -- but I would appreciate your action on this.  Read More 

I’ve been reading Half Century of Struggle for Freedom in Florida, a fairly obscure book that was published (essentially self-published) in 1981. It is by Edward Daniel Davis, one of the less well-known figures of the civil rights movement. He may be little known because he didn’t talk much about himself. I expected an autobiography, but he limited that to a few pages at the front. Instead, the book is a collection of documents that otherwise might not have been preserved.  Read More 

But I did. I couldn’t sleep during the night after the morning in which the letterbox contained two copies of the Times and none of the Tribune. Mystified, Hubby and I thought maybe the carriers somehow crazily confused their routes. I tried to remember if I had responded to the Tribune carrier’s annual appeal via Christmas card. Maybe I failed to send a check, and she was belatedly taking revenge?  Read More 

Last week I said that I was going to say more about Harriet Tubman, whose image will inspire the next generation on our twenty-dollar bills. She deserves a full column on her own, and here it is.  Read More