I am writing to honor my dear cat Helen — my companion of almost 21 years — who died yesterday after a long battle with the only illness for which there is no cure: old age. The last few years of Helen’s life were immensely difficult — more so, of course, for her than for me, […]
In Memoriam: My Cat Helen Read More »
In early 1974, when British progressive rock band Genesis released The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, I was a five year-old kid who had just moved into a new house and begun making friends with the kids who lived near me: three boys I’m still connected with 38 years later, though time and circumstances have
The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway Read More »
Everything you think about genes is probably wrong. For example, you probably think — because this is what you were told in high school, not to mention what you read in even the most reputable newspapers — that there are genes for certain eye colors. There aren’t. (You may be protesting already, but I promise
For those who’ve been asking for it, here is the eulogy I delivered for my father, Stephen Alsop, who died in an automobile accident on Sunday night in Nashville, TN, while fulfilling a lifelong dream to visit the Grand Ole Opry: There is no one single true story about a person’s life. A life is
I am writing these words a mere few hours after rocking my son to sleep. This was his second night in a row without my wife nursing him down. Last night, he fell asleep in the car during the ride home from my mom’s house in Baltimore, and we decided to just let him stay
