“A nogid kumt op, un an oreman kumt oyf, iz nokh nit glaykh”. Rich man down and poor man up — they’re still not even.” — Yiddish proverb. Preparing for a talk on education and social change a while back, I found myself sprinkling my slide deck with cherry-picked statistics…

Upon learning that the 2020 baseball season would not include live fans. — This spring, the news broke that baseball season would be but a dugout shadow of its former self — no fans, but cardboard cutouts of them. No inappropriate cheers, but a soundtrack of static. Disappointing, but — then again — this pandemic has made it increasingly difficult to distinguish between…

THIS IS a work of personal, creative nonfiction. In other words, I have a fistful of excuses for not having reconstructed events exactly as they happened. …

“An imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics.” — Plutarch The Gini Coefficient The Gini Coefficient operates on a 0–1.0 (think 100) scale. At 0, everybody is equal. At 100, the entire country’s income is earned by a single person. Much of this was figured…

Teachers from shithole countries offer a workaround — Donald Trump is beyond help, but you knew that already. The most charitable amongst can try to reform him, but the chances for success are slim, at best. Blinded by self-aggrandizement and race hatred, no light can enter. All windows are mirrors, all rooms tunnels. …

“Can we please put the smart people in charge now?” — sign at Oklahoma Teachers’ Strike, 2018 THE WORLD is a cesspool, but it’s filled with generous people. …

Arizona Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages: — 21 October, 2017 Thank you for allowing me to attend this gathering. I feel honored to be here, though I may hardly be considered an expert on English-language teaching. I am usually sitting in the audience, looking up at the podium, and thinking about a New Yorker cartoon in which…

University of Northern Colorado — Salutations to you all — Doctor Lewis, UNC Trustees, recipients of special graduate honors, faculty, and to Mr. Parker for the Star Spangled Banner: a true symbol of resilience, imperishable hope, and the elegance and promise of baseball. Salutations, especially, to you happy, proud, caffeinated parents and exhausted and exhilarated…

Deipnophobia: (Greek: dinner) — a morbid fear of dinner parties Uhtceare (Old English: daybreak, care and sorrow) — waking up before dawn and not being able to get back to sleep because you’re worried about something. I have spent countless hours in airport bookstores during long layovers browsing the newest…