Playing the back nine

This is in no way golf related, but I am going to write about the ‘back nine? of life. Which, arouses questions like: How did I get here so fast? Where did the years go and where did my youth go? Time has a way of moving quickly and catching you unaware of the passing […]

The full moon makes people go crazy

That headline comes from a study by Hannah Holmes of reactions during full moons. I had some direct connections during the most recent full moon while with a couple whose livelihoods are in the medical field. The lady nurse in our midst said more urgent births will happen during full moons. The man, who is […]

My first job(s), asparagus to news

From Thursday, May 28, 1970 Bud Guest, WJR’s Sunny Side of the Streeter, got me to thinking the other day about jobs I’ve had. I couldn’t top the number mentioned by a printer in Lapeer, but it was fun recalling some of the ways I’ve earned coin. As you read this, maybe you’ll think back […]

Big Jim Admits: Mistakes I have made

This is a best of Jim’s Jottings, that was first published on November 26, 1970. Please enjoy! * * * Through my nearly two decades of newspaper work I have made some mistakes that have been real beauties. I’m not referring to misjudgments or things done in poor taste. In news stories, I don’t use […]

Successful Sherman ends up as a bust

Jim ‘Fitz? Fitzgerald was editor of The Lapeer County Press for 25 years before becoming a back page columnist for The Detroit Free Press. We’ve been friends since about 1953. Here’s what he wrote about me. By Jim Fitzgerald (1973) When I first met my friend Sherman, 20 years ago, he couldn’t buy a beer […]

Merry Christmas, From The Grandkids

When we first started this Jim’s Jottings holiday tradition, the two grandchildren Dan and Karen Offer (inset picture) were small enough to fit on my knees. It was 1988. Dan was 3-years-old and Karen was four-months-old. In that first picture, Karen had no hair, I had more and I still wore a suit and tie […]

Ah, the 1-room school; Gov’ts: Plan 3 years

Another school year has, or is about to begin. And, as in years past, my thoughts wander back to the experiences from attending a 1-room school. Back then we sang, ‘School days, school days — reading, writing, arithmetic. Brought to you by the tune of a hickory stick.? The song these days might be, ‘School […]

Merry Christmas, to all (but it wasn’t always so)

I was born August 10, 1926. And, contrary to most American’s perceptions of Christmases from the mid part of the last century, it wasn’t all like the black and white movies of the time. For my first 10 or more years, no one in our home said, ‘Merry Christmas.? My father was a Jehovah’s Witness. […]

Ah, the 1-room school; Gov’ts: Plan 3 years

Another school year has begun, or is about to. And, as in years past, my thoughts wander back to the experiences from attending a 1-room school. Back then we sang, ‘School days, school days ? reading, writing, arithmetic. Brought to you by the tune of a hickory stick.? The song these days might be, ‘School […]

End of August, beginning Sept., fall, school, etc.

September — The pigskins are about to fly. Makes me recall one of our cheers: ‘Hit ’em high, hit ’em low, come on team, let’s go!? And, ‘Rah, rah ree, hit ’em in the knee. ‘Rah, rah rass, hit ’em in the . . . other knee.? Just as our world is full of borderline […]

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