Columnists

The queue to the entrance of Jennerstown’s Mountain Playhouse was solid grey. As this was a pleasant Thursday afternoon in October of 2019, it was no surprise to see that the vast majority of patrons in line were retirees. Read more

It’s often been said in the past, “Once people get older, it becomes harder and harder to change.” I’ll be the first to admit the truth to that statement. As a matter of fact, I’ll resist those who think I can do things differently just by snapping one’s fingers. Read more

During this unprecedented year we’ve been introduced to a number of words, phrases and terms, many of which we’re eager to erase from our memories. The year 2020 has seen social unrest, political animosity and — of course — coronavirus. Read more

While we rail and wring our hands over climate change — for many justifiable reasons — it does seem to be providing the Alleghenies with longer, more temperate transition seasons. Spring seems to come earlier, and autumn lingers. Read more

In telling a longtime friend about my writing of my newest book, “From Sea to High ‘C’”, I mentioned it was a story of my mother’s biography that she had written. All I did was rewrite it, polishing it a bit, making it chronological and translating German into English. What we quickly both agreed upon was the fact that when we both grew up, we did so much to try to entertain ourselves, thinking very little about others. Read more

What do you say when you need to blow your nose and the box of the tissues you want to use is across the room? You probably say something like, “Janet, will you please bring me a Kleenex?” This assumes there is someone named Janet on the other side of the room. Read more

Donna Skemp of Bend, Oregon, struggled to save before she signed up for an automatic savings plan offered by her employer’s payroll services company. Now, some of her pay goes into a federally insured, interest-paying savings account that she can access any time with a debit card. Read more

Our holidays will be very different this year, probably not in good ways. Read more

I received an email from a friend recently who informed me that we seniors now have a name that separates us from the rest of the members of our society. Our titles are “Seenagers”, another name for senior teenagers. That’s looking at things from a different perspective. The email went on to elaborate what just is meant by that name. “I have everything that I wanted as a teenager, only 50 to 60 years later.” Read more

I’ve never heard of an “aunt-in-law,” but I know it’s a thing. The beauty of having a spouse’s aunt or uncle in your family is that you have every right to call them by his or her first name, unlike your in-laws, who get to dictate how you address them. Today’s linguistic inspiration comes from my wife’s Aunt Julie, all the way up in Bemidji, Minnesota. Thanks for the idea, Julie! Read more

Job loss, business failure, involuntary retirement, divorce, disability or the death of a breadwinner — these are just some of the ways our finances can force us to come up with a Plan B. That’s never as simple as downloading a list and ticking off completed assignments, however. Read more

Prospect Hill is well-named. For this knoll, which sits above the confluence of the Little Conemaugh and Conemaugh rivers in Johnstown, has been fueling prospects with minerals for centuries. Read more

While at the Latrobe Farmers Market one Tuesday, I was sharing an expression with a fellow when he abruptly stopped me and stated, “Oh, I know that one. I learned that in elementary school while attending Catholic school.” What I was explaining to him was that “If you point your finger at someone, there will always be three fingers pointing back at you.” I had heard this saying only a few weeks prior, but he, many years before. Read more

Great job, you voted! You exercised your right as a non-felonious adult American citizen to democratically elect the people who will represent us in our state and federal governments for the next few years. Even if we don’t know exactly who won yet in the elderly man popularity contest known as this year’s presidential election, you at least want to sound smart when you’re talking and/or writing about this year’s contest. Here are some tips on how to sound like a regular Doris Kearns Goodwin while chatting about politics. Read more

Writers of the region: We need to talk. (Readers are welcome to listen.) Read more

Not much is known about dinosaurs except what we’ve read in history books or learned at museums. Such is the case after their extinction. To think 800,000 years after their disappearance, new life came into existence is hard to fathom, at least in my limited mind. Other mammals slowly populated the earth and multiplied to the growth we have today. Nothing ever stayed the same. Read more

If I wrote an advice column, the world would be even worse than it already is. I’d tell people to “rub some dirt on it” or “stop yelling at people on the internet and get a hobby.” I’d be the Simon Cowell of advice columnists. Neither this newspaper nor any other newspaper in the United States would print it. Fortunately, I know a thing or two about the English language. Read more