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Author Archives: Boz
Something Old
I still have the tattered Golden Book of Nursery Tales (1948) and Mother Goose Book of Nursery Rhymes (1953) presented to me at birth. At a time in my life when preserving the past evidently mattered less to me, I removed the … Continue reading
Posted in cemetery, education, history, language, memories, photography, World War I
Tagged cemetery, discrimination, history, identity, language, memories, photography, World War I
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Viewing the Eclipse with the Sororal Twins
I was ten years old when I made a pinhole projector from a shoebox for my first solar eclipse on July 20, 1963. It reached a mere 30% totality over Globe, Arizona, but I was a curious child, and seeing … Continue reading
Charlottesville, Boston, Berkeley and the Desecration of the First Amendment
August 19, 2017 Speaking my mind today may be impolitic. However, because what I fear most is the silence following the premature death of the First Amendment, speak I must. I am reminded of Paul’s recital of his unblemished pedigree: … Continue reading
Posted in critical thinking, language, politics
Tagged definition, discrimination, First Amendment, free speech, history, language, politics, word
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Finding Community: Prayer, Love, Work, and the Liturgy
I must be clear that this all happened a week ago, July 30, eighth Sunday after Pentecost on the liturgical calendar–or kalendar, if we’re being precious–Year A, Track 2. Everything would have different had it not been this specific Sunday … Continue reading
Erasing History: The 2017 Version
“In February 1948, the Communist leader Klement Gottwald stepped out on to the balcony of a Baroque palace in Prague to harangue hundreds of thousands of citizens massed in Old Town Square. That was the great turning point in the … Continue reading
Posted in education, history, language, literature, politics
Tagged Communism, education, First Amendment, history, identity, Kundera, Liu Xiaobo, Orwell, politics, truth
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Truth, Lies, and Postmodern Possibilities: “Frantz” in Context
Seven years after the Armistice of 1918, Paris-born playwright Maurice Rostand published a three-act play, L’homme qui j’ai tué (The Man I Killed), about a Frenchman seeking forgiveness for killing a German soldier in the trenches of the Great War. Seven years later, Berlin-born … Continue reading
My Second-to-Last Conversation with My Father
Yes, I know the word penultimate. Yes, I have known since reading Strunk and White that one word is always better than three, even when the three are hyphenated. But I received my inspiration for this … Continue reading
Reading, Watching–and Smelling–World War I
More than a year ago, I decided to observe the centenary of World War I by using it as the theme of my English composition classes devoted to writing across the curriculum. To that end, I have immersed myself in a wide assortment of … Continue reading
Posted in books, history, literature, movies, World War I
Tagged history, movies, novels, World War I
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Nunie: Words, Pictures–and Music
Since Just(e) Words made its debut more than a year ago, I have shared in its virtual pages my memories of several formative individuals–including a three-post, 5,000-word homage to my mentor at the University of Arizona. I have also noted more than … Continue reading
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