Posts By: occh4@comcast.net

He was the teacher you always remember. The one who had the greatest impact. When I learned Robert Muccigrosso, PhD. died last May after bypass surgery at 73, I had a sense of loss and remembrance. He was an English teacher at Nazareth High School in Brooklyn in the 1960s. My first encounter with him was

We are downsizing. We are preparing to move to a smaller house next year after 37 years in our current home. This means getting rid of stuff we no longer need, or want, because we won’t have the room in the new place. Two early, and obvious, victims of the purge are the dozens of books

How do you sum up someone’s life? What they accomplished. How they failed. How they succeeded. Who they loved. What impact did they have on others, which is the true measure of a life well lived. While it may seem odd to some, I’ve always been interested in obituaries, and not just famous people. I

“Amazing grace! How sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now I’m found Was blind, but now I see” -John Newton, “Amazing Grace” That’s packing a lot of information into four lines. I think we as journalists, whether television writers or reporters, print reporters, or bloggers can learn

It’s the size of a business card, and it sits in a glass case on our mantle. It holds the story of what may have been one of the most powerful and successful prayers of the 20th century, and the meaning it had for one special soldier. It was 70 years ago that the last

All reporters need certain qualities. They should be curious, skeptical, fair, honest and relentless in the search for the truth. But maybe the most important quality is trust. I would tell all new reporter candidates that above all, I had to be able to trust them. Trust them to get it right. Trust that their

Thousands of books, articles, academic courses, and movies have been written, taught, and watched by millions since Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in 1865. I have been fascinated by Lincoln for years. I’ve read many books on his life. I’ve studied his speeches. I’ve even read books about one of his two secretaries, John Hay, and General

We all know the places. Columbine, Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook, Fort Hood, Charleston, Chattanooga. Schools, churches, military facilities. We hear the Special Reports on radio, TV, on our phones. It has become the term that makes us shutter, “Active Shooter”. How many are hurt or dead? How long will it last? Did the police get the

The word golf seems to draw very different human reactions. People who play it can’t get enough of it. They talk about it. They can go into very specific, and some would say annoying, details on golf courses, certain holes, the slope of the green, what clubs they used and on and on. They watch

We are all guilty. We have used these words and phrases dozens, and in some cases, hundreds of times a day in conversation. They unnecessarily litter our communication with friends, family, and co-workers. Most of us have grown so accustom to hearing them, that we don’t even notice anymore. But, they can drive some of us crazy. They