In Another Life, Before Taking The Veil

For Millions, Roger Ebert Will Be Remembered As A Writer And Television Personality Who Brought A Sense Of Passion And Excellence To His Craft. For Me, He Is A Man Who Fused Joy And Courage As Few Others Ever Have. My Life Was Enriched By Having Such A Friend; It Is Poorer For Losing Such A Friend.

Men And Women In My Lifetime Have Died Fighting For The Right To Vote: People Like James Chaney, Andrew Goodman And Michael Schwerner, Who Were Murdered While Registering Black Voters In Mississippi In 1964, And Viola Liuzzo, Who Was Murdered By The Ku Klux Klan In 1965 During The Selma March For Voting Rights.

George Washington, Andrew Jackson, William Henry Harrison, Zachary Taylor, Ulysses Grant, Rutherford Hayes, James Garfield, Benjamin Harrison, Theodore Roosevelt And Dwight Eisenhower All Rode Their Wartime Heroics Into The White House.

Protestations Of Indifference To Higher Office Are Hard To Take Seriously When The 'non-candidate' Is Busily Engaged In Testing The Waters.

After Immersing Myself In The Mysteries Of The Electoral College For A Novel I Wrote In The '90s, I Came Away Believing That The Case For Scrapping It Is Less Obvious Than I Originally Thought.