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Season’s End

MECHANICSVILLE, Va.—When I was much younger, dumber, and far more arrogant than I am at 52, I worked as a sports writer for a daily newspaper in Shreveport, Louisiana. While there, I suffered from a...

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Lies, damned lies, and abortion statistics

Texas state Senator Wendy Davis (Wikipedia) MECHANICSVILLE, Va.—The National Review Online, in a recent post best described as a slimy attack on a woman running as Democratic nominee for governor of...

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The Election is Over: Where to Go from Here

We collected 28,000 letters to Save the Tensas! MECHANICSVILLE, Va.—Election Day is over. The better side lost, and many of us are stunned, grieving, angry, confused. We are like the Steve McQueen...

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How have I been harmed by Trump voters?

MECHANICSVILLE, Va. – The Trump phenomenon has unleashed an especially pernicious strain of vileness in this nation. Donald Trump It’s not the unjustified and unconstrained ego and arrogance. It’s not...

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The Art of Receiving (or Not) a Critique

EDITOR’S NOTE: This was originally posted to Facebook, but I thought this essay deserved a more permanent home—DML. MECHANICSVILLE, Va.—Attention my fellow writers: MECHANICSVILLE, Va. — These are some...

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What race(s) should I own?

My great-grandmother, Myrtle Mae (Robinson) Yee Mitchell (right), was vague about her racial heritage. She was African American, but for many years passed herself off as something else. MECHANICSVILLE,...

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It’s “OK,” dammit!

MECHANICSVILLE, Va. — For those who react without reading, go ahead and flip out. You will only prove yourself a fool. But it is time I — and I hope others — take a stand. MECHANICSVILLE, Va. — No,...

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The Murder of Glen Tompkins: A Personal Story

My dad, George M. Lawrence, on the copy desk of The (Shreveport, La.) Times circa 1980. SHREVEPORT, La.—I’m not sure which staff photographer snapped the photo of my dad, George M. Lawrence, but one...

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A Meditation on the Nature of Sacrifice

[Editor’s Note: I submitted a version of this as a column to my newspaper shortly after Memorial Day 2020, but recently found out it had never run. It was relevant to the political chaos with respect...

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Cowardice Kills

MECHANICSVILLE — As I write this, I look at two faded booklets. They represented a time when everyone in our nation pulled together for a common good. When everyone recognized that our welfare, even...

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