Bill's Blog

I am an immigrant.  A fifth-generation Tennessee immigrant.  I live in the United States of America because of an Irish invasion of America that took place in the 1840s.

I don't mean to brag, but 50 years ago, I was a pretty good debater.  I was a member of the Tennessee High School State Championship team in 1969, and even a National Championship team at the University of Tennessee in 1971.  As the old cowboy on TV used to say, "No brag, just fact."

When I was a boy growing up in the 1960s, my favorite TV show was "The Jetsons."  It was all about the wonderful adventures of a 21st-century space-age family.  There was George Jetson, Jane (his wife), daughter Judy, and his boy Elroy.

When I was a boy growing up during the Eisenhower Administration and the New Frontier, fathers were revered figures in America. One of those revered fathers lived in my own home. He was my Dad.

The summer of 2019 begins this weekend.  Well, technically, that's not correct.  The first official day of summer is June 21, the summer solstice.  But for red-blooded, backyard-cooking, burger-flipping, hot dawg-eating Americans, Memorial Day Weekend marks the unofficial beginning of summer.

In 1963, at the age of 11, I got my first job in journalism.  I was in circulation for the Memphis Press Scimitar, Memphis’s evening newspaper.  The Press Scimitar, like most evening newspapers, has now gone the way of the dinosaur, and I no longer have a paper route.

JUPITER, FLORIDA - I am sitting in one of my favorite places on Earth, Roger Dean Stadium, winter home of my beloved St. Louis Cardinals.  It is the first day of spring training season (the Grapefruit League), and I am blessed to be in the ball park to watch my Cardinals take on the Miami Marlins. It is a glorious sunny day with the termperature in the 70s!

Over the years I have heard many sermons about love.  But last Sunday morning I heard a sermon not about love, but about like.