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Bonus Material – On the Fall of the Roman Republic: Lessons for the American People

Bonus Material – On the Fall of the Roman Republic: Lessons for the American People

Anthem Press has just released the paperback edition of my book On the Fall of the Roman Republic: Lessons for the American People. So I thought I’d share some bonus material that touches upon a number of the themes addressed in it and reflects the format of the approach I took in the other chapters. Here is the additional lesson. Mistreatment of women is the mark of a tyrant The Roman Republic was founded in 509 BCE.  The event that…

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El Salvador IV

El Salvador IV

Saturday evening, we returned to the UCA in the evening for the vigil commemorating the martyrs.  We arrived in time to see the completed alfombras.  We then gathered to hear a few speakers, watch a student dance group, and then light our candles and begin our procession through the campus.  There were banners and images of the martyrs, which some of the students carried.  There were several thousand people of us in the procession. The spirit was both joyful and…

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El Salvador III

El Salvador III

On Friday, we visited the sites of Monseñor Oscar Romero, Archbishop of El Salvador 1977-1980.  He is now San Romero de America, canonized in 2018.  Romero was a pastor to the poor whom he adored, and they loved him back.  Rather than accepting a fancy house from the oligarchs, he chose to live in a modest space at the Hospital Divina Providencia, which still offers palliative care to cancer patients.  Romero demanded in his national radio broadcasts for an end…

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El Salvador II

El Salvador II

Wednesday afternoon we went with the UCA students up the volcano that looms over San Salvador – no longer active – for a nice lunch, our fanciest meal.  I like to eat just as much as anyone, so I was perfectly happy to indulge myself in a delicious meal at a nice restaurant with a great view.  And to be honest, I was going to be with my people.  I’m not wealthy by American standards and grew up poor, but…

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El Salvador I

El Salvador I

Last month, I had the privilege of spending a week in El Salvador as part of a group of Jesuit educators and administrators from universities around the country. We were partnered with CRISPAZ and the Casa de las Americas of the University of Central America (UCA). I think trips like these can be both impactful and problematic if not done with a spirit of witness and accompaniment. I found the experience beautiful and challenging. I’ll be sharing a few thoughts…

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Review of Wendell Berry, Traveling at Home

Review of Wendell Berry, Traveling at Home

Wendell Berry, Traveling at Home, with wood engravings by John DePol, San Francisco: North Point Press, 1989. Wendell Berry’s Traveling at Home is a wonderful book to read in these times when we have been kept close to home and have walked our neighborhood streets more than we normally would.  Berry’s title is oxymoronic in its way, but I think many may understand it better than we would have a couple of years ago.  Rather than traveling to see the…

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On the Vandalism of the Eden Park Capitoline Wolf

On the Vandalism of the Eden Park Capitoline Wolf

The vandalism and destruction of the Eden Park Capitoline Wolf on June 17th is both disheartening and troubling. The Capitoline Wolf is not simply a monument, a statue to a war hero, president or otherwise famous person.  The original Capitoline Wolf statue is a work of art that resides in the Capitoline Museum in Rome.  Cincinnati’s faithful replica of this statue, publicly displayed in Eden Park, is also a work of art, and albeit a copy, a meaningful copy of…

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On Ander Monson’s “Letter to a Future Lover”

On Ander Monson’s “Letter to a Future Lover”

Review of Ander Monson, “Letter to a Future Lover,” from The Best of Brevity, edited by Zoë Bossiere and Dinty W. Moore, 20-21.  Brookline, MA: Rose Metal Press, 2020. Briefly, this essay is a lyrical rumination on an enigmatic inscription within a used copy of Gary Snyder’s Turtle Island, an inscription to a lover.  The narrator wonders if this letter was ever sent and to whom it may have been intended.  The narrator muses on how this found its way into…

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On “Wide Open Spaces”

On “Wide Open Spaces”

Review of Kathryn Miller, “Wide Open Spaces,” from The Best of Brevity, edited by Zoë Bossiere and Dinty W. Moore, 29-30 .  Brookline, MA: Rose Metal Press, 2020. Kathryn Miller’s “Wide Open Spaces” from The Best of Brevity possesses little of the beauty we typically associate with such a phrase.  I think of the West, the Chicks, (formerly the Dixie Chicks), and empty highways, not scars and bullets.  Miller’s short essay recounts her visit to police station to view the…

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On “Before Sunrise”

On “Before Sunrise”

Review of Erika Dreifus, “Before Sunrise,” from The Best of Brevity, edited by Zoë Bossiere and Dinty W. Moore, 96-98.  Brookline, MA: Rose Metal Press, 2020. This is a harrowing story of resilience.  “Before Sunrise” tells the story of a woman, a second-person “you”, who was assaulted while running along the East River at midday.  The essay begins with the return to her apartment sometime later in the day; there does not seem to be any clear time markers, but…

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