Memory
Do-gooders from Hell
Do-gooders from Hell by David Benjamin MADISON, Wis. — In my childhood hometown of Tomah, Wisconsin, two quietly grand old buildings have survived the march of development. One is the library, underwritten by Andrew Carnegie and designed by one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s more tasteful disciples. The other is the VA Hospital, built of stolid…
Read MoreLying about history, to our children
Lying about history, to our children by David Benjamin “… Soviet pressure against the free institutions of the Western world is something that can be contained by the adroit and vigilant application of counterforce at a series of constantly shifting geographical and political points, corresponding to the shifts and manoeuvers of Soviet policy, but which…
Read MoreThis country is condemned
This country is condemned by David Benjamin MADISON, Wis. — When I was twelve, the apartment I shared with Mom, my sister and my brother was condemned — officially — by the town’s building inspector. We were in the rear unit above the S&Q Hardware on Superior Avenue, and people weren’t supposed to be living…
Read MoreWhy did Scooter scoot so soon?
Why did Scooter scoot so soon? by David Benjamin “I’m going to punt.” — Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker PARIS — One night during my service as a weekly newspaper editor in Massachusetts, I was taken intimately aside, in the Town Hall parking lot, by one of the members of the Board of Selectmen. Let’s call…
Read MoreWhen Oliver Stone mishandled Michael Caine
TUESDAY, JULY 7, 2015 The Weekly Screed (#727) When Oliver Stone mishandled Michael Caine by David Benjamin MADISON, Wis. — In my newspaper days as editor of a Massachusetts weekly, the Mansfield News, I probably had too much fun. There was, for example, a summer day in 1981 when I needed to fill space in…
Read MoreLandfills I have known, B&E’s I’ve committed
FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 2015 The Weekly Screed (#714) Landfills I have known, B&E’s I’ve committed by David Benjamin MADISON, Wis. — Whenever I’m up in my old hometown, I get flashbacks driving through a broad stretch of manicured parkland on Monowau Street, where it crosses Council Creek. Gravel piles now occupy one side of the…
Read More“You wanna make somethin’ of it?”
THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 2015 The Weekly Screed (#712) “You wanna make somethin’ of it?” by David Benjamin MADISON, Wis. — Unlike Ernest Hemingway, Nelson Algren and Opie Taylor, I didn’t engage in a whole lot of pugilism in my school days. Every normal kid in the combative 1950’s had ample opportunity to get beaten into…
Read MoreI was Charlie
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28, 2015 The Weekly Screed (#707) I was Charlie by David Benjamin MADISON, Wis. — MADISON, Wis. — Considering the travesty at Charlie Hebdo this month, you might think that the worst thing that could happen to a satirist is writing (or drawing) stuff that gets him killed. This ain’t necessarily so. Whether…
Read More“… I’ll let you be in my dream if I can be in yours”
FRIDAY, AUGUST 29, 2014 The Weekly Screed (#689) “… I’ll let you be in my dream if I can be in yours” by David Benjamin PARIS — Friend Steve, visiting Paris from rural Japan, posed the thesis that the Tea Party movement in the U.S. is a spent force. I replied that with southern governors…
Read MoreBig Bill Benjamin — not to be mistaken for Ward Cleaver
TUESDAY, JULY 1, 2014 The Weekly Screed (#682) Big Bill Benjamin — not to be mistaken for Ward Cleaver by David Benjamin MADISON, Wis. — My father was largely absent from my life for more than 20 years — during which, presumably, my character was being (mal)formed. As I commiserated at Dad’s funeral among my…
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