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Natalee Holloway, Part Two (Calling All Spirits)

All big cases attract people who claim to be in touch with the supernatural, and this one was no exception. One of my favorites was the self-proclaimed psychic who traveled to Aruba in the wake of Natalee's vanishing, and, one night, had a dream, or vision, in which Natalee appeared to her with the  Read More 
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Natalee Holloway, Part One

This case fascinates me. Superficially, it doesn't appear complex. A young woman, vacationing in Aruba to celebrate her high school graduation, goes to a bar on the last night of her stay. There she meets up with a young man whom, according to some accounts, she'd encountered earlier that evening in a casino. Around closing time, the young woman leaves  Read More 
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Born to Be Wild

"Nursing Home Residents Form Biker Gang" -- www.nbcchicago.com, February 23, 2010

The junior member of the gang is 65; the senior member is 97.
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What's the Matter with Toledo?

A true bumper crop of great headlines can be found today (February 22, 2010) at www.toledoonthemove.com, a news site:

"Man Caught Having Sex with Table Gets Six Months"

"Enraged Toledo Woman Just Wanted McNuggets"

"Police Find Dismembered Body Eaten by Dogs"

"Pistol Whipping at Toledo Chuck E. Cheese"

"Marco's Pizza Delivery Turns Violent"

"Lady  Read More 
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Maxine Kumin: Poet

Here are some excerpts from an interview I did with Maxine Kumin. It was first published in The Country and Abroad in the September, 1999 issue.

Kelly: Someone who wrote about you--and I'm putting this in quotes--said that you "insist upon order," that this is important to you.

Kumin: It's personally important to me as a poet.  Read More 
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Super-Great Headline

"Industry Sees Few Changes with Dicks Calling the Shots" -- National Journal, February 12, 2010

I can't stop laughing.

The "Dicks" in the headline is Norm Dicks, D-Wash, the incoming chair of the House Defense Appropriations Subcomittee. The headline makes perfect sense if you know that, but still...do editors do this sort of thing deliberately?
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Great Headlines: Birds and Beasts

"Dog Finds Cocaine in Battery of Pickup Truck" -- El Paso Times, January 26, 2010

"Gang of Turkeys Terrorizes Athens Neighborhood" -- Florida Times-Union, January 28, 2010

"Savage Beagles Terrorize East End" -- New York Post, January 31, 2010

"Swordfish Attack Angolan Pipeline" -- Reuters, February 2, 2010

"Iran Sends a Mouse into Space" -- Daily Telegraph (London), February 3

"Stalker Pheasant Terrorizes  Read More 
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J.D. Salinger: A Few Thoughts

I read "The Catcher in the Rye" when I was thirteen or fourteen and enjoyed it. I can't recall to what extent I identified with Holden Caulfield--I think to identify COMPLETELY with Holden you had to be an adolescent male--but the character certainly resonated with me. And he did so with anyone who felt  Read More 
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Great Headlines Redux

From the Associated Press, by way of the San Francisco Chronicle, January 26, 2010:

"Man Caught at Airport with 44 Lizards in His Pants"

This happened in Christchurch, New Zealand. The contraband lizards were skinks and geckos. No word on whether the latter tried to sell anyone auto insurance.
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Robert B. Parker Interview

This interview with Robert B. Parker was first published in 1998 in The Country and Abroad. Here's an excerpt:

Kelly: What was the genesis of Spencer?

Parker: I read Raymond Chandler and copied him.

Kelly: There must have been more to it than that.

Parker: I always wanted to do this [write crime novels] and  Read More 
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