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A farewell to my readers

In 1987, I wrote my first weekly column, carried at the time by only two newspapers. Today, I write my last, having appeared in scores of publications over the years. It has been a great ride. I’ve written about presidents from Jimmy Carter to Donald Trump, weighed in on topics from genocide and nuclear arms to popular culture and marriage, shared my personal story and that of my ancestors. My audience embraced or rejected me as a conservative, castigated or complimented me as a liberal-in-sheep’s-clothing and flattered or insulted my moderation. My one principle has always ...

Post-college parental blues

Dear Annie: Our daughter, “Jenny,” is graduating from college in a few weeks, and my husband and I are very proud. We were unable to afford college, but once we had a child, we knew how important it was for her to go. My husband has worked in a factory his whole life and two years ago became a supervisor. We have always been a close family, but something has come up that has caused a lot of arguments, and I am writing to ask for your advice. What happened is my daughter’s boyfriend, “Todd.” Jenny first told us about Todd during the Christmas vacation. She said she had met a ...

Could we survive as they did?

Lost for 17 days in a Hawaiian jungle, all alone in only a tank top and capri yoga pans, I’m not sure what I would do. Would I work past my fractured leg, blistered wounds and terror to survive? Would I eat mystery fruit and moths and sleep in the mud or a wild boar’s den? Would I do the things Amanda Eller did, or would I go crazy after two weeks and throw my emaciated body into a ravine? A less plausible scenario for me would be doing what Nebraska farmer Kurt Kaser did. Having gotten his leg caught in a farm machine’s rotating steel blade (foot already gone), would I have had ...

No excusing poor manners

Dear Annie: I was brought up to say, “Excuse me,” when someone was in the way and I needed to pass. I have noticed when I say this to younger people they reply, “Oh, you’re fine,” and don’t move. One day a store employee was blocking the aisle with boxes all around, making it impossible to navigate, and I said, “Excuse me.” When she replied, “Oh you’re fine,” I said, “I know I’m fine, I need you to move so I can pass.” She seemed confused. Is this phrase obsolete? Am I clueless about today’s terminology? Or is it people of a certain age that don’t ...

Remember: American politics is very imitative

It’s a better than even bet that in Massachusetts today there is more than one ambitious young Democratic candidate running for local office who is deliberately pronouncing the word “again” so that it rhymes with “a pain.” Why, you logically ask? Because that’s how the martyred John F. Kennedy pronounced “again.” American politics and campaigns are frankly imitative. Half a century ago, in 1968, then-presidential candidate Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, discarded his suit jacket, rolled up his shirtsleeves and waded into the campaign crowds who came to see him. The unspoken ...

Holding out for right house

Dear Annie: My boyfriend and I have been dating for almost five years now. He says that he wants to get married soon; however, he is almost 30 and we still don’t live together. We have been living with our respective parents in order to save up money to buy a house. During the course of our relationship, we have saved more than enough. Each time we see a house, he has a million and one complaints. I’m at the point where this just seems hopeless. I want to move out and live my life, but he keeps stopping me, saying that we have to get the “right house.” Should I just give up and ...