Two Gents' Worth
February 28, 2025
I always loved Christmastime in Fresno when I was growing up. For one thing, downtown Fresno was decorated with colorful lights and holly that stretched over numerous streets, and Fulton Street — later, the Fulton Mall — was jam-packed with holiday shoppers. They rushed, day after day during those wonderful years of my youth, into…
Read More about Christmas Memories
Every now and again, our nation seems to go crazy over the issue of burning the American flag. Burning the flag just enrages some people – to the point where they seem to lose their minds. The latest example of this came a few days ago when President-elect Trump went on Twitter again and stupidly…
Read More about Trump and the FlagThanksgiving was a grand and glorious occasion when I was growing up in Fresno more than a half-century ago. From the time I was in kindergarten at Fremont Elementary to the time I arrived at Fresno High, my mom and dad always had “the grandmas” and my Uncle Jerry over to our home for a…
Read More about Thanksgiving Memories
W.P. Kinsella died the other day at the age of 81, and it’s worth noting because while you may not know who he is, you’ve almost surely seen the results of what he did. Kinsella wrote the novel that was adapted for the iconic movie “Field of Dreams.” He started writing “Shoeless Joe” while he…
Read More about His “Field of Dreams”The nurse who was kissed by an exuberant sailor in Times Square to celebrate the end of World War II passed away last week. Greta Zimmer was a 21-year old dental assistant on August 14, 1945, one of thousands of New Yorkers who streamed into the streets when they heard the news that the Emperor…
Read More about The Return of EleganceSo Colin Kaepernick — the San Francisco 49ers quarterback who makes no one forget the likes of Joe Montana, Steve Young or John Brodie — has decided to throw even more fuel on the fire he ignited a few days ago when he remained seated during the playing of the national anthem before a football…
Read More about Colin Kaepernick Takes a SeatBy Bud Elliott [Editor’s Note: Since this article was published in April of 2015, Jose Ramirez has won five more bouts. His record is now 18-0-0 with 13 knockouts. His next fight will be in December at the Save Mart Center] Late one sweltering summer afternoon not that many years ago, some neighborhood kids walked home after…
Read More about Water WarriorIn the world of peeves there are major ones and minor ones. This is a minor one. How come we don’t say “you’re welcome” any more? For instance: You have just bought a $1,630.00 mattress. The salesman processes your credit card, hands you the thing to sign, then gives you a receipt for the purchase…
Read More about The Problem With “No Problem”
Okay, this is the first, and I hope only, comment I’m going to make about that mess of an American athlete, Ryan Lochte. Thank goodness there was a video recording of what really happened at that little Brazilian gas station. Without it, Lochte and his fellow travelers might have gotten away with the lie about…
Read More about Go Away, Ryan Lochte
Peggy Noonan is widely and justifiably known for her brilliant series of columns in the Wall Street Journal. She has been writing these columns for the past 15 years, and regular readers have found them to be elegantly written, well thought-out and extraordinarily clear in their messages. Now Noonan has compiled the “best” of her…
Read More about Book Review: “The Time of Our Lives”