Douglass Taft Davidoff
Doug Davidoff: New Yorker, New Englander, Tar Heel, Hoosier, Chicagoan. Father, Democrat, Unitarian Universalist and Jewish. History Lover, Traveler, Sailor. Writer/Editor. Aspiring Vermonter. Principal Consultant for Straight Talk Public Relations at www.StraightTalkPR.com. Personal website: www.DouglassDavidoff.com.
Harold Hill Was Right About Shakespeare
Faux Bandmaster and Inventor of ‘Think System’ Pedagogy Had The Best Thought Ever About School Bands And Life
I always think there’s a band, kid
— Professor Harold Hill in The Music Man
There’s a young man in New Hampshire named Brian Short who I don’t know very well. His dad, Kevin Short, is one of my oldest friends; we met during junior high school back in 1970. But, sadly, I don’t know Brian or his brother Raymond very . . .
Posted in: 06880danwoogbandsbrass musicbrian shortcarnegie hallcbsdeathsdenny davidoffeducationfriendsgrammyharold hilljack adamsjared cassedyjosh davidoffkevin shortmusicmusic mannew hampshiresarah davidoffshakespearesound cloudunitarian church in westportvideoswestportctwindhamnh
Goodnight My Someone, That Health Insurance Is Not For You
In which my application to the Massachusetts Health Connector is confounded by a system that simply knows not my name
I must depend on a wish and a star
As long as my heart doesn’t know who you are.
Sweet dreams be yours dear
If dreams there be.
Sweet dreams to carry you close to me.
I wish they may and I wish they might.
Now goodnight, my someone, goodnight.
—
Tonight, I feel a bit like Marian Paroo, a.k.a. “Marian the . . .
News in the News
Awful news about death of New England War Correspondent James Foley; in Boston, Juliette Kayyem returns to Boston Globe
The headlines begin to meld together in August. Horror in the United States Midwest; horror in Iraq, Syria, and Kurdistan. Disfunction in Afghanistan; disfunction in the U.S. House of Representatives. New England’s premiere low-price supermarket chain loses customers and millions of dollars by the day as it inexorably explodes despite the . . .
Circle of Marriage Equality: Seeing Massachusetts From Indiana; A Decade Later, Seeing Indiana From Massachusetts
Why a Conversation Ten Years Ago Prompts Tears of Joy In June, and How a Clerk’s Ordinary Marriage License Issued Somewhere in Massachusetts Now Helps Cause Social Change in Indiana
The following is a copy-edited version of an opinion column published June 30, 2014, at YourArlington.com in Arlington, Massachusetts. I thank Bob Sprague, editor and publisher of YourArlington.com, for throwing a few electrons my way to publish this piece the first time on his site. [The subheads in this column were edited in by Bob and I . . .
Looking Ahead With Don (With Apologies to Steve)
Confessions of a Kayyem Delegate, Part Two: Not #OneCommonwealth, But Rather #AllMeansAll
When Juliette Kayyem's campaign for governor ended for lack of sufficient delegate voting support at the Massachusetts Democratic Convention in Worcester on June 14, I renewed my support for the gubernatorial candidate I had deserted seven months earlier.
On my way out of the DCU Center, I filled out a volunteer card at Steve . . .
Looking Back at Juliette
Confessions of a Kayyem Delegate, Part One: “#IAm4Kayyem"
The exhibit hall for the Massachusetts Democratic Convention at the DCU Center in Worcester last Saturday, June 14, was filled with glossy brochures, buttons, keychains, and other knick-knacks promoting each of the many statewide candidates.
Photo of Juliette Kayyem from The Boston Globe
Except at Juliette Kayyem’s . . .
Cover image credit: http://Photo by Doug’s Daughter, Sarah Ellen Davidoff
