Invasion of the 4-H Club!

 At the get-go I must tell you that I remember my pre-literate self. I really do.  Back in the early 1960s, kindergarten was for learning to count and reciting the alphabet to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star (Ah! vous dirai-je, maman, for you...

A Day in the Life of James Madison

I was at a reception on a riverside screened-in patio somewhere in South Georgia, a convivial, countrified place that was bedecked with old pressed-metal advertising signs. Right next to a Coke-bottle-shaped thermometer (in mint condition), I spied one of those...

Unhinged Folly ~ Andy Offutt Irwin

This essay appeared in The Covington [GA] News on July 6, 2022. In case you haven’t noticed, there’s a lot of folly out there. And it’s important to remember that… “Folly is a more dangerous enemy to the good than evil…There is no defense against folly. Neither...

CoronaKudzu

This essay was begun on October 7, 2020. It was submitted to The Covington News soon after. It was published there on October 17, 2020.  ______________________________________ CoronaKudzu Because of social-distancing changes in the television industry, a particularly...

Make My Community More Better

Today is July 4, 2020. I feel obliged to write this italicized section, but skip it if you have a mind to. I wrote this essay for my home town paper, The Covington News, where I have been a monthly columnist since 2015. It has been on their desks for two publishing...