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Columnists

BOB BROWN: The Human Spirit

The human spirit is that which leaves the body at the moment of death. In this sense, the spirit is life itself. It is beyond our purpose to engage in...

DAWN CUSTALOW: Virginia Tech Graduation – One for “The Books” and Service

Virginia Tech held its 150th yearly graduation with commencement on the field at Lane Stadium...

SCOT BELLAVIA: That Awkward Moment

In the true crime book The Onion Field, Joseph Wambaugh describes a moment between two...

ROBERT L. MARONIC: Open Letter To Apple CEO Tim Cook

I purchased an iPhone 16e, winter-blue silicone cover and 20 watt power adapter online from...

BOB BROWN: “We Remember But Warriors Try To Forget”

“Sir, may I have permission to speak honestly? Frankly, I don’t want to be here. My...

FRED FIRST: Lonesome Highway: An Object at Rest

Without the always-on duties of a care partner now for less than a week, I’m finding it surprisingly hard to fill my time with...

BOB BROWN: Sitting Alone in America

We are an aging, sedentary, less engaging people who are preoccupied with problems more than solutions, an observation that saddens me. Sitting is the “new...

FRED FIRST: LONESOME HIGHWAY: Together, Apart

It would be an ending; and it would be a beginning: the day that Ann finally entered Memory Care after years of knowing it...

ROBERT L. MARONIC: Trump Should Not Accept A Qatari Boeing 747 As A New Air Force One

Qatar is the ultimate frenemy. That is because Qatar has a U.S. Air Force base (Al Udeid Air Base), which is located twenty miles...

BECKY MAUPIN: Losing and Learning: The Realities of Motherhood

As soon as we find out that we are expecting a new baby, we almost immediately begin envisioning what our future will look like....

STUART REVERCOMB: The Egret’s Visit

The name of the book that contains a collection of columns I wrote for The Roanoke Times in the early 2000s is entitled “Whispering...