Although he starred in many movies, for me Robin Williams was never better than as the teacher, Mr. John Keating, in Dead Poets Society. It was a role that allowed him to play off all of those eccentricities that he brought to any performance, but which was striking in matching the parallel message of a film that said, “Beware the …
A friend and I attended a production of Godspell* in Memphis recently. It’s a show about how individuals from all walks of life, drawn together by the singular sayings of a modern Jesus, coalesce into a new-born community united in ensuring that no one feels alone or unloved. When performed with passion, when youthful actors clearly devote every ounce of …
In the United States the federal minimum wage has not been increased since 2007. That’s a problem. We live in a market economy. People “vote” with their dollars. When so much of the population has fewer dollars to signal its wants and needs, the market can’t get it right in providing the goods and services that are genuinely in demand. …
The Peace Corps is revamping its application procedures. So many potential volunteers started the application but abandoned it after the bureaucracy took so long to finalize assignments. In 2014, people can’t wait more than a year to learn if they will be accepted, when they would travel to their assignment and where it would be. That was apparently the norm. …
In our house, my parents wanted us kids to have opinions, and we did. There was a lot of discussion around the dinner table, and both my parents seemed to love it when we debated a topic on the news and reached a consensus. Of course, the real world didn’t pay any mind to what we Varga children thought, but …
Second Prize, 2010 Literal Latte Essay Award. When I was a child and my parents argued, my father used to escape to the basement and listen to his short-wave radio. Growing up in Philadelphia, I knew nothing of a wider world until I snuck down to the cluttered, messy cellar and eavesdropped behind stacks of magic-markered wooden storage boxes and …
Originally published in The Foreign Service Journal October 2009. You can read the original here.
Originally published in Notre Dame Magazine Autumn 2005. You can read the original here.
Hot beams curl ‘round horses’ flanks,
Bright arcs branded deep into fly-buzzed flesh,
And as I tread afraid a camel-trader sketches
A sign in the sand, prompting my gasp of thanks
Originally published in Commonweal Magazine August 15, 1996
