Category: History

  • Big Mo Pod Show: “Planting Seeds”

    Big Mo Pod Show: “Planting Seeds”

    The Big Mo Pod Show title is about planting seeds in a metaphorical way. One of the seeds Big Mo sows is his comedy bit on MayRee’s hand-battered catfish. It’s just one of his hilarious faux sponsor routines that he frequently tweaks, and the subtle changes are difficult to catch if you don’t listen to…

  • University of Iowa Physician Wins Lasker Award!

    University of Iowa Physician Wins Lasker Award!

    How about some good news? This just in, University of Iowa Physician-Scientist, Dr. Michael Welsh, wins the 2025 Lasker Award for his research on cystic fibrosis. His work and the work of two other researchers with whom he’ll share the award set the stage for the development of new drugs which saves the lives of…

  • History Lessons in the Ramshorn Journal

    History Lessons in the Ramshorn Journal

    I think I found a pair of articles from the mid-1970s in the Huston-Tillotson College Ramshorn Journal that might have a connection to each other, even though the authors didn’t know it at the time. One of them was written by yours truly and published in December of 1975, entitled “H-TC Sponsors Education Seminar.” The…

  • 24th Anniversary of 9/11 Attack on America: A Reminder of Our Connection to Each Other

    24th Anniversary of 9/11 Attack on America: A Reminder of Our Connection to Each Other

    I’m thinking about the upcoming commemoration of the 24th Anniversary of the 9/11/2001 attack on America. There will be the annual event in New York City. In Muscatine, Iowa, there will be the annual Patriot Day ceremonies sponsored by the City of Muscatine and the Muscatine Fire Department. After the morning ceremony, the Memorial Stair…

  • One More Time: Another Ramshorn Journal Editorial

    One More Time: Another Ramshorn Journal Editorial

    This is the 2nd editorial I wrote in 1975 about fraternities during my freshman year at Huston-Tillotson College (now Huston-Tillotson University, one of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities, HBCUs). There are a couple of misspelled words (“incidence” should be incidents; “altruish” should be altruism). On the whole, it’s a more developed piece than the…

  • I Was a College News Reporter After All

    I Was a College News Reporter After All

    It turns out I was a news reporter for the Huston-Tillotson College Ramshorn Journal after all! I wrote a few of them, including an editorial about Greek fraternity hazing in 1975. I’m including it in this post below. It has an apparent typo in it (“Motherhood” should be brotherhood). It’s typical for fired up freshman…

  • A Little Iowa Hawkeye Cribbage History

    A Little Iowa Hawkeye Cribbage History

    Sena played a couple of games of cribbage solitaire today and came within 8 points of making 121! And so that makes us both fans of this variation on cribbage. There was a little project I set for myself given that DeLynn Colvert’s book, “Play Winning Cribbage” has a section called Cribbage World Publication, which…

  • Cribbage Solitaire Inventor Lost in the Mists of Time?

    Cribbage Solitaire Inventor Lost in the Mists of Time?

    I just played 3 games of cribbage solitaire that I posted about in the last couple of days. I got to 4th street in 2 of them and got to 115 in one. I think getting to 121 is at least possible. You have 6 deals to get there and you need over 20 points…

  • Svengoolie Show: “The Curse of Frankenstein” No Laughing Matter

    Svengoolie Show: “The Curse of Frankenstein” No Laughing Matter

    The Svengoolie show last night was the 1957 Hammer production “The Curse of Frankenstein” starring the 3 stooges. Actually, this film was no laughing matter and this was my first time (and last time) seeing it. That’s not saying it’s a “bad” movie. It’s just tough to come up with anything comical to say about…

  • In Memory of Leonard Tow, Founder of the Tow Foundation and Humanism in Medicine

    In Memory of Leonard Tow, Founder of the Tow Foundation and Humanism in Medicine

    I just found out that Leonard Tow died on August 10, 2025. In humility, I express my gratitude and respect for his creation of the Tow Foundation, a big part of that being the Humanism in Medicine Award, of which I am one of the many recipients over the years. I hope this great tradition…