Sixto Rodriguez, the Detroit singer and songwriter, died on August 8, 2023. He was 81 years of age. What follows is a short essay I wrote about him in July, 2012, the day after seeing the preview of the documentary film about his life entitled “Searching for Sugar Man.” The article was never published. I […]
A Small Slice of Private Life
For a few years in the late 1970s and early 1980s, I had the good fortune to be in a relationship with Clem Maharaj, a former jazz drummer from Trinidad whose mother had taken the precaution of sending him to Europe in a suit made of flame-resistant fabric. This fireproof suit occupied a large space […]
National Past-Time
Let’s just get this out of the way first: Rob Manfred is a weasel. In case you don’t know, Manfred is the commissioner of Major League Baseball, and, while you would think a love or even enjoyment of the game would be a prerequisite for the job, one can only conclude that he hates baseball. […]
Why I burned the Mediatheque…
Introduction On June 27, 2023, 17 year old Nahel Merzouk was driving a car in Nanterre, a suburb of Paris, when two motorcycle cops stopped him. One of the passengers said that an officer threatened Nahel, “Don’t move or I’ll put a bullet in your head.” Both officers struck him through the open window of […]
5 Seconds
5 seconds give or take. That’s all that is required for Alec Baldwin to disrupt your life. It was a normal day. I had stepped inside the corporate pharmacy to purchase a feminine hygiene product for my then partner. The cornucopia of options left me daunted and she had given no further instruction. I find […]
Let the Blood Moon Shine
Review of When the Moon Turns to Blood by Leah Sottile Twelve Books, 2022, $15.99 – 320 pages Over a decade ago, I came across a fascinating story about whom Vice News had dubbed the “Mormon Mansons”. The LeBaron Family is certainly a frightening bunch, a polygamist sect about 5 schisms removed from the Church […]