IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury The day’s twilight came with September at its best. My wife urged me to take Sailor, our rescue dog, on a walk around the block. So away we went, thankful for a cool breeze, gorgeous sunset and sidewalks. We chanced to walk alongside a next-block neighbor who posed a random-as-it-gets question: “Do you remember anything
Read moreIDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury It quickly became the perfect storm, powerful enough to make strong men cry. The same goes for strong women, too, but Kim Peacock, president of GNS Foods in Arlington, is doing her best to keep her family-owned specialty premium nut company afloat despite “blows to the bow” that might cause others to jump ship. Consider this:
Read moreIDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury Few emotional swings reach from the highest high to lowest low in a period of 60 hours. My wife Brenda and I celebrated our 54th wedding anniversary on August 12. Three days later, our oldest daughter, Julie Choate, succumbed to a pulmonary embolism. In a two-hour period, efforts to revive her failed; her airlift to
Read moreEditor’s Note: The oldest daughter of Don and Brenda Newbury died August 15. Following is a message from Don Newbury concerning the service, which will be livestreamed on Saturday, August 22. Don Newbury writes the weekly Idle American column that is published in several hundred newspapers and on Spirit of Abilene. Newbury is the retired president of Howard Payne University.
Read moreIDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury Wedged in my mind’s recesses are these eight simple words: “If you can make it there, go back.” They’re easy enough to understand, but application is a whole ‘nuther thing. These words captioned a cartoon a while back. It was drawn to warn folks relocating to New York City. Though probably not intended, the cartoon
Read moreIDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury They tried ever so hard to make Major League Baseball’s opening day seem as normal as possible, for the radio listener or TV viewer anyway. Globe Life Field in Arlington–the $1.2 billion enclosed structure barely completed for the scheduled home opener in March–languished for almost four months. When it finally opened, fans were denied admission.
Read moreIDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury Until mid-twentieth century, most American women had every right to sing “washday blues,” because one day of the week–for most, the longest day–was committed to washing, hanging out, ironing and folding the family duds. The day started with a trip to the laundromat, since most homes at the time were lucky to have indoor plumbing,
Read moreIDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury My late father, T. J. Newbury, was a grand story teller. Friends and neighbors in Early, Texas, gave him high marks for joke-telling, and so do I. Usually, hearty “ho-ho’s” erupted when the punch line was unleashed, but on the rare occasions when silence hung heavy and listeners looked blankly as if ghosts had been
Read moreIDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury It still lurks in my mind’s “crannies,” jumping to the forefront of my thoughts more often than I’d like. It was a single sentence–uttered by someone whose name I don’t know–imparting an important truth usually requiring paragraphs, chapters or even volumes. It was uttered in a large room where a few dozen people were scattered,
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