Ralph Branca was on the mound for the Brooklyn Dodgers in the Fall of 1951 for the deciding game with the then New York Giants to determine who would be the National League champions and play the Yankees in the World Series. In the bottom of the 9th inning, with Branca pitching, the Giants won…
A writer friend of mine once told me that everyone has at least one interesting story to tell. The fun, he said, is finding it. It’s a theory I try to put into practice whenever I indulge in long-distance train travel. And there’s plenty of opportunity because Amtrak dining cars feature community seating. If you’re…
The Encyclopedia Britannica will soon be no more, just one more print publication falling victim to the internet, I suppose. While that may give rise to some vague feelings of regret, I can never think of an encyclopedia without recalling a wonderful story related by Jim Becker, one of the great journalists and raconteurs of…