Category Archives: america

Diversity

November 25, 2020 – 12:34 am

My father’s side of the family came over on the Mayflower. My Irish Nana sailed across the Atlantic on a cow boat from Ireland. My older sister’s husband is Jewish. My younger sister is married to an African American with Indian blood. My next-door neighbors in my old hometown were Neapolitans who emigrated from Argentina. […]

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Honest To Goodness Patriot

November 22, 2020 – 9:24 am

“I didn’t vote for him but he’s my president, and I hope he does a good job.” John Wayne – On John F. Kennedy’s election Disgruntled GOP voters should learn from that as well as Democrats. We are one. e pluribus unum. Latin for ‘out of many one’. ps Donald Trump has never been my […]

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APOCALYPSE NOW AND THEN by Peter Nolan Smith

November 10, 2020 – 1:56 pm

In 1968 I lied about my age and tried to enlist in the Marines soon after my 16th birthday. My mother refused to sign the papers. The Tet offensive fed her doubts about the final outcome of the Vietnam Conflict. Boys were returning in coffins, wheelchairs, or hooked on heroin. Returning soldiers were portrayed as […]

By Peter | Also posted in 70s, politics, semi-fiction, War | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

Map for Kerouac’s ON THE ROAD

October 13, 2020 – 9:02 pm

This map from Jack Kerouac’s diary detailed his hitchhiking across the USA in 1947. His itinerary included more stops than the classic hit ROUTE 66 sung originally by Nat King Cole. New York City, Chicago, Davenport Des Moines, North Platte, Cheyenne, Denver, Laramie, Salt Lake, Reno, San Francisco, Madera, Fresno, Selma, Los Angeles, Prescott, Albuquerque, […]

By Peter | Also posted in 50s, Books, hitchhiking, myth | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Guns Are USA

February 15, 2020 – 9:47 pm

In 1980 my firend Carmine slid a .38 across the table of John’s Italian Restaurant. I looked at it for a few seconds, the asked, “What’s this?” “A gun,” said the Sicilian plumber. “For what?” “For protection. This is the East Village.” Junkies ruled the streets, thieves plagued the unknowing, and project thugs roamed the […]

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