Columns

Seeing the world in black and white

This past Feb. 14, Frederick Douglass would have been 205 years old.  On the occasion of his birthday last month, more than 60 people gathered at Story & Song to learn more about Douglass, Black History Month and how white people can talk about race in a way that moves the conversation forward.

The power of a beautiful presence in a coarsening culture

From the time of Plato, goodness, truth and beauty — the three “transcendentals” — have been our reference points for what’s honorable and worthy of praise. We want to love and be loved because love is good. We believe the sun rises in the east because it’s self-evidently true.

One Book One Community 2023

The 2023 One Book, One Community (1B1C) program has officially kicked off. One Book One Community is a partnership between the Nassau County Public Library, Amelia Island Book Festival, The Book Loft and Friends of the Fernandina Beach Library.

Check out unique local merchants at the Saturday markets

The Fernandina Beach Market Place farmers market and the Fernandina Beach Arts Market will both be open in historic downtown on Saturday.

A new age is dawning in Fernandina Beach; new and young 

A youth movement has overtaken the city commission. Three, and sometimes four, younger commissioners are propelling the city in a bold new direction. A previous, tired direction was championed by older commissioners, with stale ideas.

Winning the Rolley Hole championship is finer than snuff

You folks 70 and older may remember coming in from grammar school with the knees of your britches a tad darker color than when you left home. Why? You’d probably played marbles during recess. If you’re 50 or younger, you don’t know what the heck I’m talking about.

1 smiley, 2 hands, 3 colorful hearts

I can speak full sentences in emojis. Would you know what I was talking about? We now have 21 new emojis that just arrived and are available for download on iPhone’s iOS 16.

Thinking positive in paradise

One of the nice things about retirement is that I have the time to sit with something nice to drink and stare out the window. That’s when my mind goes into a free fall, and thousands of totally unrelated thoughts race across my mind.

Reminiscing about growing up here

Several weeks ago, I was privileged to be part of a panel discussion about what it was like to grow up in Fernandina Beach. The group was made up of four alumni of Fernandina Beach High School, all from classes that graduated in the '60s and '70s, so our experiences were fairly similar.

Mirror mirror on the wall

If you happen to read my column on the regular, you may recall that several months ago, I embarked on a self-imposed self-help detox. My detox included all the inspiration I grew to depend on post-divorce - self-help books, podcasts, films, "Touched by an Angel" reruns, you name it.