Doris O'Brien is a retired college Speech teacher and banker. She has published two books of humor (Up or Down With Women's Liberation and Humor Me a Little) and for many years contributed light verse to the Pepper 'n Salt column of the Wall Street Journal. She is an avid writer of letters to the editors.
Doris celebrated her 50th wedding anniversary in the same year she welcomed her first grandchild. She now lives in Pasadena with a great view of the San Gabriel mountains — and the annual Tournament of Roses Parade.
She can be reached by e-mail: witsendob at (@) gmail.com
The Horse: From Arabia to Royal Ascot
"As for you, bending double with the very force of the effort you keep a tight rein on your team and with consummate skill wisely reserve them for the seventh lap. The others are busy with hand and voice, and everywhere the sweat of drivers and flying steeds falls in drops on to the field. The hoarse roar from applauding partisans stirs the heart, and the contestants, both horses and men, are warmed by the race and chilled by fear." more »
Monarchs: Getting Ready for the Fall Migration
Ferida Wolff writes: I found out that each butterfly species has a specific plant that the larvae feed on. And many of those plants, the milkweed included, are being cut down — to build houses, to construct roads, because of wildfires, illegal logging and deforestation of overwintering areas. On personal properties, they are often viewed as unwanted weeds. This is causing a decrease in the monarch population. more »
Death Takes a Policy: How a Lawyer Exploited the Fine Print and Found Himself Facing Federal Charges
Rhode Island prosecutors say that Joseph Caramadre is an unscrupulous con artist who engaged in identity theft, conspiracy and two different kinds of fraud. Prosecutors contend he deceived the terminally ill to make millions for himself and his clients. His criminal trial is scheduled to begin in November. more »
The Century of the Child: Contributions of women as architects, designers, teachers, critics, and social activists
"Our age cries for personality, but it will ask in vain, until we allow them to have their own will, think their own thoughts, work out their own knowledge, form their own judgements; or, to put the matter briefly, until we cease to suppress the raw material of personality in schools, vainly hoping later on in life to revive it again." more »
