One of the January staples of my career while at Men’s Health magazine was “new year, new you.” It was the idea that the turning of the year was a chance to start something fresh and unprecedented in one’s life. It drove incredible interest, starting on the 26th of December. The fascinating part was that … Continue reading ‘New year, new you’? Try ‘new year, OLD you’
Something from a few years back, getting out of my own tiny head … Continue reading Mother of Stars and Darkness
My family moved one town over, from Hazlet to Matawan, in 1973, when I was in first grade. It was a “made-it” kind of move, in 1973 terms. We moved from a modest home, where the dormer walls of my room slanted inward, to the model home in a newly built neighborhood. We had a … Continue reading The Most Amazing Person I’ve Ever Known Has Died
I was going through a photo album from 1968 made up of photos mostly taken by my father-in-law, and it was as if I was meeting him for the first time. Which, in some ways, I was. Charles Christopher Kirk died in 1974, when I was 9, Virginia was 12, and we were almost 15 … Continue reading Meeting My Father-in-Law, Who Died in 1974
A Piece of American Trivia As I browsed in a Hallmark store one day in the mid-nineteen-eighties, I found a card listing famous people who have the same birthday as me. I was startled when I saw my own name. My father had told me years before about the youngest governor in the nation who … Continue reading On Being Bill Clinton
My friend David Jack is one of the most inspiring people I know. He is a fitness professional whose work is deeply tied to his commitment to seeing people thrive spiritually and physically. He is huge—6–4 and lots of muscle—yet completely approachable. Kids love him. Adults love him. Katie Couric LOVES him. Most of all, Dave is curious—about … Continue reading Why Legacy Looks Forward, Not Back
This is a poem I wrote in 2014 as I felt I was coming around a bend and could see some re-assessments coming. Eight years later, it’s kinda true and kinda not. (Image credit: Photo by Mohammad Rezaie on Unsplash) I want to be a little old man. Concentrated, reduced, Like a sauce my … Continue reading I Want to Be a Little Old Man
