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Barbara Falconer Newhall

Veteran journalist Barbara Falconer Newhall riffs on life as she knows it.

  • A CASE OF THE HUMAN CONDITION
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ON THE FUNNY SIDE

Need some levity? Read on!

My Long-Lost Dead Ancestors — I Found Them in a Parking Lot

August 18, 2016 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

The 1600 block of Minneapolis's Seventh Avenue South where my long-lost dead ancestors once lived is now a parking lot fronted by high rises. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Yes, you can locate your long-gone ancestors. You can pin them down to an exact place. Sometimes it’s a parking lot. Read more.

My Big Brother Loves Me — The Cataract Chronicles Continued

August 7, 2016 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

In 1962, when Barbara Falconer Newhall returned from summer in Europe with souvenirs for family. Barbara Newhall photo

When my big brother saw me without glasses for the first time in a half century, his reaction took me by surprise. Read more.

Is That a Fibonacci Blooming in Our Yard?

July 14, 2016 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Purple columbine blossoms in our rock garden in spring. A fibonacci number expressed. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Is ours a strictly mathematical universe? Are those columbines blossoming in our garden just a string of fibonacci numbers? Read more.

Write Another Book? I Dunno . . .

June 9, 2016 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

The Bay Area Book Festival was held June 4 & 5, 2016 in Berkeley, California. Rob Bell signed copies of his "How to Be Here." He talked about -- write another book? Photo by Barbara Newhall

Write another book? I don’t mind the writing. What’s giving me pause is the grueling, humiliating work of promoting the darned thing once I’ve written it. Author Rob Bell had some advice. Read more.

Jesus Was a Loser — Does That Make Donald Trump a Winner?

May 26, 2016 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Barbara Falconer Newhall with Scott Dikkers, editor of "Trump's America: The Complete Loser's Guide" at Book Expo America 2016. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Jesus was a loser who couldn’t keep his hair out of his eyes. That’s satirist Scott Dikkers channeling Donald Trump in his new — very funny — book “Trump’s America: The Loser’s Guide.” Read more.

Scaling the Mighty Willis Tower — With My Acrophilic Husband

May 15, 2016 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

View of Lake Michigan and downtown Chicago from the Willis Tower, Chicago. Photo by Barbara Newhall

The 108-story Willis Tower is my husband’s kind of place. I first noticed Jon’s acrophilia early in our romance, when we took a trip to Europe. Read more.

Oakland Tribune: The Trib Is Dead, Long Live the Tribbers

May 5, 2016 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

On April 4, 2016, former employees of the Oakland, California, Tribune, had a wake in honor of the paper's last day of publication. Photos by Barbara Newhall

The Oakland Tribune is dead. But dozens of Trib staffers live on. On the California paper’s last day, they gathered for a wake. Read more.

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ON THE FUNNY SIDE

The Rhetorician in the White House — Or, How I Learned to Love the Passive Voice

Barack Obama at pyramids during 2009 cairo visit.

The passive sentence gets a bad rap — it’s weak, it’s vague, it’s passive. But sometimes a neatly turned passive sentence is just what our ever-shrinking world needs. Obama’s Cairo speech is an example. Read more.

MORE "ON THE FUNNY SIDE"

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TO MY READERS

Please feel free to share links to my posts with one and all and to quote briefly from them in your own writing, remembering, of course, to attribute the quote to me and to provide a link back to this site.

My Oakland Tribune columns, btw, are reprinted by permission of the Trib. With the exception of review copies of books, I do not accept ads or freebies of any kind. Click on the "Contact" button if you have questions. Enjoy!

 

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