Former Steelworker Saddened on Lake Superior
By Ted Heck The ferry boat had just risen 21 feet in the locks at Sault Ste. Marie in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, as we passed from Lake Huron to higher and larger Lake Superior. So this is what Miss Early was talking about in fourth grade geography 74 years ago. But what caught my […]
The York of Yore
By Ted Heck We Americans can boast with equanimity about our English heritage that was recently celebrated with the 400th anniversary of the settling of Jamestown. Citizens of the walled city of York in northeast England wouldn’t be impressed. They can go back in time 20 centuries and more, with a rich history that transcends […]
The Edifices of Edinburgh
By Ted Heck It had been 62 years since I first visited Edinburgh. The Scottish capital had gotten younger, with more spiked hair, face jewelry and tight jeans on the streets than we would see at a Britney Spears concert—if we were silly enough to attend one. Perhaps older folks among the city’s nearly five […]
Bed and Breakfast and Beyond Smiling Service in the English Countryside
By Ted Heck Richard Stewart of Keswick, a charming village in England’s famed Lake District, is more gregarious than a gaggle of geese. He has the right temperament to be host of a bed and breakfast with his significant other Linda Williamson. Connie and I found their Dunsford guest house in Rick Steves’ excellent guide […]
What Would Avery Brundage Say?
By Ted Heck The Olympics in China are about to distract me from nightly fixes of Law and Order and print media is awash with more information about athletes than I can absorb. NBA basketball star LeBron James, destined to become a legend, is on the cover of TIME magazine, which highlights 100 American sport […]
Skiing Along the Nile
By Ted Heck Reprinted from Harrisburg Patriot News Tutankhamun did not ski and probably never saw snow, according to Achmed, our guide during a recent trip to Egypt. Teenage King Tut might have tried sandboarding, if the sport had been invented back in 1331 B.C. and if his advisors had allowed him to. Egyptians do […]
Cézanne’s Mountain Revisited
By Ted Heck It was a lot more comfortable seeing paintings of Mont St. Victoire this time than when I first saw the real thing 64 years ago. This time it was in a special exhibition of Paul Cézanne’s work and his influence on later painters, a show that attracts crowds to Philadelphia’s Museum of […]
San Diego…Sea and See Worthy
By Ted Heck It took me only 88 years and $3,000 to get from Philadelphia to San Diego. Long ago I wanted to visit the seaport in Southern California, after watching movies of World War II sailors and soldiers moving in and out of the harbor, kissing wives and girlfriends on the dock. Years later […]
Phone Tapping in Germany
Tea Party members or Obama fans are focused on the hubbub surrounding the National Security Agency’s world-wide phone tapping. When I first learned how disturbed German Chancellor Angela Merkel was by NSA’s nosiness, my mind flew back 61 years to a sports incident in which talk about eavesdropping almost cost me my job. It involved […]
The Butte’s Grand Recovery
By Dick Healy They were finishing up Crested Butte’s fourth annual Slush Huck competition on April 1st, the fifth and final day of our recent stay at this idyllic western resort. An exciting event is highlighted by the pond skimming competition, with skiers/riders of all ages attempting to skim across some 116 feet of ice-cold […]
