Author Archives: Roger Wright

Staring hard into the deepest night of the Wisconsin forest, wondering if I had become like Barry just after he and Pam had bought the tiny cluster of simple, screened in cabins on the deserted beach in Tortola where, word … Continue reading →

“Listen hard,” I asked all ten of them sitting around the table. “What’s the first thing you hear?” “Guy playing the piano.” several of them said at once. “What else? Listen again.” This time the woman heard it. “There’s somebody … Continue reading →

Ronnie Gilbert Tribute Continue reading →

Five years ago today. The BP oil spill. And if you had even the most remote connection to the rhythm and rock water soul of the earth, you wept. Because it was as if we, all of us, had taken … Continue reading →

Algren and deBeauvoir and an MRI Machine while Phil Ochs explains it all. Continue reading →

Good Friday everywhere. And a very young June Carter and Johnny Cash. Continue reading →

It’s in history books now. And my Mom was there. A young preacher from South Carolina named Jesse Jackson arriving in Chicago, to see blocks and blocks of brutally burned out buildings on the west and south sides of the … Continue reading →

A tired grey morning rain, boarding the elevated train in Chicago, reaching up to grab the strap, standing shoulder to shoulder. She shoots a fast glance as the train lurches forward and our shoulders touch. Decides I’m safe. Leans down … Continue reading →

“How did it end? Make your own damn ending. I don’t remember. And if this picture fades to black, does the ending even matter?” Inside a no name neighborhood tavern of smoke and memories. An empty Chicago Street in a … Continue reading →