“First determine that the thing can and shall be done and then we shall find the way. – Abraham Lincoln As we go to press, we learn that Lincoln received 12 Oscar nominations – more than any other film this year. It’s timely then, that we feature Daniel Day-Lewis on our cover. Day-Lewis is an incredible actor who first came to prominence in a triumph-over-adversity movie … [Read more...] about The First Word: Finding the Way
First Word
The First Word: Arch of Triumph
“[The Arch] is a soaring curve in the sky that links the rich heritage of yesterday with the richer future of tomorrow." – Vice President Hubert Humphrey at the opening of the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. The day was hot and humid and late in the afternoon the skies darkened and you could not see the Arch from the hotel window. By 6 p.m. the tornado alarm siren went off and we … [Read more...] about The First Word: Arch of Triumph
The Last Word: Stand With the Sisters
Mary Pat Kelly looks at the Vatican’s latest censorship move to silence American nuns. I am shocked and heartsick at the Vatican’s action to censor the nuns. I know a lot of nuns, I was one myself for six years. Nuns are the wise women of our tribe. We cannot let the Vatican throw them under the bus. I wrote about a visit to the Mother-house of my order, the Sisters of … [Read more...] about The Last Word: Stand With the Sisters
The First Word: The Spirit of America
A letter from our Editor: As I write this the world outside my window is peaceful. It’s Sunday so the construction that happens on weekdays is stopped and though I actually enjoy watching the men at work, doing manly stuff, digging and endlessly moving things about, I’m glad of the quiet. (New York is always reinventing itself. “Our country is so new that we watched it being … [Read more...] about The First Word: The Spirit of America
The First Word: Imagine Ireland
“An Irishman’s heart is nothing but his imagination.” – George Bernard Shaw (John Bull’s Other Island) Gabriel Byrne says that the line between reality and imagination is very thin. I concur. Perhaps it’s because my father filled my head with stories of banshees and haunted fields with gates that never stayed shut. Perhaps it’s simply the beauty of the Irish countryside – … [Read more...] about The First Word: Imagine Ireland