A brief primer on what white privilege is — and isn’t — When I first saw the term “white privilege” being used commonly in discussions on race, I assumed it meant I had it easier than people of color simply because I am white. …

Two other pilots beat him to it — Occasionally, circumstances conspire to rob me of my writing time. This is a circumspect way to say I was fully occupied by a couple of time-consuming projects, now completed. …

It’s not the ones who take firearms seriously, it’s the others — Just so we’re clear, I do not have a problem with responsible, legal gun owners who take firearms stewardship with deadly seriousness. I do not have a problem with most firearms owners who’ve served in the U.S. military or in law enforcement. I do not have a problem with those…

An air crash, a nightclub fire, Mike Royko and me — “Mom, what’s a curmudgeon?” asked 11-year-old me. I’m pretty sure I pronounced it “CARmudgeon” and I’m also pretty sure she didn’t correct me. This was long before smartphones and Google. “It’s kind of like a grumpy old man who just seems grumpy when, actually, he might be nice, underneath his…

Conservatives say mass shootings are a moral issue and they’re correct — In a darkly perverse way, it’s appropriate this one happened at a church. No, I’ll never be grateful for a mass shooting but there’s a moral to be had in this one — a moral in the most literal sense. As mass shootings go, the shooting at St. Stephen’s Episcopal…

The danger of an armed fantasy — I got mugged one night. It was nearing 3 a.m. and I was walking from my office to my apartment, a distance of probably 15 blocks. The entire trip lay within an urban downtown and, of course, a number of watering holes sat between my office and home. …

Sometimes the story lies in what a photograph DOESN’T show — This innocuous photograph could tell any of a thousand stories. A young woman seems to be alive with joy, moving to the beat of silent music emanating from the stage to which her upraised left hand gestures. It’s an ordinary moment, memorialized in a photo. But what you don’t see…

No answer to satisfy the masses I have been dreading writing this column, although I’ve known I had to write it eventually. My reticence stems not from an inability to sort my mind — on the contrary, I have strong and clear thoughts on the matter. But how can I respectfully write about a topic that…

Reflections on the blessings of Mothers’ Day A little over 21 years ago, my soon-to-be brother-in-law told me I was about to become a member of a very exclusive club. The club was shortly accepting its third and final member, as I married one of the three Nielsen girls. I was one of those eldest children who…