Guestwords

A marathon story-shaping Freedom Forum at Stony Brook University on Saturday is dedicated to the memory of Marcelo Lucero, the Ecuadorean immigrant who was stabbed to death in Patchogue in 2008.

It’s the rhythm of the natural world that keeps us grounded, and what we need most in desperate times. That’s what I came to understand when I was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer.

I doubt Roy was thinking “last time” on Jan. 2, 2010, as he walked down the driveway of the Montauk house where we had shared 36 years of summers and weekends. But that’s just the thing about the last time: Plans don’t matter.

I loved my nirvana on the corner where I savored chance encounters with all comers — locals, tourists, art and film mavens, even an occasional boldface name. But then began my maiden skirmish in N.Y.C.’s internecine war over booze.

The sight of the local farm stand bounty conjures a sense memory of an early fall in Indiana, and the stovetop follies of a group of friends.

It’s a mistake to allow police officers to sue the families of children or adults who have mental illness when something goes wrong after a 911 call. This may set a precedent the consequences of which could be a reluctance to make the call in the first place or even lost work because of time in court.

A survey by the Pew Research Center observed that 63 percent of Jews say they’re either “fairly certain they believe in God” or are in some place of nonbelief or questioning. Unless we have an honest an conversation about spirituality, this “God gap” will continue to widen.

The Global Climate Strike, a weeklong demonstration that starts Sept. 20, offers a chance to reflect on ethical choices we can make to do what’s right for nature and animals while we can still make a difference.

The first time I did a half-mile open water swim I came in last and was the only one without a wetsuit. At my age, why would I possibly want a wetsuit?

Labor Day weekend is always bittersweet.

A retrospective for the most misunderstood artist of the 20th century.

On an August night 53 years ago, teenybopper screaming subsumed every sound. Then teenybopper weeping filled the giant soup bowl that was Shea Stadium. I wonder why we went?

The Broadway legend offered encouragement to a young composer and conductor, and it stuck with her for a lifetime.

I’ve watched Tom Wolfe at a church bazaar, was elbow to elbow with Bianca Jagger at the video store, browsed books with Billy Joel, shopped for antiques with Martha Stewart, and saw Candice Bergen outside Citarella. I admit it, whenever I see someone famous, I go a little goofy.

Playing Major League Baseball might have been my dream come true. Or my death sentence.

As social workers and educators, the lens through which we consider the migrant and refugee is deeply rooted in humanistic values and a faith-based tradition of welcoming strangers. Whatever your view of the immigration “debate,” it is imperative to acknowledge each person’s dignity as a human being.

When Memorial Day approached, my thoughts turned to Henry David Thoreau. Like him, I “want but little.” Where better to get in touch with nature and contemplate the meaning of life than our house in the Hamptons?

Despite two failed marriages, I still loved men. The way they smell. The way they see life. The way it feels to kiss them. I knew I couldn’t find myself on a diet of self-help, yoga, and girlfriends, as much as I love those things. The naked truth was that I needed men to get over the men who’d let me down. In fact, I needed a lot of them. 

“UFO Sightings Desk Reference,” a county-by-county compilation of saucer sightings in all 50 states, ranked Suffolk County as number one, with 554 U.F.O.s reported from 2001 to 2015. Here are some of the most notable sightings over East Hampton and Montauk.

There’s an old saying that comedy equals tragedy plus time. Which must be why bad house guests are much funnier (after the fact) than good guests. All I know is they’re much more fun to write about than actually live through.

The humble, lovable box turtle, a methodical, omnivorous, unmistakable symbol of slow-and-steady, was once far more common on the East End, but this unique local animal is far from being a lost cause.

Make no mistake, the Hudson Valley is beautiful territory. I’ll match the sunsets we see from our deck with the best Santa Fe has to offer. But touting the region as “the Hamptons North,” as The New York Times did? That’s a covered bridge too far.

It’s coming up to 50 years, the start of gay liberation. The big celebration happens where it all started, the Stonewall Inn on Christopher Street in New York, where the gays finally fought back, but what if the late-June hoopla moved a block and a half away?

The heated debate about the social justice component of the Green New Deal will run up against the scientific arguments regarding climate change and raise serious questions about how and on what basis environmental policy is developed.

It’s 1975, I’m 16 years old, and one day I’m going to write a great book, “How to Understand Students.” It’ll help clueless adults in encouraging kids to read — the good stuff, exciting and cool books that relate to our lives.

Reading the subtitles of a film or a television series sounds as if it betrays the essence of the medium itself, telling stories through dialogue rather than showing them through visuals. But there are benefits to your divided attention. Read on.

My fellow inmates knew I was a 75-year-old college professor who owned a farm sanctuary and was in jail to protest the New Jersey bear hunts. Several told me they didn’t necessarily agree with me, but they respected me for acting on my convictions.

Too many leaders, from Donald Trump to Theresa May to Vladimir Putin, see international relations as an adversarial zero-sum game, and yet the interdependent networks of globalization are not so easily undone.

Twenty-nine years have passed since Nelson Mandela completed his “long walk to freedom.” So what’s new in the rainbow nation of South Africa? A lot. And a lot’s the same.

For the dentally challenged, a brotherhood and sisterhood long unrecognized, here are some creative cookery solutions, a roadmap of good eating and good nutrition.