Will Hermes gives us Lou Reed in full: complicated, scandalous, arty, poetic, ambisexual, temperamental, a battler through critical and commercial disappointments.

Journey back — way, way back — to winters past, when prosperity came from harpooned whales, kids flew up and down frozen Hook Pond on skates with sails at their back, and the annual businessmen’s holiday promotion was a raffle for a free ton of coal. Here, season snippets from the pages of The Star evoke the sights, smells, sounds, and snowy pastimes of Decembers gone by.

Here’s Fireplace 101, in honor of chestnuts-on-an-open-fire season, with tips to help keep your burn safe, your wood dry, and your coziness level at the max.