The unrest in cities coast to coast overnight Friday, and the governor of Minnesota’s mobilization of the National Guard, and Trump’s invocation of “vicious dogs” and “ominous weapons,” drove me to my backyard shed, to dig out from a plastic tub an unpublished essay...

“Hey there, Rip Van Winkle,” said Dennis Rea, my guitarist friend, by way of greeting as I stepped out onto my front porch. He was standing outside the gate, wearing a mask and holding up a small brown paper bag. In the bag was a mushroom log, maybe eighteen inches...

One consequence of having traveled as much as I have is that you lose the ability to hold yourself aloof, because you make friends and gain a measure of ground-level understanding of their circumstances. Thus, for example, knowing Haiti as I do – having traveled there...