Breakfast At Denny’s
/I’m 78 years old. And still learning.
Like most Baby Boomers, I’m navigating a digital world with an analog-trained mind.
Every day brings another small …
By Don Gardiner
Read MoreWriting Gallery
Background Shadows
/…musical career began with John Mellencamp. Over the years, his guitar talent was merged with musicians including John Prine, Steve Earle, Bonnie Raitt, Rosanne Cash, Carl Perkins, James McMurtry, Mitch Ryder, Lou Reed, and John…
By Don Gardiner
Read MoreGive Em Hell Mel
/A fun memory from my childhood.
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I woke up excited on the morning of December 1, 1963. America was still reeling from the assassination of President Kennedy just nine days earlier. The nation’s spirit had been shaken, and like many others, I welcomed any…
By Don Gardiner
Read MoreCoach Cool
/A personal memory of how a single incident can change life’s trajectory.
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Many years ago, I stopped into Roederer’s Tavern in Burlington, Iowa, for a quick Pabst. To my surprise, sitting there at the bar was the former Burlington Junior College basketball coach Ed Sparling. Back in the late 1960s…
By Don Gardiner
Read MoreSign Said: No Colored Allowed
/George Blackwood's empathy for the struggles of Black Americans began in his childhood in Gates, a small community in western Tennessee named for Revolutionary War General …
By Don Gardiner
Read MoreFlower Power
/…joined the Burlington, Iowa Jaycees in 1974. The organization’s mission was to help young adults develop leadership skills and business connections. It was also just plain fun to be…
By Don Gardiner
Read MoreWlid About Harry
/…family in Madison, Iowa was two uncles. Larry, who owned a tavern near the waterfront called the Do Duck In. A watering hole frequented by bowlers during the week, hunters and fishermen on weekends and CB&Q railroad workers (whose locomotive shop was located…
By Don Gardiner
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