• Murmur and Block

    A few months ago while researching the documentary film, Indelible, I met someone who shared two short memories with me about his time in prison. He described an evening when he arrived on a bus to his new home in Walla Walla, Washington. He had noticed how the prison building looked as the road came… Continue Reading

  • Be the Change You Want to See

    The title of this post is a quote from Gandhi. It inspired a man from Ireland, Mark Boyle, to live without money for one year. He has never been happier. You can read his story here. i too was inspired by Gandhi’s words to undertake the development of Indelible, research based on my father’s initial efforts… Continue Reading

  • John Berger and his Nomadic Seeing.

    “The past is very present to me and has been for a very long time. I first became aware of this quite intensely when I was a teenager, because of the First World War. You see, I think that the dead are with us….What I’m talking about now is a very ancient part of human… Continue Reading

  • The U.S. Torture of American Dianna Ortiz

    In this video, American Dianna Ortiz, a catholic nun, discusses her experience with her colleagues. Here Ortiz is more transparent about both telling her experience of being tortured in Guatemala by police and a torture squad which was informed, funded, and managed by American personnel. And she describes how when she attempted in good faith… Continue Reading

  • As Americans and Patriots: We do our best.

    “I know what few U.S. citizens know: what it is to be an innocent civilian, and to be accused, interrogated, and tortured, to have my own government eschew my claims for justice and actively destroy my character because my case causes political problems for them. I know what it is to wait in the dark… Continue Reading

  • I Dreamed I Met Phil Ochs Last Night

    Video above: Phil Ochs singing “There But for Fortune”, in 1964. As Phil Ochs became more politically effective, he encountered increased pressure from authorities, including, having his voice-box crushed by thugs, so he could no longer sing. Following the roots of the lyrics… Earlier I posted a version of this lyric structure, created for Claire… Continue Reading

  • I Dreamed I Saw Claire Culhane Last Night

    Claire Culhane was a tireless activist and author who worked fearlessly for the rights of others. She lived and worked in Canada. In 1979, she began a long correspondence with Carl L. Harp, whose life and wrongful death is the subject of my current project, Indelible. Claire helped to edit and obtain the publishing of… Continue Reading

  • To Follow Instinct

    An interview with reporter Seymour Hersh on the path he took to tell the story of the massacre at My Lai, in Vietnam, 47 years ago. He said no major newspaper would touch the story. He didn’t blame them. He said they just could not believe it really happened. And so he took a different… Continue Reading