Author: Ron Rozelle

  A few years ago as I was reading Katherine Graham’s Washington, the late Washington Post matriarch’s collection of various authors’ essays about the capitol city and its history, I came across an excerpt from an old book that means a lot to me.  It’s called Starling of the White House, the autobiography of Colonel … Continue reading A old friend that proved useful a second time

I bought a pickup truck, sight unseen, at a high school volleyball game back when our oldest daughter was on the freshman team.  Which would have been in the very early 1990’s.  Which would have made it, which was no spring chicken in truck years even then, probably an early 80’s model. I have no … Continue reading Let me tell you a story about a truck named Blue

Where do you stand on the subject of breakfast? Personally, I’m all in favor of it. Being a wordsmith devoted to words and their meanings, I especially like this one. It means, literally, to break one’s fast. To eat a little something — or a lot — after eating nothing at all during the night. … Continue reading break*fast (noun)

  About this time nine years ago my wife Karen and I headed for the hills of East Texas in order to give Hurricane Ike plenty of room.  Of course, he followed us up there like a trailer hooked to the car. But, enough about that. After the tempest erupted we drove into Palestine, the … Continue reading Why my life will never come full circle

Any stories that come out of Hurricane Harvey that strike lasting chords in readers will have to be just that: stories. I don’t mean stories in the mold of the weakest, most incorrect definition of the word, which roughly means telling lies for fun and profit. I mean stories that fulfill the term’s purest definition: … Continue reading Oh, the tales we’ll tell

  So, there I was almost a decade ago in this enormous private library the size of a gymnasium, surrounded by what seemed like acres of pristine, leather-bound first editions on miles of polished mahogany shelves, a plethora of priceless paintings and sculptures by old masters and a couple of massive world globes made in … Continue reading An odd question in an opulent library

Instead of trying to write about Hurricane Harvey, the rudest guest we’ve had around here for an awfully long time, I’ve opted to post the following piece I did for the Houston Chronicle and the Associated Press nine years ago, right after Hurricane Ike devastated Galveston. Here’s why: the prediction I  made back then about how … Continue reading Nine years later, Texas grit and spirit is still alive

    Let’s start  with a trivia question. In the movie “Casablanca,” how does Humphrey Bogart make his entrance? And extra points for what he is specifically doing. The answer will be provided in due course. Today’s title came from comedian Marty Feldman by the way, but no points for knowing that. It should, however, … Continue reading The pen is mightier than the sword, and easier to use

  We come now to the subject of lighthouses. Of course we aren’t exactly inundated with them where I live, on the Texas gulf coast.  The closest one to yours truly, over on Bolívar Point, has been privately owned for decades and isn’t open to the public. As a member of said public, I want … Continue reading A lonely, lofty perspective

A piece in the paper caught my attention a while ago, having to do with cemeteries and the sad though necessary business that is conducted there. USA Today, a publication I usually only read in motels or hotels that provide free copies with the breakfast buffet, had a story about people putting their cemetery lots … Continue reading Some real estate I’d rather put off using