It's been said that journalism is the first draft of history, and that might well be true, but it also has the capacity to inform and shape opinions, and ideas about the world around us; and, in the often murky world that we live in. Living in a country where news reporting has been dismissed as "fake news" it is important now more than ever, that those of us who do this, often isolated, work, remain committed to the cause of free speech.Getting closer to the point, albeit in a different genre was E.B. White who famously said, among other bon mots: "Writing is an act of faith, not a trick of grammar."Of course there is a cautionary note, as I once heard Jessica Mitford say, on the old "Dick Cavett" show, in an airily, and elegantly, dismissive remark, about another author's work:, "Oh, darling that's not writing, that's typing." In praise of all good writing we venture forth.What is featured here are samples of some of my more recent blogs, but don't show some of the older pieces written for Examiner due to their switch to entertainment , my links were relegated to the dead letter bin, or its tech equivalent. So, please be patient as the editing, for the time being, is a work in progress.Some day in the near future I will, with aid of a technological cicerone, unearth some of my even older pieces from the Michigan State News - truly an effort requiring help. Where is Sparty when I need him?