A 1769 advertisement, placed by Thomas Jefferson, in the Virginia Gazette, offering a reward for the return of an enslaved man named Sandy.

America at 250: The Racial Divide

Last week, I spoke at a symposium on race and the American Revolution. This essay is the result of my deliberations for that event and is one in a series of essays I’m writing reflecting on a range of issues as America approaches its 250th birthday.
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American flag at half-mast.

For Whom the Bell Tolls

Seeing flags at half-mast last week brought to mind the immortal passage from the great poet and scholar John Donne.
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Oxford University Graduation program.

There Will Always Be an England (I Hope)

Clay traveled to England last week to attend his daughter’s graduation ceremony, where she received her PhD from Oxford University. Oxford University Graduation program. I had the joy yesterday, Friday, November 7, 2025, of seeing my beloved daughter take her degree at the seventeenth-century Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford.…
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The Wrecking Ball Presidency

The demolition of the East Wing of the White House is a clear metaphor for our “CEO” president.
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The Latest in My Great 2025 Downsizing Campaign

Friends have encouraged me to downsize for well more than a decade. I’m making progress!
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The World of Error in a Galaxy of Facts

Clay ponders the “Truth Taser.” The best invention since the Veg-O-Matic?
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Natalia (Nat) and Michael (Mikey), two British school teachers, are currently on holiday in the US. They are canoeing over 3000 miles from Three Forks, Montana, down the Mississippi to New Orleans.

UPDATE: Two Brits and a Wee Paddle From Montana to New Orleans

Featured on our podcast last week, LTA followers have asked for an update in the saga of Nat and Mikey, a couple of Brits currently paddling from Montana to New Orleans.
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Inspired by Thoreau and the inevitability of time, Clay undertakes sorting through a six-decade collection of thousands of books.

My Adventures in Downsizing

After spending five or six decades buying books, an enormous number of books, I have begun to downsize.
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The Meriwether Lewis monument commemorates the gravesite of the co-captain of the Lewis and Clark Expedition along the Natchez Trace Parkway in Tennessee.

Visiting Meriwether Lewis’ Grave on the Natchez — The End of the Trail

Completing a year following the Lewis and Clark Trail, Clay visits the lonely gravesite where the 35-year-old Meriwether Lewis is buried.
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Author John Steinbeck at work.

Steinbeck: A Life of Moral Courage

While he avoided the public spotlight, John Steinbeck spent a life "in the arena" exhibiting great moral courage both in his writing and deeds.
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