Welcome to the official website of Jim Brown - New Column appears each Monday!
This site is part of Brown Publications and The Lisburn Press
You are visiting my site on: September 7, 2024
30
Jul

College Friend Jim Reston Passes!

0
Jim Brown Audio Player
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

My good friend from college days at the University of North Carolina died recently. Jim Rushton wrote 18 books. He was a historian and novelist, and he provided a 96-page “interrogation” memo for David Frost’s TV interviews that prodded Nixon to admit, “I let the American people down” over Watergate.  He was a great athlete at Carolina, and still holds the record for scoring the most goals in a soccer match there.  We last visited in Linville, North Carolina on his book tour a year ago.  During our Carolina days, Jim and I would have dinner each evening at the Phi Delta Theta fraternity house. I wish our conversations had been recorded as we made a gallant effort to solve most of the world’s problems.  Jim was 82 years old and died of cancer.  I will sure miss my friend of 70 years.  To read his full biography, Click Here.

 

02
Sep

HAPPY NEW YEAR-IT’S FALL!

September 2, 2024
Jim Brown Audio Player
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Monday, September 2nd, 2024

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

HAPPY NEW YEAR-IT’S FALL!

 OK, Ok, I know it’s just early September.  But to me, autumn is in the air.  Sure it’s still hot in the deep South.  But there is a tinge of lower temperatures, leaves are slightly turning and we are witnessing a finality of harvest.  Yes fall is close at hand. And that means we have a whole host of new beginnings.

It’s a new school year for our kids and grandkids where we can share their excitement of new schools, new school books, new teachers, and new discoveries.  What a thrill as a grandparent to witness my grandkids making new encounters and growing in their relationships with both old and new friends. Even though I feel I was a pretty good father to my four children, grandkids give us a second chance.

And some brand new beginnings for football, football, and football. We all have high hopes for our favorite teams as the season kicks off.  Unfortunately, our LSU Tigers are off to rough start with a close loss in its opening game.  But there are many more Saturday nights in Tiger Stadium.

Yes, college football is special both here in Louisiana and all over the country. Every school is often unique, with its own pageantry, traditions, cheers and songs, and the rivalries that often go back many years.  No matter how bad the season was for your favorite team last year, it’s a new start and a fresh beginning with high hopes.

As a sidenote, let me tell you how insane and moneygrubbing college football has become. This is a real first too. Do you know that some colleges outfit all of the players’ helmets with a QR code where you can point your phone camera at the helmet, click a link, and then send money to a special NIL fund?  So you can sit in a restaurant 1000 miles away, and support your team’s players by pouring in the dollars. Just a new year and a new way to money grub for these players who are no longer amateurs, but have become just as much a pro as the players in the NFL.  Ah, the new world we live in.

One thing I miss is the turning of the leaves and the beautiful fall colors you see in other parts of the country. We have a family home up in the North Carolina mountains, and changing of the colors is just spectacular. It’s almost like a painter who takes his brush and paints each leaf a different color all over the mountains, surrounding us by a natural carpet of oranges, purples, yellows and browns.

I must admit I’m cold natured, and wear sweaters all year round. But it’s a special treat to put on heavier sweaters and warmer clothes.  And open fires.  Can you beat curling up in front of a roaring fire with a cup of hot chocolate, maybe apple cider or a hot toddy while the young ones roast marshmallows?

How about the special seasonal foods? Now I’m a pie guy. I like blueberry, cherry, and most any other kind of pies. But hands-down, at the top of the list, is pumpkin pie. My favorite is baked by my sister-in-law, but I have to admit the pumpkin pies at Costco’s are a close second. Their tasty pumpkin pie is simply orange heaven on a plate.

September arrives and a full, new season begins, I always anticipate the upcoming holidays with our families where we can often spend more time together. I love Halloween, seeing all the kids dressing up in their favorite costumes, and the bobbing of caramel apples. I just cannot back away from those caramelized goodies.

Then we come head long into the trilogy of holidays beginning with Thanksgiving, then reaching the Christmas milestone and culminating in New Year’s.  So much crammed into the few short months of autumn. This week, a special time begins. It’s a Southerner’s reward for having survived summer. I sure hope you are ready to soak it all in.  So Happy New Year.

Peace and Justice

Jim Brown

Jim Brown’s syndicated column appears each week in numerous newspapers throughout the nation and on websites worldwide. You can read all his past columns and see continuing updates at http://www.jimbrownusa.com.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leave a Reply

Weekly Cartoon

Order Jesus, Jews, Jihad and Me
by Clicking Here

DATELINE LOUISIANA PODCAST

To Listen, Click Here!

A provocative look at the deepest of the  deep southern states by two veterans of  Louisiana politics. Thoughts that are informative, candid, humorous, and  sometimes controversial about life in  one of the most interesting and rabble-rousing states in the nation.

To hear Jim Brown’s new regular podcast, Click Here.

JIM BROWN MERCHANDISE