Thursday, February 25, 2016


Flying from San Diego to New Orleans by way of Seattle today (don't ask)provided some of the best time an old retired guy has had in a long time for reading…  No bicycle or gym to interrupt the flow of time today.  I confess that I can’t get myself out of the habit of analyzing stories or other pieces of writing as if I’m going to present them/it to a group of 18-year-old students who want to be effective writers.  Today I picked up the April 2016 Motor Trend magazine and was reminded that some race car drivers and other racing enthusiasts are a better bunch of writers than average Joes and Janes out there in the writing world.  I was so impressed by a piece by Jonny Lieberman that I’m going to keep the magazine and send it to a Eric Johnson, a younger friend of mine who is still teaching high school English.  Lieberman’s piece about three cars is a masterpiece of writing.  I read it twice and will probably will read it again before I send the magazine on to Eric.  The second time through was even better than the first.  I slowed down and appreciated the handling of language the way Lieberman handled the three cars and then wrote about his driving experience.  The three cars were the Dodge Viper ACR, the Porsche 911 GT3 RS, and the Chevrolet Corvette Z06.  Wow!  I’d like to have a group of students read “Track Day Bros” and tell me what is good about them. Of course, the students would want to know why I’m riding a bicycle to school or why on Fridays I’m driving a Chevy Spark and why I’m not driving the Viper, the Porsche, or the Corvette…  

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