Our back-to-school education section ran in today’s paper. (It’s available in PDF form at that link.) One of my contributions ended up getting cut in a last-minute putsch (it’ll run in the Texas Living section in a few days), but my other piece did run: Texas celebrities talking about the most important childhood class they took. The best answer prize goes to actor Larry Hagman (a.k.a. J.R. Ewing on the TV show Dallas): “Typing. That’s where the girls were.”

Caught the Democratic convention last night. Barack Obama is a real political talent.

Evel Knievel Pinball.

Stigmatics sometimes aren’t really stigmatics. Shocking, I know! My favorite fake stigmatist remains former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards, who during a 1980s campaign complained about the forces arrayed against him by smearing ketchup on his palms and assuming the crucified position at a press conference. Only in Louisiana could a state full of Catholics still elect him.

I’ve been half meaning to go visit old Edwin, who used to live about five miles from my house and is now in federal prison in Fort Worth. I could go bring him some crawfish.

28 July 2004



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Joshua Benton is the director of the Nieman Digital Journalism Project at Harvard University, among other things. Before that, he was a staff writer and columnist for The Dallas Morning News. (More.)

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