A chance remark led me back to Walden I was urging revolution on a harassed friend and rummaged in my memory for Thoreau rsquo s remark about living boldly The line was on the tip of my tongue but would not leave it I picked up my copy of Walden and began browsing the many passages I had underlin
Margot Patterson
Margot Patterson has written for a variety of newspapers and magazines in the United States and abroad. Most recently, she worked for the National Catholic Reporter for seven years as Senior Writer and then Opinion and Arts Editor. She lives in the Kansas City area and is the author of Islam Considered: A Christian Perspective (2008).
Eye on Ecuador
President Rafael Correa emphasizes the rights of labor over capital.
Egypt’s July 4th
Going into the 4th of July weekend I look at the political turmoil taking place in Egypt and feel fortunate to have been born in a country that had its revolution 200 plus years ago and was led by men of such singular ability George Washington Benjamin Franklin John Adams Thomas Jefferson Jame
Big Brother is Watching. Should We Care?
Shortly after the suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings was arrested I went to some friends rsquo house for dinner We discussed the use of surveillance cameras to identify the two Tsarnaev brothers and speculated on whether other cities would be increasing their use of them Almost certainly w
Liberty or Death
The men in Guantánamo are bearing witness to the human need for dignity and freedom.
Joe Kennedy, Family Man
I didn rsquo t know a great deal about Joseph P Kennedy before I began reading about him and from the little I knew he seemed an unsavory character He had made a large fortune some of it possibly from bootlegging he was the U S ambassador to Great Britain from 1938 to 1940 and supported appeas
The Costs of War
The war in Iraq dramatically eroded the United States’ influence and standing in the world.
Portrait of a Lady
My mother was a great fan of Henry James. She kept his novels and essays in her bookcase along with books about the author and Leon Edel’s masterly five-volume biography, which she read end to end. I’ve always liked James too, though unlike true devotees I don’t adore his late work
Syria In Crisis: As protests continue, the specter of sectarian strife looms.
From 2011, Margot Patterson on the outbreak of sectarian strife.
