This fellow’s All-American. Wonder where he lives? Suppose you could come to this country and spend a day or two somewhere – one single place – that would fairly represent “Real America” a community that’s a microcosm of the whole, complex nation. Where might that be? The notion of a “Real America” has been in […]
All posts by Dora Mekouar
Texians
Posted October 24th, 2008 at 6:03 pm (UTC-4)
President Bush has frequently vacationed at his Prairie Chapel Ranch near Crawford. Like former President Ronald Reagan at his Western White House, Bush relaxes by clearing brush. On the January day that he becomes our former president, or soon thereafter, George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, will leave Washington for their ranch near tiny […]
Tags: American, Armadillos, Austin, Bush, George W., Dallas, Highways, Houston, Johnson, Lyndon and Lady Bird, Oil Exploration and Discovery, San Antonio, Ted, Texas, USA Posted in America, American Cities and Towns, American History, American States and Territories, Geography, Travel and Tourism, Miscellany and Whimsy, People (historical figures), People (living), Ted Landphair, Voice of America
N’Awlins
Posted October 17th, 2008 at 5:47 pm (UTC-4)
It’s been 23 years since I left New Orleans, and still, to quote the Eddie De Lange and Louis Alter song of half a century ago, I know what it means to miss “New Orleens.” Oh yeah, I know. This old postcard view captures the Pontalba Apartments, built by Baroness Michaela Pontalba, who also convinced […]
Old 11
Posted October 10th, 2008 at 3:14 pm (UTC-4)
Eighteen years ago during a short stint in management here at the Voice of America, I sent a superb reporter named Bill Torrey on a journey that I longed to make myself. As it turns out, my photographer-wife Carol M. Highsmith and I would later retrace a good deal of his route, to our deep […]
Featherisms
Posted October 6th, 2008 at 8:49 pm (UTC-4)
The other day I needed an aphorism, a nourishing nugget of wisdom, ideally couched in wry wit. I found some by the usual suspects: In this world, nothing can be said to be certain except death and taxes, by the brilliant statesman Benjamin Franklin, who slipped apt adages into his yearly Poor Richard’s Almanack. Always […]
Tags: American, Cleveland, Feather, Journalists, Ohio, Philosophy, Ted, USA, William Posted in America, American Cities and Towns, American Culture, Character and Values, American States and Territories, Communications, Media and Journalism, Language, People (historical figures), Ted Landphair, Voice of America
Ioway
Posted October 2nd, 2008 at 4:25 pm (UTC-4)
A while ago I walked down the hall and sprung a word-association test on three colleagues, chosen strictly by whom I ran into first. “I’ll name a U.S. state,” I told them, “and you tell me the first word that pops into your head.” The state was Iowa, and here’s what they blurted out: “Fields.” […]
Almost Heaven
Posted September 29th, 2008 at 5:01 pm (UTC-4)
Coonskin caps were warm accessories in the cold southern mountains. The raccoon’s tail, hanging down one’s back, might have been a fashion statement. Back when Hector was a pup, as my mother used to say in one of her imponderable expressions, I went spelunking — cave exploring — for the one and only time, somewhere […]
Where the West Begins
Posted September 25th, 2008 at 4:52 pm (UTC-4)
A family poses before their Custer County, Nebraska, sod house in 1886. A “soddie” was one of the few options on the plains, where trees were scarce. In “The Ballad of East and West,” Rudyard Kipling wrote what may be his most quoted line: “East is East and West is West, and never the twain […]
Tags: American, Cowboys, Fort Worth, Gateway Arch, Kansas, Kipling, Rudyard, Mississippi River, Ted, Texas, USA, West Posted in America, American Cities and Towns, American History, American Regions, American States and Territories, Geography, Travel and Tourism, People (historical figures), Ted Landphair, Voice of America
Ted’s Wild Words
Posted September 25th, 2008 at 1:00 pm (UTC-4)
Below are words and terms that I have highlighted and explained in Ted Landphair’s America postings. Additionally, if unusual English words or phrases interest you, you’ll enjoy the weekly VOA feature “Wordmaster.” You can read and listen as Avi Arditti and Rosanne Skirble explore American English. And for news and feature programs written especially for […]
Tags: Ted's Wild Words Posted in Ted Landphair
Bloggin’ in…
Posted September 22nd, 2008 at 8:30 pm (UTC-4)
Here and now, Ted Landphair, who writes twice-weekly Only in America essays on VOA’s American Life page, begins a blog designed to connect your curiosity about the United States with his experiences, insights and quirks gained from forty years of reporting. World, meet Ted, whom we affectionately call “Mr. America Without Muscles.” This was my […]
