Tagged: Authors

"Spring Early", a short story by Yellow Springs writer Scott Geisel, that appears in the newly released anthology Christmas Stories from Ohio,  published by Kent State University Press. It appears alongside stories by Paul Laurence Dunbar, Nikki Giovanni, Langston Hughes, James Thurber and many other Ohio writers.

The story is read by Mary Donahoe, a long time Yellow Springs resident and a teacher-arts professor at Wright State University for many years.

Euphemistic language is a staple of polite conversation. We use euphemisms to dance around delicate subjects. We say someone has "passed away" when we don't wish to say that they have died. We refer to the "restroom" when we don't want to say that we are headed off to the toilet. The term "friendly fire" is a military euphemism for the unfortunate occasions when soldiers have killed their fellow soldiers by mistake.

Only two American presidents have ever endured an impeachment trial: Andrew Johnson, and Bill Clinton. One other president, Richard M. Nixon, resigned from office before the terms of his impeachment could be drawn up.

Andrew Johnson was Abraham Lincoln's Vice President. After Lincoln was assassinated, Johnson became President. Those were strange times. Lincoln was a Republican. Johnson had been the only southern U.S. Senator who opposed the secession by the southern states which led to the Civil War. Johnson was a southern Democrat. He didn't have any major quibbles with slavery.