Author Archives: Roy H. Williams
Flat Rock, Wide Pond
Every person is a collector, I think. Businesspeople collect money. Travelers collect places. Competitors collect shining moments. Insecure people collect conquests, panties hanging from the bedpost. Continue reading
Merry… I Don't Know
I’m a Merry Christmas person. Does that make me bad? “Happy Holidays” doesn’t carry quite the same exuberance for me as “Merry Christmas.” And I must shamefully confess that deep in my heart I still think of Navajos, Cherokees and Apaches as Indians. My publisher tells me there is no such place as the Orient &hellip Continue reading
Shining City, Troubled Sky
Do Creative People Have to be Self-Destructive? New York Times writer Samuel G. Freedman asks, “Can the forces that make you creative also kill you?” “Can you live with control and yet create free of restraint?” “Can you live enough of the dark side to tell the tale without becoming a casualty?” Freedman’s curiosity is &hellip Continue reading
What to Expect in 2012
“Added value” is the popular name for what’s included at no extra charge. But we are entering a time when it will no longer be sufficient to tell the world what you include and what you stand for. To hold the attention of the public in 2012 and beyond, you must identify what you leave out &hellip Continue reading
It's Aways Christmas at Wizard Academy
Man of La Mancha rocked Broadway in 1965 with its thundering theme song, The Impossible Dream. You remember that song, don’t you? It opens in soft reflection, “To dream the impossible dream… To fight the unbeatable foe…” but then it defies mortal gravity to rise heavenward on a column of fury like an old Apollo &hellip Continue reading
Life in the Clothes Dryer
Most people see life as a linear progression, a canoe ride on the river of time. The scenery passes. The sun rises and sets. Occasionally there is a storm. It’s a tempting metaphor because we often think of time flowing like a river and to see ourselves as passengers on that river is a natural &hellip Continue reading
The Happy Future of Education
Our system of education is built on the belief that learning is best achieved by bringing the best of the past forward through expert advice and clear example. Consequently, educators rise through the ranks like officers in the military: through compliance and conformity to the norm. But in this era of quantum change, are we really best &hellip Continue reading
The Old is New Again
Storytelling is gaining momentum. Open-mic nights are the hot ticket in Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit and New York with people lining up two hours before show time to hear storytellers tell stories. Let’s look at the reasons why: “Storytelling is human connection at its most primal form,” says Catherine Burns, artistic director for the storytelling &hellip Continue reading
Pearl Was a Bit of a Whore
Pearl was a bit of a whore. We never kept her in a fence So she had puppies at least once a year. She was a good mother. Abandoned in the country, starving, We found her when I was in third grade. She knew she was my dog immediately. God help you if you got &hellip Continue reading
Woody Justice
Jeweler to Southwest Missouri for 30 years, is Gone. A stroke took him quietly as he worked alone in his private office at home. Woody’s interest in gemology took him from adolescent rock collector to rare stone expert at the Gemological Institute of America prior to moving to Springfield. Famous for his radio ads saying, &hellip Continue reading
