Russell Frank
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Move the Bench!
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We met up with friends on Allen Street for some arts festing last Thursday afternoon. We were between downpours, which meant it was hot and humid. The benches in the shade were occupied. The benches in the sun had vacancies. A couple of us grabbed a seat while, on stage, Richard Sleigh and Jerry Zolten…
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Yes, Baseball’s Faster, But It’s Also Louder
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You know you’re losing it when you yell at the TV. I’d watch a pitcher gaze at his catcher like he’s pondering “Guernica” at MOMA, and I’d say, loud enough for my voice to carry over the airwaves to wherever the game was being played, “Throw the friggin’ ball!” He would when he was good…
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Imagine Crossing Borders Illegally, by Yourself, at Age 14
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THESSALONIKI, GREECE — I used to balk at letting my three teenagers go on sleepovers, so I have a hard time comprehending how Omer’s and Shahzaib’s parents gave them permission to journey, alone, overland via Iran and Turkey, the 3700 miles from Pakistan to Greece. Omer was 15 when he left his village in 2016.…
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Buck Wilde: The Kid from Bald Eagle Valley Who Hangs with Wolves
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Buck Wilde was dozing under a tree on the Alaska Peninsula. When he opened his eyes, Mosquito, big as a Great Dane, was staring him in the face. It was a reunion, of sorts. Buck, a wildlife photographer and guide, and his client, Swiss wildlife photographer Esther Gossweiler, had met Mosquito, a handsome, nearly white…
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I’ve Found My Role Models
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If my wife and I manage to live long enough, I want us to be like Lefty and Connie McIntyre: full of good cheer, grateful for the way their lives have turned out and still very much in love. The McIntyres are in their 90s. When Connie joins Lefty and me in the sunroom of…
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Hail and Farewell, Class of 2023!
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Between COVID and, before that, maybe a touch of commencement fatigue, I hadn’t been to a Penn State graduation ceremony since at least 2018. And when I dug a necktie out of deep storage on Saturday morning, I hadn’t worn one since I was invited to a reception at the American Consul General’s residence in…
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A Mystery Set in Centre County – Almost 200 Years Ago
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Here’s a line from a recently published book: “Toads trilled in the mill ponds strung out along Spring Creek, the stream that gushed forth from the Big Spring, around which the town of Adamant had grown.” If that sounds like Bellefonte until you get to the name of the community, it’s because in the world…
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Zapocalypse: What’d You Lose When the Lights Went Out?
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You probably know that in the event of a power outage or a whopper storm that could cause an outage, you should unplug your electronics. What you may not know is that you should also unplug appliances you may not think of as electronics, like washing machines, air conditioners – anything that’s got computer circuitry…
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Do Not Ask for Whom the Piano Falls
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While I was in Mexico City over spring break, I had a beer at a brew pub called The Falling Piano. The name spoke to me. It’s how I talk about the D-word. Instead of saying, “when I die,” I say, “when I’m crushed by a falling piano.” It turns my demise into a cartoon,…
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About Those Two Nice Women Who Helped Me Wipe the Bird Poop Off My Shirt
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We are walking on a tree-lined path through one of Mexico City’s spiffiest neighborhoods when I feel wetness on the back of my neck. The liquid on my hand, on my hair, on my neck, and all over my shirt, is brown. This was either a large bird with serious gastrointestinal problems or the time…