My 78th Birthday Card to Tom Seaver — It’s November 17, 2022, and Tom Seaver would have been 78 years old today. When the iconic Hall of Famer died two years ago August as a result of complications from Lewy Body Dementia and COVID-19, I was six weeks short of Medicare age and way too old to cry…

Mini-Blue Wave in the Making: Dems to Gain Seats in Senate; Say Goodbye Mitch McConnell — If ever there was the perfect example of the competition cliché “snatching defeat from the jaws of victory,” then the Republican Party’s strategy and performance leading up to the 2022 midterm Senate elections is it. …

How Brand New Parents Were Traumatized by a Typo — Every fan of The Godfather knows the movie scene by heart: Hulking hitman Luca Brasi nervously rehearsing his congratulatory speech to Don Corleone on his daughter’s wedding day. “. . . And may their first child be a MASCULINE child.” But I would never utter such words. Nor would I…

Still Toxic After All These Years — About four years ago, a writer friend began lobbying me to write columns about politics, if not for a website, as a vehicle to get things off my chest in a more focused way. She knew I was a prolific poster of passionate progressive opinions on Facebook and that I…

During the most festive time of the year — the six weeks that begin tomorrow and lasts through New Year’s Day — the visions I have dancing in my head do not involve sugar plums. …

The story of how the late, great Australian singer/songwriter Peter Allen was inspired by and exuded the performing essence of the legendary Al Jolson. By Stephen Hanks — This past October 23 was the 70th anniversary of the death of Al Jolson. Why was this significant and a shame it wasn’t remembered by more than Jolson aficionados? Because before there was Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift, Kanye and Jay-Z, Justin Beiber and Beyonce, Madonna and Michael Jackson, The…

By Stephen Hanks Author’s Note: This week marks 11 years since I made a spontaneous decision to join a small group on a humanitarian trip to Haiti to help earthquake recovery efforts in whatever way I could. A few days after I returned from what was a totally surreal experience, I…

By Stephen Hanks, Published on March 29, 1987 in New York Daily News Sunday Magazine Author’s Note: Additional text added that had been edited out of the original manuscript for space considerations. Nick Testa is a baseball immortal? Never heard of him? Well, his name is etched firmly in the…

By Stephen Hanks Published on August 5, 1986 in The Village Voice, New York City I first heard the phrase “You gotta love the game” during my college baseball days. It was uttered with a combination of sincere passion and mock self-justification by my coach, Nick Testa, who is still…