by Mark O'Brien | Apr 7, 2015
In the past, we’d have said the younger of my two younger brothers, Ben (to protect his privacy, this is not his real name), is mentally retarded. In these enlightened times, we’re more likely to say he’s intellectually disadvantaged, synaptically challenged, or...
by Mark O'Brien | Feb 20, 2015
Hunter Thompson died by his own hand nine years ago today. I found out at about 10:00 the next morning. Despite my brute incomprehension of what I was reading, it struck me as a rather Thompsonesque moment: It was snowing — bleak, cold. I’d gone to my...
by Mark O'Brien | Jan 5, 2015
My father passed away a year ago today. To say the occasion was life-changing is to do it — and my father — a disservice. It was more like a revelation — a precious, bittersweet reminder of who I am and why: I am my father’s son. All I am I owe to him. His...
by Mark O'Brien | Jan 1, 2015
I’m not big on New Year’s resolutions. They’re as effective as a Band-Aid to the ski-jump guy: They won’t fix anything, nor will they have meaningful or lasting effects. Nevertheless, my New Year’s resolution is to propose some...
by Mark O'Brien | Dec 26, 2014
In 2004, the priest who presided over the high-school graduation of my son, Quinn, said this, acknowledging the myriad difficulties of the age in which the accidents of our births find us in existence: “We are blessed with challenges.” My first reaction...
