A Father’s Day Memory

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

For #FathersDay, ‘A Father’s Day Memory’ by @Mark_S_Aldrich. Happy Fathers’s Day to my dad!

Mark Aldrich's avatarThe Gad About Town

Some memories are of the photograph of an event and no longer of the incident itself, but some feel to the rememberer like they are a photo, with the details so clear and so accessible. This is one memory … it feels like I could count the rocks in the creek bed if I would just take the time.

Today is Father’s Day. It is a difficult day for my girlfriend, as her father died in February, a sad fact that brought us together in our house-that-is-becoming-a-home.

My father will be 81 next month. That sentence, while I know it to be factually accurate, has the effect of making me feel like a child lost in the mall. Where am I? Where have I been? If August 15, 1935, is known for anything, it is not known for the birth of my dad but for it being the date that…

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First Professional Byline

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

My first professional byline appeared in print on Saturday at Reverb Press, my new home.

It can be found here:

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Shawkan’s Latest Delay

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

A journalist’s job is to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

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June 13: The next hearing in the ongoing trial of Mahmoud Abu Zeid, the Egyptian photojournalist who goes by the name “Shawkan,” will be held on Tuesday, July 4, it was learned today.

An additional three weeks. For a human rights trial noteworthy for its glacial pace, this is the latest example of the trial’s simple inhumanity. One more delay is a delay; years of delays are a lifetime.

Today is Shawkan’s 1400th day in prison.
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