Tag Archives: ALICE

From blight to hope in 25 years

These are the places we drive an extra block to avoid, the dark places with plywood for windows, broken siding for walls, knee-high grass. The blocks of hollow storefronts, locked gated doors, “For Sale” signs angled on brickface. The places … Continue reading

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ALICE in the real world

While writing “The Swamps of Jersey,”  my political novel, I included a  scene when the protagonist, Frank Nagler and his then-third-grade girlfriend (and later his wife)  Martha Shannon,  are walking home from school: “They stopped and spoke with everyone on … Continue reading

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If politicians treat poor people like they treat dirt roads, we’re all in trouble

Seven-hundred-sixty-nine thousand-nine-hundred. I wrote the number out so you’d have to read each word. If that many small businesses were threatened with failure, you can bet there’d be an outcry. If that many utility poles fell, the state would be  … Continue reading

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