Author Archive

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution recently ran articles on a case that should outrage any fair-minded person. Georgia man Frank Hatley was in a Cook County jail for over a year for failure to pay child support. However, DNA tests proved that the child in question was not biologically his. He had never been married to or... »

I find the song In Some Room Above the Street, especially as sung in the inimitable vibrato of the late country singer Gary Stewart, to have an extraordinary emotional power. Part of the reason for the song’s power is that it ends on an unexpectedly poignant note. The song begins by telling of a rather... »

I recently wrote an article about the infamous case of the Scottsboro Boys, nine black American men falsely accused in the 1930s of raping two white women. In writing this story, I faced several challenges. One was to make sense of a case that was extraordinarily complex and that dragged on through the courts... »

The following letter to the editor that I wrote was recently published in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. We may disapprove of politicians getting into sex scandals, but we should not be shocked, regardless of the person’s moral beliefs. The simple truth is that monogamy is not a natural state for humans of either gender. Millions of... »

In a previous essay I wrote about a small talk acquaintanceship with a man I called “Mike.” The previous essay can be accessed at http://mensnewsdaily.com/2008/11/03/sexual-harassment-men’s-and-women’s-behaviors-“mike”-and-i. I incorrectly described Mike as a construction worker in that column. He actually worked in the office of a construction firm. I made the mistake because I had seen him... »

I’ve always had occasional bouts of adult acne. Thus, I attached no special significance to what looked like a whitehead. It was in an unusual place: the soft area on the skin underneath the lower eyelid. But I did not make much of that. I squeezed gently on it. The squeezing hurt. It hurt... »

Over the past few years, I have watched the area from 1410 to 1442 Dresden Dr. in the Brookhaven community of Atlanta, Georgia where I live go from the eyesore of a vacant lot dotted with a laundromat and some shotgun houses in disrepair to the eye-pleasingly beautiful brick building called Village Place Brookhaven. This... »

Author’s note: Previously published in “The Hatchet: Lizzie Borden’s Journal of Murder, Mystery, and Victorian History.” Denise Noe’s Lizzie Whittlings: Elizabeth Montgomery Actress Elizabeth Montgomery won a permanent place in the hearts of Borden buffs when she took on the part of Lizzie Borden in the made-for-TV movie, The Legend of Lizzie Borden. For a movie-of-the-week,... »

As regular readers of this blog know, I am severely disabled and, as a result, have never been able to support myself. My principal source of support is alimony. However, I do engage in paid labor to the extent that I am able to do so. I have quite a few reviews up at epinions.com.... »

Revelations about the mother who recently gave birth to octuplets have occasioned a great deal of public consternation. There was a natural and laudable concern for the welfare of the eight babies who were, of course, underweight and premature when delivered. Concern became more acute as... »

Denise Noe’s Lizzie Whittlings: The Extraordinary Career of William Moody Author’s Note: This was original published in “The Hatchet: Lizzie Borden’s Journal of Murder, Mystery, and Victorian History” Borden buffs know William Henry Moody as one of the prosecutors of Lizzie Borden. Less well known are the facts that after the trial he went on to... »

I was fifteen years old. It was 1972. Mom had two coupons for free hair stylings at a local beauty college. She let me make use of both coupons. I don’t recall much about the first styling. I will never forget the second. The student hairdresser who would perform that styling introduced himself to... »

Ann Rule is best known as an excellent writer of true crime books with her most famous work being The Stranger Beside Me about her experiences with serial killer Ted Bundy. In Possession, she takes a foray into fiction but sticks to the world of cops and pathological murderers with which she is so... »

Christmas is a season for counting our blessings so I thought I’d share with my readers how recent experiences led me to appreciate mine. Recently I watched, and very much enjoyed, a silent movie. This reminded me that there are many people who would not be able to enjoy a silent movie. For some this... »

I happened to see an old movie recently that was about a man searching for a wife. His proposals are repeatedly rejected. As I watched this character and felt for him in his embarrassment and disappointment, I couldn’t help but reflect on a truth about romantic and sexual relationships as it regards the genders:... »

The Computer Crash, a Crushed Denise Noe — and what kind of Christmas? I didn’t expect it to happen. My computer was operating as usual and then — a gray screen and a little icon in the middle switching from one thing to another. I called in a computer repair service. My computer had crashed. The... »

Joyce Carol Oates’ “Expensive People” is a flamboyantly and deliberately perverse comic novel born (!) of a an extraordinary premise. According to Greg Johnson in “Understanding Joyce Carol Oates,” the author wondered if it would be possible to write from the viewpoint of “one’s own unborn, unconceived child, giving grotesque albeit comic reasons... »

The title of this essay is taken from the opening statement in the chapter on rape in war in Susan Brownmiller’s book, “Against Our Will: Men, Women, and Rape.” Her sentence in turn follows an excerpt from “War As I Knew It,” the memoirs of General George S. Patton (“Old Blood and Guts). Patton writes,... »

In the epigram to “them,” Joyce Carol Oates quotes John Webster from “The White Devil,” as saying, “. . . because we are poor/Shall we be vicious?” The question echoes through this complicated, impassioned, and masterful novel. “them” focuses on Loretta, her son Jules and daughter Maureen. They are impoverished white people. They survive... »

I think the feminists were right to point out the problem of sexual harassment. However, one barrier to effectively addressing this problem may be a common perception – and perhaps misperception — that men are always those making crude sexual remarks or gestures and women are always those embarrassed or offended. The Kellie Pickler song,... »