Personal Notes

Station Fire Survivor Concert: Phoenix Rising

By Marc Comtois | January 29, 2008 |

On February 20th, 2003 I started blogging. The next day, February 21, 2003, the Station Night Club Fire (

Personal Connection to the State of the Union

By Marc Comtois | January 29, 2008 |

One of the people in the First Lady’s Box at last night’s State of the Union Address was Army Staff Sgt. Craig Charloux, and old high school friend of mine from Maine. He couldn’t make our 20th reunion this past summer because he was in Iraq. Here’s more about Craig: After leaving the military, Charloux…

Deep Purple!

By Donald B. Hawthorne | January 24, 2008 |

What a surprise to find Jonah Goldberg mentioning this morning a unique version of the song Smoke on the Water originally by the rock’n’roll band, Deep Purple, in one of his posts on The Corner. If Deep Purple can make The Corner, then it can make Anchor Rising! Now I know something about Deep Purple,…

RIP, Ted

By Donald B. Hawthorne | December 10, 2007 |

Last December, I paid tribute to Ted, a former teacher of mine: Ted was my English teacher in 1971-1972, my junior year in high school. And he was one of four teachers who, over the years, had a profound effect on my life. A high school classmate told me two days ago that Ted had…

Hope

By Donald B. Hawthorne | October 17, 2007 |

Julieanne Dolan writes about comments this week made by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas: The most striking moment in his remarks was his response to a question about what he thought people would gain by reading his biography. His short answer was “hope.” A simple, and perhaps common enough answer, but considered in light of…

Stanford 24, USC 23

By Donald B. Hawthorne | October 6, 2007 |

I grew up in California, initially in the greater Los Angeles area where I was a huge UCLA fan – which meant never being a USC fan. I then attended Stanford University for graduate school. Stanford, a 41-point underdog with a first-time starter at quarterback, just beat USC – on USC’s home field, ending USC’s…

The Lecture of a Lifetime – Really

By Donald B. Hawthorne | September 26, 2007 |

The bloggers and commentators of Anchor Rising frequently debate many issues on this blog, issues which seem so interesting and important at the moment. And then you come across something like this story (available for a fee), A Beloved Professor Delivers The Lecture of a Lifetime, which puts everything else in perspective. Here are excerpts…

Lost & Then Found

By Donald B. Hawthorne | September 16, 2007 |

From this morning’s Mass, just because… The hymn, Amazing Grace: Amazing grace! (how sweet the sound) That sav’d a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found, Was blind, but now I see. ’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, And grace my fears reliev’d; How precious did that grace appear,…

A Role Model for Courageous, Principled Public Service: T. J. Rodgers

By Donald B. Hawthorne | September 4, 2007 |

I spent nearly the first 20 years of my professional life attending Stanford Business School and working in Silicon Valley. Like many other young people in the formative years of their professional lives, I observed others who had attributes worthy of emulation, who provided examples of potential role models for the future. Many years ago,…

A Rookie No-Hitter

By Donald B. Hawthorne | September 2, 2007 |

Last night was special. As I sat working in the family room, I had the Red Sox game on in the background. Clay Buchholz, a rookie pitcher making just his second major league start, was steadily getting outs. Suddenly the game began to demand more attention – at least in the top half of each…