The Northcountry Chronicle

by W.D. Ehrhart In recent years, I have been writing frequently in support of the people of Palestine. A few years ago, I was introduced to the poetry of Mosab abu Toha by my Jewish American friend and university professor Ammiel Alcalay, and have written about Mosab and his poetry on multiple occasions, especially taking note of his two books in English, Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear and Forest of Noise. But my connection to what is happening in Gaza and the Occupied Territories became much more personal this past spring through another friend of mine, the American playwright Naomi Wallace, who …

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by W.D. Ehrhart Anyone paying any attention at all to what’s been happening in this country since January 2025 has to be aware of the ongoing and vigorous efforts of our Whitewasher-in-Chief to purge American history of anything that isn’t thoroughly upbeat, positive, and—well, let’s be honest here—white. Nothing negative. According to him and his minions, this country is and always has been pure as the driven snow. Like the anthem says, “Land of the free, and home of the brave.” Thus, various Smithsonian museums must remove the Gay Pride flag, Rigoberto Gonzalez’s painting of immigrants crossing our southern border, Hugo Crosthwaite’s images of Dr. …

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by W.D. Ehrhart “His primary rules are: never allow the public to cool off; never admit a fault or wrong; never concede that there may be some good in your enemy; never leave room for alternatives; never accept blame; concentrate on one enemy at a time and blame him for everything that goes wrong; people will believe a big lie sooner than a little one; and if you repeat it frequently enough people will sooner or later believe it.” Does this sound at all familiar? Might it remind you of a certain someone currently in the process of dismantling two hundred and fifty years of …

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by W.D. Ehrhart I do not advocate, have never advocated, and never will advocate for the murder of anyone, and nothing I am about to write negates what I’ve just said.  Though I have no doubt that at least some people will claim I am doing just that, it is not true. Truth, however, seems to have little value in Trumpian America.  I cannot stop the Trumpasaurians from thinking and saying and believing what they think and say and believe.  But the real and actual truth is that I am not glad or grateful or relieved that Charlie Kirk was murdered. There is, however, a …

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It isn’t that I feargrowing older—such things as fear,reluctance or desireplay no part at allexcept as light and shadow sweep a hillsideon a Sunday afternoon,astonishing the eye but passing onat sunset with the landstill unchanged: the same rocks,the same trees, tall grass gently drifting—merely that I do not understandhow my age has come to meor what it means. It’s almost like some smallforest creature one might findoutside the door some frosty autumn morning,tired, lame, uncomprehending,almost calm.You want to stroke its fur,pick it up, mend the leg and send itscampering away—but somethingin its eyes says, “No,this is how I live, and how I die.”And so, a …

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by W.D. Ehrhart A recent article in the Philadelphia Inquirer was headlined: “700 new Philly teachers show up to day 1 of work in ‘the most critical profession on the planet’.” The quote in the headline is from Debora Carrera, the city’s chief education officer, who at greater length later in the article says: “Teaching is the most noble profession on the planet. It is the most critical profession on the planet.” I spent a good portion of my life teaching high school. And I constantly heard over and over again how “noble” the profession of teaching is, how critical teachers are to our children, …

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