The Northcountry Chronicle

by W.D. Ehrhart If you will indulge me, I would like to begin with a poem I wrote in celebration of the 248th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.  Rather uncreatively, its title is “Independence Day”: – It is indeed inarguably self-evident that all men are created equal, endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights including life, liberty, and happiness, or at least the pursuit thereof. – All men, excepting of course Negroes, savages, the poor, the uneducated, indentured servants, and women; all women, regardless of race, ethnicity, social standing, economic status, or education. – After all, it doesn’t say that all people are …

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I have this thing for pink flamingos; had one on my lawn for twenty-eight years in Philadelphia.  When it finally died of old age—so weathered that it simply fell apart—my dear friend Dale sent two more from Waukesha, Wisconsin. – But a dozen years ago, we downsized to a condo, and of course the courtyard was common ground, so I couldn’t put my pink flamingos on the lawn. I’ve really missed them.  Silly, I suppose, but I’ve missed my pink flamingos. – Meanwhile, on my most recent birthday, my daughter said she had a present, but we had to have some time to spend together.  …

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by W.D. Ehrhart I was saddened to hear that Philip Caputo has died.  Caputo first came to prominence as the author of A Rumor of War, published in 1977, and one of the most widely read memoirs of the American War in Vietnam. I first got to know him over 35 years ago during a trip to Vietnam when we were both members of a delegation to the first-ever Conference of U.S. and Vietnamese Veteran-Writers held in Hanoi in June 1990. This turned out to be a very interesting trip for an assortment of reasons.  There was the conference itself, of course, which took place …

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by W.D. Ehrhart During the recent visit of Britain’s King Charles III to the U.S., I was fascinated to see that in almost every photograph of him, he is sporting a chestful of medals—eight or ten or a dozen of them—and one around his neck the way an American would wear the Medal of Honor, America’s highest decoration for heroism. I found myself wondering what Charles, who at age 77 is a few weeks younger than me, had done to amass such a spectacular array of medals. Charles did serve on active duty in both the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy for a …

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By W.D. Ehrhart Given the state of the world these days—endless war in Ukraine, ongoing genocide in Gaza, the unprovoked and ill-considered attack on Iran, and political mayhem here in the United States, we could all use a good laugh. And maybe the funniest movie I’ve ever seen is “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.” Released originally in 1975, it has held up well over all these years, and I return to it periodically whenever I need to remind myself to laugh. The Frenchman on the castle wall may be the funniest scene (actually two scenes) ever filmed. But the scene that really sticks with …

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by Rawand Gawad abu Ghanem Regular readers will remember that I’ve shared previous letters from Rawand Gawad abu Ghanem, the young Palestinian mother of two small boys who lives in Gaza and with whom I’ve developed a very real connection through our mutual friend, the playwright Naomi Wallace. I recently received another letter from Rawand, this one dated March 30th, 2026. —Bill Ehrhart Dear Friend, Each day when I open my eyes the first thing that comes to my mind is: I am still alive. I then look quickly to see that my children and husband are still alive also, and I say: Alhamdoulelah. Praise …

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