It shouldn’t happen to a dog, nor to a rodeo clown. Such an unlikely opening sentence warrants further explanation, which I trust in the next 650 words or so will shed more light than bolts …

It wasn’t something he expected to find in his rural mailbox. However, my Uncle Mort opened the envelope joyously; it was from his great-nephew. He thought immediately about his kin’s …

Advertising signs come and go, but few remain during the long haul. In the mid-20th century, for example, Burma-Shave limericks nailed to fence posts along highways greatly outnumbered what we …

Maybe folks started listening for “goofs” when radio became a luxury during the Great Depression. Until then, I suppose they occurred most often in simple, face-to-face communication, or …

Allen Saunders, an obscure Canadian cartoonist, is cited for an inscription in his 1956 “Mary Worth” comic strip. No doubt it had local impact, but much more the next year when repeated in …

Until 1955, before Elvis Presley got a sniff of stardom, he was on the brink of greatness. Months later, his name was “marqueed” in capital letters nationwide. A 20-year-old credited with …

When my Uncle Mort draws a bead on topics, he redefines “random.” He’s as likely to converse about frogs “belly-bouncing” into his favorite fishing hole as he is about whether …

The story goes that a long-ago West Texas man — beloved in his community — talked incessantly about Fort Worth, his favorite city, even though he’d never been there. He usually referred to …

About two months ago — after more than 23 years of writing weekly columns — I took my leave. (OK, maybe it’s my “weakly” assembly of words masquerading as columns might be more accurate). …

Readers with long memories yearn for more clean, creative humor. Sadly, folks in the first half of their lives are clueless about the golden years of radio. It featured 30-minute comedy shows …

It’s likely no longer that many sons and daughters will enter their parents’ professions.  There are exceptions, of course. Seventy-six-year-old Harold Barton is one — the son of the …

Persons claiming to have the same mental faculties and physical capabilities that they had a half-century ago probably fib about other things, too. Some formerly judged such jokers to be guilty of …