missouri

Carl Evans grew up in Columbia with two parents who told him ghosts weren’t real. Once, in 1974 as a 6-year-old boy, Evans woke up in his late grandfather’s study in Springfield to an open closet door that was closed when he fell asleep.…

“Nothing on Earth so beautiful as the final haul on Halloween night.” – Steve Almond Crunchy leaves, football season, grilling, the smell of burning embers in the chilled air – and Halloween activities galore. From haunted houses (all…

Decades ago, when writers imagined the coming of the second millennium, they envisioned evil robots, personal jet packs and visitors from outer space. None of those things came to pass, but we do carry cell phones that look remarkably like…

“If Neil Diamond ever approaches you and says, ‘Would you like to take a ride on my coattails?’ say ‘Yes! Absolutely!' ” Theron Denson offers this advice from experience. Denson has traveled a celebrity’s path in the shadow of the…

Raechel Holtgrave and I are meeting for an interview in five minutes. She just won the Miss Hooters International 2009 pageant a week ago and the $50,000 prize to go with it. We agreed on the meeting specifics yesterday: high noon at…

Why do you run? It is the question often asked of marathon runners. Sure, there are health benefits from getting some exercise, but to run 26.2 miles without stopping is something altogether different. Toward the end of a marathon, the…

Memorial Day came early for one group of Columbians. On April 11 and 12, Mayor Darwin Hindman and his wife Axie, along with 20 other delegates traveled to Hawaii for a tour of the USS Columbia (SSN 771) stationed in Pearl Harbor. The group…

Just outside of Purdin, Mo., in the bright geographical horseshoe that makes up Missouri's Green Hills region, my milk was born. Or rather, it was pumped, from a herd of more than 200 cows that make their home at Green Hills Harvest. I…