Columns
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•April 22, 2021
When Islanders Become Instant Colonists; Catfishing Takes on a Whole New Meaning
WE CLAIM THIS ISLAND …: Live here long enough and it’s easy to assume you’ve come across just about every Island attribution out there. It has been dubbed a seaside resort, shoreline attraction…
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•April 21, 2021
Statue Stuck in the Crypt
In February 1921, New Jersey-born Alice Paul called for a meeting that would determine the future of the women’s movement for the next generation. The Baltimore Sun of Feb. 12 set the stage.
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•April 14, 2021
Never Take Home Maintenance Advice From a Surf Columnist; Following the Youngest Guns
I can understand why you’d be reticent to take home improvement advice from a surf columnist who dabbles in social commentary, but stay with me here.
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•April 14, 2021
A New Cause for Alice Paul
One of the advantages of having a long-running history column is that you have the opportunity to follow up on people and issues over an extended period of time. One example would be the suffrage…
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•April 13, 2021
Glittering Planet Is a Cool Planet; Return of Well-Managed Stocks
My column’s word of the week is geoengineering – and it just might dim your perception of the world around you … but in a good way. Explanation needed.
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•April 8, 2021
There’s Bass in Them-There Bay Waters; Town Bugged By Eerie Bumps in the Night
RUNDOWN: Bass are trying their hardest to hit Island beaches, with a few quiet catches of shorts taken by static rodders throwing clams or, a tad costlier, juicy bloodworms, the larger bloods…
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•April 7, 2021
Chief Joseph, Tilton Both Honored for Bravery
During the early fall of 1877, a detachment of U.S. troops under Gen. Nelson A. Miles had defeated and captured over 400 Nez Perce, led by Chief Joseph, at the battle of Bear Paw Mountain in the…
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•April 1, 2021
Turning to the Sea to Reduce Cow Belches; Big Plastic Is Playing Us Through Recycling
The two big summer beaching questions being blown my way have to do with masks and marijuana.
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•April 1, 2021
Anti-Renewable Movement Blowing in the Wind; March Ends With Decent Surf
Remember back when LBI was seemingly devoid of any activist spirit?
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•March 31, 2021
Chief Joseph’s Remarkable Feat
In early October 1877, just south of the Canadian border in the Montana Territory, a detachment of the U.S. Army, commanded by Gen. Nelson A. Miles, had surrounded a band of Nez Perce led by Chief…
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•March 24, 2021
Ireland Is Getting Cranky Over an Unwanted NJ Visitor; Canada Resorts to Satellite Warfare to Go After Poachers
You’ve all heard the adage that one man’s crab meat is another man’s poison, right? OK, so maybe that rendition isn’t all that universal, but it has become quite apropos over in Ireland, where one…
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•March 24, 2021
Siege Leads to Surrender
As September 1877 ended, a battle was taking place on Bear Paw Mountain, in the Montana Territory.
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•March 22, 2021
Not All Offshore Winds Are the Same, Talking Angles of West Wind and a Late Winter Flat Spell
There’s a very basic lesson you learn when you first start surfing: West wind is better. West wind is offshore and cleans the surf. Basic knowledge.
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•March 18, 2021
The Woods Are Alive With Smoke; A Black Blade That Saves the Birds
It’s the smoky smell of springtime in the Pinelands, via the wafting scent of controlled burns – or, more surgically speaking, prescribed burns.
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•March 17, 2021
The Battle of Bear Paw
In September 1877, a battle was fought in the Bear Paw Mountains of present-day Montana. While the battle is not one that is often discussed or the topic of historians, it did secure one man’s place…
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•March 11, 2021
A Fish That Fights for Our Atmosphere, Then Does Double Duty Eating Plastics
Meet the most important fish in our world, the sardine-sized lanternfish, ostensibly named for their ability to glow in the dark via cells called photophores. However, their swim-about glow pales…
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•March 10, 2021
Army Moves Against Nez Perce
The U.S. Department of Defense website gives a brief background to the creation of the Congressional Medal of Honor, saying, “Public Resolution 82, containing a provision for a Navy medal of valor…
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•March 4, 2021
Practical Applications of New Math and Winter Waves of All Kinds
If there’s another relief bill after this current $1.9 trillion whopper, there should be something in there for teachers. For the educators bravely showing up for students, or perhaps more bravely…
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•March 4, 2021
Gather ‘Round and Talk Some Tempests; One Wind Farm Could Tell a Mighty Tale
Since I went sorta cheery in last week’s column, I’ll shift to the way-wary side of things this week by respectfully acknowledging the arrival of March and its weather-worn Ides.
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•March 3, 2021
Troops Face Bitter Winter
If you ask someone to name the Medal of Honor recipient from Barnegat, who is buried in Arlington Cemetery, you usually would be met by a distant stare into space and silence. Thus began my search…
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•February 24, 2021
Herd Placebo Might Help Sink COVID; Coyote Snaring Has Folks Up in Arms
Sorry, but I must play hardball this week. Paraphrasing the song words of Julia Michaels: I’ve got issues, you’ve got them, too. Give yours to me and I’ll give mine to you. I’m alluding to tons of…
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•February 24, 2021
Barnegat’s Medal of Honor Hero
On a website naming Medal of Honor winners there is a listing for surgeon Henry R. Tilton, Barnegat, New Jersey, for gallantry under fire at the battle of Bear Paw 1877. This prompted a search on the…
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•February 21, 2021
Lost in ‘Quaran-tedium’ Projects
Well, I’m not 100% sure on that. He might still be in there, or he might not, since I got up on a ladder and stapled a bunch of old screen up in the eaves.
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•February 20, 2021
Whitetails Have a Hankerin’ for Dunkin’; Coyote Trapping Has Its Own Pitfalls
Got a fun truly true tale of an older gent, living on the edge of the Pines, who has created an unusually sweet bond with the deer in his backyard. As I’m told it, the fellow has some inside contacts…
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•February 17, 2021
From Ice Age to Global Warming
During the early 1970s the public read many articles about the world’s changing climate. Most started like the one published on May 2, 1975 by the Associated Press.
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•February 15, 2021
Rise of Barnegat Light’s Zombie Whale; It Starts With Dead Bigfoots, the Devils
ZOMBIE WHALE: As the buried whale of Barnegat Light has erosionally risen from its shallow grave, I further researched ways to rid a beach of deceased leviathans – a worldwide problem, though not so…
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•February 10, 2021
Can Mankind Be Saved From Itself?
There is an old editors saying about selling newspapers: “Dog bites man” goes on page 20, but “Man bites dog” should have been the headline on page one. This might explain why for most of the…
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•February 4, 2021
‘Where Were You in February?!’ The Apex of the Off-Season
Whenever surfers have a dispute over waves in June or September, year-round surfers will gnash their teeth and demand to know, “Where were you in February?!”
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•February 4, 2021
Checking Out Winter’s People Presence; The Juicy Invention of the Color Orange
Not that this column ever shies away from going a tad off-topic, fishing-wise, but this week, located in the hinterland of winter whateverness, it will be bouncing far and wide.
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•February 3, 2021
More Scientists Chime In
There had been articles in the press since the early 20th century that Earth was cooling and a new ice age was a possibility. In March 1970 as a nation prepared for the first Earth Day, evidence was…
