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F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Advice
LISTEN HERE Getting Ready Ralph Gardner Jr. Since my wife Debbie, daughter Lucy and my daughter’s fiancée Malcolm have done most of the heavy lifting when it comes to Lucy and Malcolm’s upcoming...
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The Day After
LISTEN HERE The pond, the morning after RALPH GARDNER, JR. So the wedding at our house – my daughter’s wedding – is over. I feared its aftermath might feel anti-climactic but the general sensation is...
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The Mixed Blessing of Online Banking
LISTEN HERE RALPH GARDNER, JR. If Elizabeth Warren or some other Democrat who isn’t in the pocket of Wall Street (talk about winnowing the field), who makes consumer rather than high donor protection...
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Robert Morgenthau
LISTEN HERE Robert Morgenthau at Fishkill Farm’s store in 2016 RALPH GARDNER JR. I don’t remember when I first met Robert Morgenthau, the legendary district attorney who passed away on July 21st, but...
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A Visit to the Lampshade Lady
LISTEN HERE Judy Lake at Lake’s Lampshades in Pawlet, VT CREDIT RALPH GARDNER, JR. My wife Debbie and I have been feuding over lampshades recently. We’ve done so occasionally throughout our marriage...
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My Personal Moonwalk
LISTEN HERE Ralph Gardner at the Grand Canyon, July 30, 1969 I realize I’m a little late to the “where were you during the moonwalk?” party. If I were going to write on the subject I should have...
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A Jamesian Era Ends at Vassar
LISTEN HERE James Mundy, Director Emeritus of Vassar College’s Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center CREDIT RALPH GARDNER, JR. Some didactic panels – those identifying placards to the side of paintings in...
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Dancing to Nature
LISTEN HERE Stephen Petronio at Crow’s Nest, the Petronio Residency Center in Roundtop,NY Credit Ralph Gardner, JR. There are studies coming out every day about the therapeutic...
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I’m honored
LISTEN HERE The clouds were low and billowing, and that apocalyptic steel grey color that in science fiction movies portends the arrival of alien invaders and the end of life as we know it. I chose...
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Milestones You Don’t See Coming
LISTEN HERE There are all those well-known milestones – births, marriages, deaths. But then there are the ones that come upon you suddenly, that you hadn’t given any thought to, that nobody warned you...
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Moby Dick in Performance
LISTEN HERE Conor Lovett ROS KAVANAGH There’s no need to feel inadequate if you haven’t read Moby Dick. And now you don’t have to in any case. Conor Lovett, Judy Hegarty Lovett and Ireland’s Gare St....
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Who Says Cities are More Civilized
LISTEN HERE RALPH GARDNER The word civilization is related to “civitas,” the Latin word for city. It’s one of the few things I remember from 7th grade Latin, that and my grade point average – hovering...
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Botswana Behind the Scenes
LISTEN HERE Beverly and Dereck Joubert If things like impeachment inquiries, trade wars and climate change are getting you down I’d like to suggest a good nature documentary. Actually a three-part...
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Guarding the Herd
LISTEN HERE Georgia Rainey of Kinderhook Farm with Wink and Sarge CREDIT RALPH GARDNER JR Our dog is a dismal guard dog. She barks all right, but at all the wrong times. For example, in the middle...
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Getting in Tune
LISTEN HERE Piano tuner Richard Lapo RALPH GARDNER JR I was reluctant to ask Richard Lapo too many questions since he was in the process of tuning my piano. It was an inherited Steinway baby grand...
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The Strange Magic of a Favorite Mug
LISTEN HERE Ralph’s late, lamented mug CREDIT RALPH GARDNER JR. There was nothing remarkable about my mug. It was white and tapered – wider at the top than the bottom – with a sturdy handle that...
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Generating Music
LISTEN HERE House concert at the Gardners RALPH GARDNER JR That does it. We’re getting a generator. We’ve been saying that for years, approximately every time the lights go out, which in our neck...
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Is That Old Rake In Your Barn Art?
LISTEN HERE Early Hand Tools at the Columbia County Historical Society RALPH GARDNER JR One might think that someone with Lisa Weilbacker’s pedigree – she’s the former executive director of Historic...
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Thanksgiving Without The Parade
LISTEN HERE Central Park West View of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade CREDIT RALPH GARDNER JR. Do I or don’t I watch this year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV? I may be one of the few...
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Holiday Gift Ideas
LISTEN HERE This year’s holiday shopping season – that hectic wallet-emptying interval between Thanksgiving and Christmas – is about as short as it gets. So I thought I’d share a recent gift that’s...
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