Happy New Year, my Friends! Yes, I'm late, I know. Good intentions sometimes go wrong. But still I want to wish each and every one of you a happy and prosperous and satisfying New Year! For more than 99 percent of you this is already 2021, though a tiny number of you are living in far-off lands on a different time clock. As always, I've made my New Year's resolutions … [Read more...] about Senior Moments: A New Year’s Message from our California Correspondent
Senior Moments
Senior Moments: Thoughts (all Positive) on Turning 91
Editor's Note: I first met John Guy LaPlante when we both worked at the now sadly departed 'Main Street News.' I was a beat reporter covering Westbrook and he was busy writing columns about his most recent adventure, which happened to have been going round the world! We went our separate ways after the newspaper closed but stayed in touch. He followed up that first amazing … [Read more...] about Senior Moments: Thoughts (all Positive) on Turning 91
The Strangest New Year’s Day Ever
>We're pleased to republish a column by John Guy LaPlante today -- this column was originally published on Jan 1, 2013, and we thought it would be timely for readers to have a chance to enjoy it again today. It was the strangest New Year’s Day ever ... and I never expect another like it. All my life, like you probably, I have celebrated New Year’s Day in winter—most often … [Read more...] about The Strangest New Year’s Day Ever
Adios Dear Deep River!
John Guy LaPlante Well, Friends, it's time for me to say goodbye to the town I love. I never thought this day would come. Never wanted it to come. I have been happy here. Fifteen years ago I chose Deep River as my retirement community– chose it deliberately, mind you. It's a strange story: I had my whole career in Massachusetts. Just retired, I came here to Connecticut for a … [Read more...] about Adios Dear Deep River!
Senior Moments: My Take on Embattled Ukraine
I've been getting one e-mail after another: “John, what you think about Ukraine? What's it all about? How do you feel about it?” Why those emails? Because many of you know that I served my Peace Corps hitch–the full 27 months–in Ukraine. And that was barely four years ago. I never dreamed this awesome historic event would happen. That I'd see the Ukrainian protestors … [Read more...] about Senior Moments: My Take on Embattled Ukraine
The Shockingly Unthinkable Has Happened – A Library With No Printed Books
It's like going to the moon. Unthinkable when I was a boy. But it happened … Now something else totally unthinkable to me has happened. A brand-new library has been built but with zero printed books. It's filled with digital books– only e-books. Can you believe it? This isn't a science-fiction fantasy. That e-library is a reality, here on this planet and now, with … [Read more...] about The Shockingly Unthinkable Has Happened – A Library With No Printed Books
Enjoying Old Route 66 … or What’s Left of it
Nothing I saw on my travels was this beautiful. But some things I saw along 66, I’ll never forget. Hello, all. This is my 72nd day on the road and I am in Dayton, Ohio, a city which is a dramatic story in itself, but that's for a later time. I just looked at my odometer. I have driven 3,675 miles and I am finally in the Eastern Times Zone. So, I am getting closer. … [Read more...] about Enjoying Old Route 66 … or What’s Left of it
Zigging and Zagging My Way Home to Deep River
Our veteran cross-country traveler John Guy LaPlante gives us another update on his extraordinary journey by minivan from California to Deep River, Conn. All alone on the road, for miles and miles, along a parched and empty land. Ever experience that? It can be the case on the High Plains of Texas. Good thing I enjoy my own company. I’m moving along happily, always … [Read more...] about Zigging and Zagging My Way Home to Deep River
My First Week on my Long Ride Home to Connecticut
My first overnight at a Walmart in Claremont, Calif. That’s “Chateau,” my 13-year-old, 180,000-mile blue and silver beauty. Blythe, Arizona – Here I was, approaching this tiny town. Blythe is as far east in California as can be. It was Day 5 of my solo transcontinental ride home to Connecticut. The sun was setting on one of my finest days so far as I approached Blythe … [Read more...] about My First Week on my Long Ride Home to Connecticut
Home I Go, and Very Slowly – John LaPlante
Happy Ending: Mike, me, and Antonio as I prepare to drive off. In back is my blue and silver beauty–van turned camper! Newport Beach, CA — This morning at 9:30—after the massive freeways here have been relieved of their crushing commuter traffic—I’ll climb behind the wheel of my new little camper van and start the long ride home to Deep River. I’ve been here far longer … [Read more...] about Home I Go, and Very Slowly – John LaPlante
Did Jesus Have a Wife? New Evidence says “Yes.”
Eagle Rock, CA — Milady Annabelle and I were visiting Occidental College. She’s an alumna. It’s a fine private, coed college, one of the oldest on our Pacific coast. Just a few miles east of downtown Los Angeles. We were strolling the beautiful grounds when I noticed a newspaper box and, news junkie that I am, took out a paper—the students’ Occidental Weekly. A freebie. … [Read more...] about Did Jesus Have a Wife? New Evidence says “Yes.”
Are Libraries Doomed?
John Guy LaPlante is a veteran writer and journalist. His award-winning columns and articles were previously published in the Main Street News. He is the author of two books, "Around the World at 75. Alone! Dammit!" and "Asia in 80 Days. Oops, 83! Dammit!" He completed his service as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ukraine in early 2010 after a 27-month tour of duty. John … [Read more...] about Are Libraries Doomed?
A New Face for a New Future
I recently read an astonishing news story about a surgical first in the U.S. It was datelined Boston. Dallas Wiens, 25, a construction worker in Texas had been given a new face at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Not a simple face lift, which is common now. He got a total face transplant. The surgeons had removed the face of another person—dead, of course—and sewed it … [Read more...] about A New Face for a New Future
Squeezing Every Possible Mile Out of a Tankful of Gas
No wonder John is shocked! He remembers buying gas for 26.9 a gallon.I’ve set a new record for myself on the road. I achieved 24.8 miles per gallon of gas in my Hyundi Sonata in a test! I’m sure this does not sound like much for you in your Prius. But for me, not bad. I’m accustomed to lower mileage. I obtained my driver’s license at 18 and I looked forward to this test … [Read more...] about Squeezing Every Possible Mile Out of a Tankful of Gas
The Mystery of Mr. XYZ
Long dead and still unidentified. But now, a startling development ... It’s been more than a century since bank robber XYZ was blasted into eternity during a hold-up attempt at the old Deep River Savings Bank on Main Street. That bank is Citizens Bank now. I’m familiar with other men widely known by their initials. JFK and FDR are just two. But that’s because these … [Read more...] about The Mystery of Mr. XYZ