There was a time, not long ago, when the arrival of new occupants in the house next door, across the street, or down the road would automatically trigger the baking of apple pies, peach cobblers and cherry turnovers. These edible tokens of greeting might be placed on the newcomers’ doorsteps with an accompanying note…

Last week I lost one of my dearest friends. Michael Adler was a renowned entertainment attorney whose clients included Oscar, Tony, Emmy, and Grammy winners. As Hollywood lawyers go, Mike was on any insider’s “A-List.” More importantly, his family, friends and colleagues knew Mike as an A+ human being.

Mike, who grew up in San…

With the mass murder of 19 elementary school students and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas gnawing at the national conscience, pundits, parents and practitioners find themselves pondering the question of how children can best be protected from future acts of violence, short of arming teachers and converting school campuses into citadels. Necessary as those…

I am beginning to fear for the future of our nation. While we have yet to cross the Rubicon, its banks are now within sight. Citizens on either side of the political spectrum are, increasingly, losing faith in our primary institutions of government. Social media platforms have, at once, monetized and exploited uncivil discourse,…

Last week I was talking on the phone with a private school principal, exhaustion evident in his voice. “In the best of times there were issues that would pop into my head at three o’clock in the morning and keep me from falling back to sleep,” he told me. “Now,” he continued, “I’m having…