ABOUT THE AUTHOR
My name is Kit Troyer. I’m a stay-at-home dad in Los Angeles. I worked previously as a newspaper reporter and a criminal defense attorney.
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Category Archives: COURAGE
ON CULTS, COURAGE, AND PERSONAL BLIND SPOTS
Something in me loves a TV show about cults. You name the group, I’ve watched the documentary — Scientology, NXIVM, The Family, Heaven’s Gate, the Rajneeshees, Branch Davidians, the Moonies, The People’s Temple. Why am I interested? On the one … Continue reading
SLOW-MOTION MIDLIFE CRISIS
In an interview before he died, songwriter John Prine described his old age, his daily life, his relationships with others. “I’m good at hiding,” he said, laughing. He meant hiding from loved ones, from professional obligations. He meant slipping away … Continue reading
Posted in CHILD REARING, COURAGE, LITERATURE, MOVIES, MUSIC, MY CHILDHOOD, SPIRIT, UNIQUELY AMERICAN BULLSHIT
39 Comments
GOOD-BYE, SWEET BOOM
I woke up around 4:30am today to the sight of an owl swooping into the branches above me and taking away a rat, which protested loudly as it departed. The owl, huge and gray, vanished as quickly as it arrived. … Continue reading
Posted in CHILD REARING, COURAGE, DOGS, HEROES, SPIRIT
80 Comments
WE’VE BEEN GIVEN HEARTS TO KNOW THE INCREDIBLE
I thought of Ray Bradbury today while reading about the NASA helicopter on Mars. I thought of him not because of his first book, The Martian Chronicles, which he published in 1950. Instead I recalled the day 30 years ago … Continue reading
Posted in CHILD REARING, COURAGE, HEROES, LITERATURE, SPIRIT, UNIQUELY AMERICAN BULLSHIT
8 Comments
BEST DAYS OF MY LIFE
Adam Braseel was wrongfully convicted of murder 14 years ago. Though he hasn’t been officially exonerated, he is out of prison now and beginning to put his life back together. The wrongful imprisonment was caused by sloppy police work, prosecutors … Continue reading
Posted in COURAGE, HEROES, SELF HELP, SPIRIT, UNIQUELY AMERICAN BULLSHIT
6 Comments
FIRST DO NO HARM
The influence of Gandhi on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is well known. But Gandhi himself owed a debt to the Russian writer Leo Tolstoy, who had written on the same topic of nonviolence. And Tolstoy, in turn, learned from … Continue reading
Posted in COURAGE, HEROES, POLITICS, SPIRIT
19 Comments
MIKE KONRAD
It was sad and frustrating to learn that my old newspaper editor Mike Konrad died today of Covid19. Earlier in the pandemic, the deaths of songwriter John Prine and Los Angeles-area family practitioner Dr. Paul Constantine hit me hard, but … Continue reading
Posted in COURAGE, HEROES, UNIQUELY AMERICAN BULLSHIT
14 Comments
LET IT BE MESSY
A couple days ago my wife and I received the 30th-reunion book from our college. It’s a thick red paperback with updates from hundreds of classmates. I looked up friends. I looked up the guy who seemed during college to … Continue reading
Posted in COURAGE, SELF HELP, SPIRIT
13 Comments