Key Peninsula News

One of the greatest summers of my life was spent in New York City in 1986. I had worked my way through a prestigious university with honors, survived a year of lymphoma, and landed my dream job … more

Ted Olinger, KP News | 3/29/23

The Laughing Voice of Doom

Late last fall I read that one of my favorite directors, Noah Baumbach, had written and directed a movie based on the novel “White Noise” by Don DeLillo from the 1980s. I read the book … more

Sara Thompson, KP News | 3/1/23

A Story of Justice and Redemption

In 1986, an 18-year-old white woman named Ronda Morrison was murdered during an apparent sexual assault at the dry cleaners where she worked in Monroeville, Alabama. The community was stunned but … more

Ted Olinger, KP News | 2/1/23

'Saving Us:' A Climate Scientist’s Case

In “Saving Us,” Katharine Hayhoe suggests that the most important thing any of us can do to fight climate change is to discuss it with others. She admits it can be hard to have a … more

Richard Gelinas | 12/28/22

‘The War of the Worlds’ by H.G. Wells

A strange thing happened last winter when I was teaching H.G. Wells’ 1897 sci-fi novel “The War of the Worlds” to a class of college freshmen. All of a sudden, the story became … more

José Alaniz | 11/30/22

“When the Emperor Was Divine” by Julia Otsuka, published 2002 by Alfred A. Knopf.

‘When the Emperor Was Divine’ by Julie Otsuka

A friend recommended this novel to me after it was banned from the curriculum last summer by the Muskego-Norway school board in Wisconsin, a district of about 4,800 students. There were no complaints … more

Ted Olinger, KP News | 10/27/22

‘Being Mortal’ by Atul Gawande

I was driven to read Atul Gawande’s compelling book for the first time shortly after its publication in 2014. more

Maureen Reilly | 9/28/22

'Weather' — a Novel by Jenny Offill

In mid-May, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration tracked its highest-ever weekly CO2 levels in Earth’s atmosphere … more

José Alaniz | 8/31/22

Saving the Planet Isn’t Science Fiction

Kim Stanley Robinson’s 2020 novel presents a sobering but plausible time for us as our planet warms due to sunlight-trapping gases derived from the use of fossil fuels. While fiction, its … more

Richard Gelinas | 7/27/22

'The Violence Project'

When it comes to murder and mass shootings, America is a freak among nations. Murder rates are highest in countries with the most income inequality, and the U.S. is high on that list with the likes … more

Vicki Biggs | 6/29/22

George Orwell: ‘Facing Unpleasant Facts’

One of the better memories I have from my 1970s high school years are the hours I stole for myself by ditching an English class I despised. I hid out in the stacks of the library, sneaking along the … more

Ted Olinger, KP News | 6/1/22

Russia Goes Medieval

Since time immemorial, writers in Russia have had the most forceful, penetrating and far-reaching responses to what was happening in their country — for those willing to listen, … more

José Alaniz | 4/26/22

The Second Mountain by David Brooks

Many times over the last 18-plus years I have wondered why I feel so much at home and so contented on the Key Peninsula. Certainly, there are many similarities to Scotland but that really … more

Maureen Riley | 3/31/22

Of ‘Maus’ and McMinn

Some dirty comic book about the Holocaust got banned from the eighth grade English Language Arts curriculum by the McMinn County School Board in southeast Tennessee Jan. 10, because the book has cuss … more

José Alaniz, KP News | 2/28/22

Remembering Afghanistan

Some of my teenaged relatives enlisted after 9/11. One became a Marine and deployed to Afghanistan. He did convoy duty or was behind the wire, on base. When he came home, he had nothing but … more

Ted Olinger, KP News | 12/30/21

‘You Don’t Belong Here’ by Elizabeth Becker

As the former spouse of a Vietnam veteran, I did not think I would ever read another book about that war. For 16 years I absorbed everything I could find to understand the devastation Vietnam did … more

Maureen Reilly | 10/28/21

‘Something Wicked This Way Comes’

The bait is hard to resist but if you bite, you’ll be trapped in a sinister nightmare you hadn’t bargained for and from which you may never wake. more

Joseph Pentheroudakis | 9/29/21

James Herndon wrote five books between 1968 and 1985 including three memoirs about his career as a teacher, which made him an influential figure in education. He died in 1990.

Welcome Back Students

A school year unlike any other is upon us, fresh on the heels of two other school years unlike any others. Students are returning to their posts while administrators rearrange deck chairs and … more

Ted Olinger, KP News | 9/1/21

Pandemic Recovery

‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’ by Gabriel García Márquez We were about a month into this thing last year when I was laid up in the hospital. It wasn’t Covid-related but I was imprisoned long enough to learn what that disease was doing to people, to … more

Katrina Herringbottom | 8/28/21

'The Overstory' by Richard Powers

The mental time warp of being around young trees inspired me to pick up “The Overstory” for a second read. more

Chris Rurik, KP News | 6/30/21