#exemplars

Disappointment Turns Into a Positive Conclusion

Jul 24, 2020
4 min

Disappointment Turns Into a Positive Conclusion

My wife and I recently took a short trip to relax and celebrate our wedding anniversary. We went to the Smoky Mountains, where we frequently took our girls camping when they were growing up. We especially were interested in driving the Cades Cove Loop after so many years away, hoping to see the wildlife for which the Loop is famous: bears, deer, turkeys, and maybe even elk, which were reintroduced in the park several years ago. But we were in for a series of disappointments.

Dennis L. Peterson

May 8, 2020
3 min

The Virtue of Silence

My week started off with a measure of excitement for me. I was able to meet (in a virtual sort of way) an author whose works I’ve long admired. The meeting occurred during a Zoom meeting (a technology that I’ve come to appreciated during this time of enforced isolation) of the “scribes” for the Coolidge Foundation with its board chairman, historian Amity Shlaes. I logged in early to ensure that nothing went wrong with the new (to me) technology and in the hope that I might be

Dennis L. Peterson

Apr 17, 2020
1 min

Blisters over Blather

The Korean War has often been called America’s “forgotten war.” People remember World War II and Vietnam, but sandwiched between those conflicts was Korea, and people tend to overlook it. Foremost among those lessons is the importance of leading by personal example. Ridgway knew the importance of getting out among his soldiers, of seeing things from their perspective, of coming to a firsthand understanding of the problems they faced. He made a point of rubbing shoulders with

Dennis L. Peterson

Apr 3, 2020
2 min

The Open Window

Someone (I conducted a brief online search to discover who, but I found no definitive answer) once said, “When God closes a door, He opens a window.” The current (and ongoing for only God knows how much longer) public health crisis has closed not just one but many doors for a lot of people, and I haven’t been immune to that plight. For just a few examples, I speak monthly in the chapel program of a local private Christian school. Now all schools are closed, quite conceivably

Dennis L. Peterson

Mar 10, 2020
1 min

Tuesday Teaser: The Way to Leadership

#writing #reading #lessonsofhistory #exemplars #writers #Militaryhistory #books #publishing

Dennis L. Peterson

Mar 3, 2020
1 min

Tuesday Teaser: Individual Effort

(from Combat! Spiritual Lessons from Military History, available at Amazon, http://ow.ly/ZXQ350xX9mx) #writing #Christianeducation #reading #lessonsofhistory #teaching #exemplars #writers #Militaryhistory #initiative #lessonsofthepast #books

Dennis L. Peterson

Jan 31, 2020
2 min

Jack or Master?

No doubt, you’ve heard the adage “a jack of all trades, a master of none,” referring to someone who can do a lot of different things but no single thing well. Benjamin Franklin reputedly corrected that misquotation of the adage, saying that it originally was “a jack of all trades, a master of one.” I had read an earlier work by Raynor, Called to Create, a book written primarily for writers, artists, musicians, and other creative types. I enjoyed that book, so when I learned t

Dennis L. Peterson

Jan 10, 2020
2 min

An Old Farmer’s Words of Wisdom

One of my earliest childhood memories is of sitting on the couch beside my grandfather (we called him Pappaw) in his house while he silently read his Bible. I watched his hands as he read, tracking his progress along the lines of text with his calloused and arthritis-gnarled index finger. But Pappaw’s wisdom was not the erudite wisdom of philosophers, articulated in esoteric and academic terms that too often confuse rather than enlighten. His was a common-sense wisdom that wa

Dennis L. Peterson

Aug 16, 2019
3 min

New School Year Revives Memories

It’s school time again. You can’t avoid knowing that fact because of all the Walmart aisles crowded with school supplies for sale. (I don’t think we had to have a fraction of that stuff back in the days when I was a student!) But this time of year always brings back a lot of memories for me. This week’s activities provided the initial spark for my memory machine. My wife began in-service training this week at the school where she teaches. As always, however, she actually had

Dennis L. Peterson

Jul 26, 2019
5 min

Shared Perspectives

The lyrics of Joni Mitchell’s song include the repeated phrase “I’ve looked at life from both sides now.” In his poem “The Road Less Traveled,” Robert Frost wrote, “And that has made all the difference.” Because I’m both a writer and an editor, I have looked at the publishing world from both perspectives. I have done so for many years now in both of those respective roles. But I must often remind myself to continue doing so. When I write, I must do so with the editor in mind.

Dennis L. Peterson

Jul 5, 2019
3 min

From Bunk to Benefit

“We want to live in the present,” he said, “and the only history that is worth [anything] is the history we make today.” Sadly, that seems to be the attitude of many (maybe most?) people today, too. And with the devaluing and debunking of our history we see in our schools and media, that situation promises only to get worse. But Henry Ford’s later life indicated that he might have begun to change his mind about history, that he had begun to see benefits of history. As he saw

Dennis L. Peterson

Jun 28, 2019
3 min

Doing It Right

I was impressed the minute the man got out of his truck. My appreciation for him grew by the minute. When the installer arrived, two young boys exited his truck with him. I greeted them and said to the man, “I see you brought plenty of help with you today.” After returning my greeting and shaking hands with me, the installer said, “These are my grandsons. They’re shadowing me today to begin learning the trade.” He then turned to the boys and said in a low voice, “Introduce yo

Dennis L. Peterson

May 17, 2019
2 min

Reflections on a Winslow Homer Painting

But that painting, “Snap the Whip,” was more than a sanity-maintainer for me. It reminded me of three special people: my grandfather, my father, and teacher-author Jesse Stuart. Finally, the painting reminds me of Jesse Stuart, who began teaching in a one-room schoolhouse in which he struggled to teach his students not only the daily lessons of the curriculum but also, and more importantly, the life lesson that learning is critical to success in any and all life endeavors. On

Dennis L. Peterson

May 10, 2019
2 min

Writers Said It

Sometimes great writers have some interesting advice and insights about the craft of writing (and many other topics). Here are a few examples of what some famous writers had to say. Lewis Carroll: “Begin at the beginning . . . and go on till you come to the end: then stop.” (Turtle Soup, Alice in Wonderland) Herman Melville: “To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme.” (Moby Dick) Mark Twain: “Classic. A book which people praise and don’t read.” (Pudd’nhead Wil

Dennis L. Peterson

Mar 15, 2019
4 min

Chivalry Still Lives!

Just when I had about concluded that true chivalry was dead, I saw the living embodiment of that very quality. It wasn’t exhibited by some old codger like myself who was reared to believe that chivalrous conduct was the normal attribute of a Southern gentleman; it was lived out by one of the younger generation whom we older folk so often castigate for their lacking that quality (among others). All that seems to have changed. Now that the legal code and common practice have ma

Dennis L. Peterson

Jan 31, 2019
1 min

One Special Lady

We buried Virginia Mae Dietterich, my wife’s mother and my mother-in-law, on Monday. (In case you’ve been wondering, that’s why I haven’t posted recently.) My own mother had been killed by a drunk driver only about four years after I married. I’ve written about her before. (See https://dlpedit.wordpress.com/2018/04/24/growing-up-rich/ and https://dlpedit.wordpress.com/2016/05/06/reflections-on-mother.) I knew Mother for only 27 years. I knew my mother-in-law, however, for 42

Dennis L. Peterson

Nov 20, 2018
3 min

David’s Principles of Good Writing

The best writers, writing teachers often say, are avid readers, and high on their reading lists are great writers, those who stand as exemplars of what good writing is. So it stands to reason, if one wants to become a good writer, one should read the works of great writers and follow their examples. Consider, for example, only one of his psalms, perhaps the most famous one, one known among even non-religious people: Psalm 23, which is often called “The Shepherd’s Psalm.” If y

Dennis L. Peterson

Nov 13, 2018
4 min

The Man I Knew

He was born on this date in 1928, about 11 months before the big crash. Most of his formative, pre-adolescent years were within that life-changing economic period, and much of his later life reflected it. His adolescent years were under the shadow of World War II. Until his last years of high school, the only president he and his classmates knew was Franklin Roosevelt. Ralph was the fourth child of Blaine and Omega, the first to live beyond infancy. He later was joined in the

Dennis L. Peterson

Nov 12, 2018
1 min

Thank You, Military Veterans!

As we approach the Veterans Day weekend (and the actual date on Sunday, November 11), we owe a great debt of gratitude to everyone who is a military veteran for helping us maintain our freedoms. Perhaps no one said it better than one of those veterans, Charles M. Province. (Please note that when he uses the term soldier, we should also add the words sailor, airman, Marine, and Coast Guardsman because every veteran of every branch of our military played his or her part.) It is

Dennis L. Peterson

Nov 6, 2018
2 min

Memorable Lines from Simms

Recently, I’ve been reading a little [DRUM ROLL, PLEASE!] fiction, and old fiction at that. Few people today recall the author or his book, but it’s proving to be quite a read for me. Simms delved into various genres, from poetry to fiction to biography. Yet, in all of his writing, he was an instructor in history. He is perhaps most famous for his biography of the “Swamp Fox,” The Life of Francis Marion. That work is on my “to-read” list, but I’ve been indulging in one of his