Review of the William F. Buckley biography by Sam Tanenhaus

 

    In junior high, I admired Buckley. By the time I graduated, I did not, but I read his columns as long as he wrote them for vocabulary-building and style.

     Tanenhaus chronicles an interesting career that spanned over half a century. The National Review occupies a large space, as it must, but there is much more to Buckley.

     The only criticism I have, however, concerns the last two decades of Buckley’s life. I would have liked to know more about how he felt about figures like Rush Limbaugh, New Gingrich, and Bill Clinton. Buckley’s criticism of the Iraq War deserved more space, and especially the reaction to it from fellow conservatives.

     The biography is well-researched and well-written, and reminds us of a time when a conservative could be civil toward political opponents; I mean, especially on the Firing Line Television program, not the encounters with Gore Vidal during the 1968 Democratic convention.

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My books:

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Arthur-Turfa/author/B00YJ9LNOA?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_3&qid=1764082011&sr=1-3&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true&ccs_id=3e469d8e-a600-41c7-b6cd-45faf5d82d43

https://www.blurb.com/b/10799783-the-botleys-of-beaumont-county?srsltid=AfmBOoqrGw_TFfmE2y3-g7F6gHNgKk5bfK4YMgCh3AiFvt9Bc-yTmMKq

Farewell to WPSU ( the former WDFM) at Penn State- Hopefully Not

 https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/09/19/penn-state-wpsu-npr-pbs-cuts/86229372007/

     The above link gives the sad news. The one below does also, but with a different take on it.

https://www.statecollege.com/articles/columns/are-we-really-just-going-to-walk-away-from-wpsu/

     I am going to give my personal connection to this story without ranting about the budget cuts and who is behind them. The Army taught me BLUF- Bottom Line Up Front. Here it is:

    WDFM prepared this November 1974 graduate for his careers in addition to giving him (and many, many others) enjoyment. The station, now WPSU, has grown and provides more to its listeners and deserves to survive. Instead of giving large pay raises, some of that money could be redirected to save the station.

   In September 1971, I started at Penn State. As for possible majors, German and Journalism competed. I chose the former, but learned that experience in campus media would also be beneficial and might lead to a career in Journalism. 

     I joined the staff of The Daily Collegian as a feature writer and became one of two reporters on the Student Government beat. Early in my sophomore year, I left to do News at WDFM. Later, I returned to the Collegian as a columnist. At WDFM, I became Public Affairs Director and eventually Fine Arts Director. That put me in charge of The Third Program, the classical music part of the schedule.

    No, I was not a musician. I showed I could manage a staff, and I could pronounce the names of composters and performers. I learned about classical music and was able to select appropriate pieces for classroom use when I wanted "brain music" to play in the classroom when my students read or did deskwork. 

     My careers were in education: 25 years on the secondary level in three states, about 40 courses taught as an adjunct on the post-secondary level, a Lutheran pastor (serving in the Episcopal Church as well) for 44 years and still active, and as an Army chaplain (Retired Reservist with Veteran Status).  In all of them, I had to think quickly, adapt to changing situations, and have the ability to communicate clearly and thoroughly. WDFM helped me with that.

     First of all, I had to find a voice other than my native Western Pennsylvanian. That still comes out, but announcing classical music, I had my own radio voice. Friends would ask me on campus if that really was me on the radio.

     The first time I was live on the radio came unexpectedly. I  walked into the newsroom to check the wire. Immediately, the Station Manager and his assistant rushed up to me with a sheaf of papers. The assigned announcer for the 10 p.m. newscast had not shown up. I protested that I had no copy. They handed me the sheaf of papers and said, "Here it is! And don't laugh at the last story!" It was about an abandoned baby found in a Philadelphia trash can. Hardly a laughing matter. But as I read it, I could hear in the background remarks about the story.

     Another newscast, a planned one this time, had a DJ moon me from the control booth. I kept my cool. 

     While I never got my Third Class license to run the board myself and be on the air (I should have), I knew enough in my seminary internship parish to record German dovtionals for myself and my supervisor. The congregation had a service broadcast each week, and there was a radio room upstairs. 

     Maybe before June 2026, the money will be found, and WPSU can continue. I certainly hope so.  Maybe  I will write about my experiences in one way or another. Now I will sign off, Arthur Turfa, Fine Arts Director Emeritus

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My books:

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Arthur-Turfa/author/B00YJ9LNOA?ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true&ccs_id=1dfe7e3f-0eb4-47c4-bf27-f9485ab262cc

https://www.blurb.com/b/10799783-the-botleys-of-beaumont-county?srsltid=AfmBOoqL4glHe2EaPiabFzz8cx8cpOzbPocvdxo16Aa3B5dgAJ651KBT

https://histriabooks.com/product-category/histria-christian/?srsltid=AfmBOorCjpNTzJlZ6Ub8ISkmRc5qAsLNtl0drzWOC3SWufs74z2yIVLp

15 August: Mary, Mother of Our Lord, Assumption BVM, Dormition of the Theotokos.St. Mary the Virgin. Mariaä Himmelfahrt

 

     I am certainly missing a few names for this day on the Church Calendar. Select one that pleases you; this blog post is about how my view of Mary evolved over the years.

    For those who do not know me, I am a Lutheran pastor (ELCA) who is also licensed in an Episcopal Diocese. Although the term Evangelical Catholic might be unfamiliar to some readers, it best describes me. While I fully embrace the Protestant Reformation, I do not reject everything that happened before the 16th century. 

     Growing up in the Monongahela Valley south of Pittsburgh, I was not churched. My family considered itself Presbyterian, but I only remember attending a few Easter Sunday services. Anything Roman Catholic was rejected. Orthodox Christians were given some respect. We had a wonderful Jewish doctor. Religion and ethnicity were closely intertwined in that region. There were exceptions, so a person could be a close friend even if they were not "one of our people", however that was defined.

     German was my undergraduate major, which I continued in graduate school. As I toured/studied/lived in Germany (West and East), I noticed that Lutheran and Catholic churches looked essentially the same. People explained that the Reformation removed only what was contrary to doctrine. At UC-Berkeley, I took a Luther course and was blown away. When I took a teaching assistantship at UC-Irvine, I officially became a Lutheran (both sides of my family had some Lutherans). My mother joked that my going to California and becoming a Lutheran was not that bad, considering what it could have been!

    A few years later, I felt the call to seminary and moved to Christ Seminary-Semeinx in St. Louis. A whole new world opened up to me. Liturgy attracted me, and I considered myself High Church. Mary stopped being part of Catholic folk religion, someone who appeared to children in a quasi-magical way, who was more accessible than her son. I learned that one could honor her and still be a good Lutheran or Protestant.

    At Berkeley, I first read Luther's commentary on the Magnificat, Mary's psalm after Gabriel tells her God's plan for her (in Luke's Gospel). Luther calls her the first Christian, because she heard the Gospel and believed. He also refers to her as the Mother of all Christians. The astonishing conclusion still sparks debate among scholars. https://www.theologie.uzh.ch/apps/gpi/luthers-magnificat-english-version/

     The "Old Luther" vs. "Later Luther" debate need not concern us here. Regardless of how much the Reformer evolved, he did not repudiate what he had earlier written.

     I also learned more about Orthodoxy (which still influences me today). Mary, the Theotokos/Godbearer, is never depicted without her son.

    Okay, so tell that to the Ladies' Group at church, as we would say. Theology is all well and good, but how is it lived out? 

     Consider this about Mary. Gabriel tells her that God wants her to become an unwed teenage mother. Whatever hopes, dreams, and plans she had for her life vanish. She will become a refugee, live in a backwater, and watch her son grow up to become a public figure who, while doing wondrous things, is executed. She witnesses this, but her faith does not waver. In all this, she is a model for us; Luther was right, and he was only repeating what he had learned.

     Mary served as a role model for a faith that was strong but not oppressive. Devotion to her was used to tame my genetic pool and others. And there is nothing wrong with that, provided that we acknowledge that she leads us to her son. 

     I am not going to discuss here issues like the Immaculate Conception, perpetual virginity, whether she had other children, and the like. I do affirm that she remained a virgin and was stepmother to Joseph's children from his first marriage. But these things are not necessary for salvation. The Immaculate Conception is not necessary for salvation, even though Pius IX invoked infallibility for it. Does the Assumption fall into this category? That seems unclear.

     Dormition might be a better description. There are some Biblical figures who "vanished": Enoch, Elijah (albeit dramatically). There is no known grave of Mary; surely that would have been a site of pilgrimage. 

     Mary belongs in our theology and piety without embellishment and certainly not to Jesus' detriment. When I was deployed to Germany some 20 years ago, I served what was essentially an Episcopalian community, with sacramentally-minded Christians from other traditions. One of the civilians donated a lovely small wooden statue of Muttergottes mit Kind (Madonna and Child). I placed it in the rear of her chapel and called it a Lady Chapel. The other chaplains were aghast. But sometimes when I walked past the chapel, there was someone there in prayer. 

     This image is from a photo I took at Jackalope in Santa Fe, New Mexico: 

     

My books:

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Arthur-Turfa/author/B00YJ9LNOA?ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true&ccs_id=72948036-3c2c-488f-a325-b42059ef1dc1

Jesuit Poets and my Relation to Them

       Today, July 31, the Church remembers Ignatius of Loyal. founder of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). I have long admired this order, even though I have been a Lutheran pastor for over four decades. My parents spoke well of them, and they were not at all inclined to say anything good about Roman Catholicism. 

    During my last quarter at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, I took a course on the Spiritual Exercises at the Jesuit School of Theology at Chicago, co-located with us. 

     In high school, I read about the Berrigan Brothers. Dan Berrivgan was a poet, and I read what I could of his works. Robert Southwell was executed during Elizabeth I's reign, and I have also read some of his poems. Berrigna was freer-form.

     But Gerard Manley Hopkins influenced me the most. When I started at Penn State, I resolved to read things not required for a class. In an independent bookstore across from campus, I bought Hopkins' Collected Poems and a secondary source about him. After all, I was at college now, and figured I needed to expand what I had been doing. And I was not planning on being an English major. Either German or journalism interested me then. I chose the former, but became. active in print and broadcast media 

    I marvel at Hopkins's use of language. While I cannot say I have consciously tried to imitate it, it has influenced me. I will end by posting some links and let the readers pursue

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/gerard-manley-hopkins

https://jpearce.co/three-jesuit-poets/

 

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My books:

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Arthur-Turfa/author/B00YJ9LNOA?ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true&ccs_id=72948036-3c2c-488f-a325-b42059ef1dc1

 

Pulitzer Prize-winning Reporter Rod Nordland Dies- I Knew Him When

     Anyone who spent five minutes with Rod Nordland knew he was going places. He was a senior journalism major at Penn State and wrote for The Daily Collegian, news stories and columns that drew equal amounts of praise and rage. Everything was well-written. 

    In 1971, I was a freshman reporter, undecided about my major, and started like everyone else on Features. Early in 1972, I was promoted to the United Student government beat, which I shared with another reporter. When we were told not to disclose something during a campaign, we did not. 

   When it came out anyway, Rod took me aside in the office in the basement of the Sackett Building. He asked me why I kept it under wraps. It was not a personal attack; Rod's concern was always for the best reporting, no matter what. I am sure he soon afterwards spoke to the people who told us to ignore what later became known.

    Most people on the staff who sought Journalism jobs dreamed of big things but ended up on smaller papers throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Rod went with the Philadelphia Inquirer and covered Southeast Asia. A mutual friend from our Penn State days (and later, my best man- my wife was a journalist) visited him and, with a group, sneaked into Pol Pot's Cambodia one night. Later, Rod wrote for Newsweek and the New York Times, winning numerous awards, including the Pulitzer. He also covered wars and conflicts in Southwest Asia, Central America, and Europe.

     His memoir, Waiting for the Monsoon, depicts a chaotic childhood and a career that had more than its share of personal and professional challenges. I would not say we were friends; there was an age difference as well as one of experience. However, he was friendly, and I appreciated knowing him and later reading what he wrote when I could. 

     The largest group of my Penn State friends came from the Collegian, and the campus radio station, WDFM (now WPSU), where I ended up, and wrote columns for the Collegian.  Rod's passing reminds me of my own mortality and brings me back to a time when a group of us thought we were going to set the world on fire. All young people think that. But Rod belonged to the last generation of journalists before the advent of social media, AI, and the fading of print media.

     

https://www.editorandpublisher.com/stories/rod-nordland-75-dies-war-reporter-who-also-wrote-of-his-own-struggle,256377

My books: 

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Arthur-Turfa/author/B00YJ9LNOA?ref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true&ccs_id=67a4ca9d-d97c-436c-9409-827b215a8174

My novel:

https://www.blurb.com/b/10799783-the-botleys-of-beaumont-county

For Once, the Movie is Better Then the Book

     The Incredible Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera contains the story of three Czechs caught up in the Prague Spring of 1968 and its aftermath. They form a love triangle, although the male member of it is what we would call today a sex addict. 

     Kundera was so displeased with the 1988 film version that he decided not to allow any of his books to be filmed.  In the novel, he digresses into philosophical discourse from ancient Greek and Nietzsche. There is also a section on fecal matter. Rather hard to film that, I would think. It has a fantastic cast: Juliette Binoche, Lena Olin, and Daniel Day-Lewis

     It is not that I regret having read the book. I gave it four stars. The film shows the struggle against a totalitarian system and how it impacts lives. The choices we make do have consequences. 

    

My books: 

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Arthur-Turfa/author/B00YJ9LNOA?ref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true&ccs_id=67a4ca9d-d97c-436c-9409-827b215a8174

My novel:

https://www.blurb.com/b/10799783-the-botleys-of-beaumont-county

 

Thoughts on "The McCartney Legacy Part One" by Allan Kozinn and Adrian Sinclair

   There is an astounding amount of detail here in this unauthorized book. Sometimes this makes for slow reading, especially in the recording sessions, since Paul wanted so many overdubs. However, readers are going to appreciate the background and insights here, so this first of two volumes is worth their time. the legal problems that sank the Beatles are spelled out, along with Paul's reaction to the Fab fdour's dissolution, Linda's role in bringing him out of it, and this solo work to the formation of Wings.

     I've said before that my personality is more like John's than the other Beatles. But like Paul, I am a Gemini, and I get the creativity. Not that I am anywhere close to his ability, and certainly not in music or drawing., Writing is my thing. But I keep a snippet or two of something that I will turn into a poem or a story. Seeing Paul incubate something for later on was fascinating. 

    Eventually, I will get the second part, but now I need to write some things myself and I have a few things untouched on my Kindle. But I will close with something I heard from a friend that shows how generous Paul is.

   I taught for a few years at the Hazleton Area High School. One of the nurses grew up near Denny Seiwell, Wings' first drummer. Around the year 2000, Paul came to Philly for a concert. The nure (whom I trust) said that Denny wrote him, saying that he has visa issues in the UK as a US citizen and had to leave the band. (From the book, I learned that given the low pay, Deny had to do session work in NYC.

   Paul wrote back to Denny, saying he understood. Along with the letter were tickets and backstage passes for the Philly show, and a check for $243,000. Paul added that that was all he could get his hands on at the time, but he would send a few more of them.

   Obviously, Paul did not have to do any of this. that he speaks to who he is. 

   Enjoy the book and the music again! My go-to channel on SiriusXM is the Beatles.

    

 

     

My books: 

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Arthur-Turfa/author/B00YJ9LNOA?ref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true&ccs_id=67a4ca9d-d97c-436c-9409-827b215a8174

My novel:

https://www.blurb.com/b/10799783-the-botleys-of-beaumont-county

As A Fiction/Poetry Reader/Reviewer, Here Is What I Look For

 

    I am honored to be a Fiction Reader for the Northern Appalachia Review, where I was born, a Poetry Editor for the Eleventh Hour Literary Review from Binghamton University, one of the places I went to grad school, an Editorial Assistant for The Petigru Review of the South Carolina Writers Association, and a book reviewer for and through The Tupelo Press and published in the Midwest Book Review. 

    Right now, I am in the middle of reading submissions for two of these publications, and other books appear announced or unannounced.  The GIF below is my reaction to things I do not expect.

https://tenor.com/view/god-father-generosity-deserve-gif-14015070

    Fiction:  For the NAR, we have a specific geographic location. Submitters need not have been born or lived there, or live there currently. When I see something that is not set in the region or has no discernible identification with the region, I stop reading. Below is the map from the website. I think "If you'uns can't read a map, I can't help you 'uns!"

    Outside of that, I want to see more than endless dialogue or a narrator rambling on and on. I want to know what people look like, what the locations look like, and some details about what they eat, drink, smoke, wear, etc. In other words, I want a picture.

 Poetry: I shudder when I see two or three-word lines, 20 or so lines all jammed together, or prose poetry. Yes, I know about the latter. Poet friends and I have discussed this. To me, such things resemble someone going on and on about something. "Prose Poetry" is an oxymoron in my book. Prose is often poetic; think of Updike, Faulkner, and others. 

     If prose is put into some poetic format, that turns me off. I want to see poetic features- not necessarily rhyme- but metaphor, simile, inversion of words, and the like. If there is rhyme, I do not want to see words hammered into place. 

    An example: I recently saw "your desires" paired with "truth's transpires". I shuddered! Not only hammering in rhymes, but a complete misunderstanding of vocabulary. 

    Am I the Final Authbority on writing? By no means am I open about what I like and what I do not like. If there are three of us reviewing what is submitted, I realize that I can be outvoted. And sometimes I like what I read regardless of the form. 

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My books: 

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Arthur-Turfa/author/B00YJ9LNOA?ref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true&ccs_id=67a4ca9d-d97c-436c-9409-827b215a8174

My novel:

https://www.blurb.com/b/10799783-the-botleys-of-beaumont-county

"Foxholes" -Review of Leonard Kress' New Poetry Book

 Foxholes- Leonard Kress

Poets have written about family members for too many years to count. They have also written about places to the extent that we think some places are more poetic than others.

In this poetry book, Leonard Kress finds poetry not only in family but also in suburban Philadelphia, the Fishtown, Harrowgate, and Center City sections of Philadelphia, Lithuania, and along the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Non-family members appear: neighbors, a future serial killer (unnamed but known to those who lived near him), students he taught in Ohio, classmates, former girlfriends, and musical icons from the 1960s.

Using various styles, Kress presents a winsome picture of people and settings from his life. A reflective tone permeates these verses, and the reader enjoys time spent with this delightful book of poetry.

Arthur Turfa, Saluda Reflections, Finishing Line Press, Epiphanies, Alien Buddha Press.

I will add a little more here. Leonard graduated between my brother Alex and me from Plymouth-Whitemarch HS in Plymouth Meeting, PA. His family lived about 1.5 miles from mine. His sister, Ellie, worked on the school newspaper as I did and graduated a year ahead of me.

Leonard and I lived or went to many of the same places and wrote about them. I will post links to his books and also mine.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GnTGRkFWMAE1zUp?format=jpg&name=360x360

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My book lins:

https://t.co/KyPITr8YSl

https://www.blurb.com/b/10799783-the-botleys-of-beaumont-county