Woody Woodburn: Crystal (ball) clear look at 2014
With apologies to the Ventura County Star’s resident sports seer, Loren “The Lock” Ledin, the only psychics I have ever known who could predict the future with eerie accuracy were Jim “Swami” Parker...
View ArticleWoody Woodburn: Board game comes with a Risk
In the back of my son’s bedroom closet is a family heirloom of sorts that has not been removed from its tattered cardboard box in decades. It is kept on the top shelf, out of reach of young hands, for...
View ArticleWoody Woodburn: No more Mr. Nice Guy today
If you were expecting 700 words of nice this morning, read no further because I’m in a stuck-in-gridlock-on-the-George-Washington-Bridge kind of mood and I don’t care who is responsible for the closed...
View ArticleWoody Woodburn: Club's story is a real page turner
If her memory serves, and Doris Cowart’s mind is quicker than a Google search, Tillie Hathaway merits credit for starting the first book club in Ventura.
View ArticleWoody Woodburn: Sour story and two sweet tales
Three small boys. Crayons, a toy truck, ice cream. A good-morning hug, a morning smile, tears.
View ArticleWoody Woodburn: Mr. Nice Guy? He just clocked out
If you were expecting 700 words of nice this morning, phone your grandma. I’m still in an I’m Tired From Springing Forward And Losing One Hour Of Sleep kind of mood.
View ArticleWoody Woodburn: A tip: Serve up a little generosity
Good morning and welcome to today’s column. When you are done reading, please drop a tip in the mail.
View ArticleGetting lost in the art of travel
“Through my own efforts,” John Steinbeck wrote in “Travels with Charley: In Search of America,” “I am lost most of the time without help from anyone.”
View ArticleWoody Woodburn: We're going to need more granite
Eighty years ago, the sculpture on steroids known as Mount Rushmore had the face of its first rock star dedicated in ceremony. Three years later, in 1936, Thomas Jefferson joined George Washington...
View ArticleWoody Woodburn: Teaching fraternity loses 'artist'
“There are two kinds of teachers,” the great poet Robert Frost said. “The kind that fill you with so much quail shot you can’t move, and the kind that just give you a little prod behind and you jump to...
View ArticleWoody Woodburn: Turning forum over to readers
Rarely has one of my columns received greater response than last week’s about Chris Prewitt, a truly remarkable man/husband/father/son/friend/educator/role model who was tragically killed at age 38...
View ArticleWoody Woodburn: Relax, future is in great hands
Earl Warren, chief justice of the United States from 1953 to 1969, famously ruled: “I always turn to the sports section first. The sports page records people’s accomplishments; the front page has...
View ArticleWoody Woodburn: Advice yields a golden memory
“When the student is ready,” a Buddhist proverb states, “the teacher will appear.”
View ArticleWoody Woodburn: Some Hallmark-worthy thoughts
“God could not be everywhere,” Rudyard Kipling observed, “and therefore He made mothers.” In a similar Hallmark card sentiment, Abraham Lincoln noted: “All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel...
View ArticleWoody Woodburn: Young philanthropist on the run
As a small boy, Benjamin DeWitt remembers waiting in food lines.
View ArticleWoody Woodburn: Grads can learn from artisans
Graduation season is upon us and, since once again I was not asked to deliver a commencement address in person, I am offering one here in print.
View ArticleWoody Woodburn: Isla Vista could be Anytown USA
Had someone asked me a week ago which university I thought would be least likely to suffer a mass shooting, I believe I would have answered, “UC Santa Barbara.”
View ArticleWoody Woodburn: Hers was truly 'The Voice of God'
“What’s your favorite book you have ever read?” is nearly impossible to answer. One’s honest response may change if asked again even an hour later.
View ArticleWoody Woodburn: A father, a son and a kept promise
The boy, 7 years old, was in the family barn doing chores. This was a full eight decades ago, yet the boy — my dad — remembers it like last week.
View ArticleWoody Woodburn: A beach bucket list for the summer
In recognition of today being the summer solstice, here is my plastic beach bucket list for the next three months. I encourage you to come up with your own list — and, importantly, then check off as...
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