Disappearing Act
Twenty years ago, probably closer to twenty-five, I got a notion into my head that the thoughts I carried around all day would be of use to others, so I started a blog. I don't even remember what the hosting platform was, but it was pretty minimal. Each week I would pen a new column and then send out emails to everyone I knew hoping to spark a conflagration of readership. Not even a puff of smoke. My topics were wide -ranging, my research was thorough, my objectives were bold. My readership -- if the e-mails didn't go right to the spam folders -- was busy doing something else (don't know what; Facebook and YouTube were both a ways off). My brother read every column, which was nice. I got my wife to read them mainly because I looked sad when she admitted she didn't. I don't know how many I wrote. Not more than a dozen. I remember my first column -- about a month after the September 11, 2001 terror attack, I drove out to Amherst where they were ho