The Beauty of Baseball

The Beauty of Baseball

(THREE GENERATIONS OF FANS: My father’s boyhood baseball glove from the 1930s, holding a ball signed by my son’s Little League team, which I coached. Photo by Tom Robotham) By Tom Robotham  The one constant through all the years has been baseball. ~...
Legacies of 9/11

Legacies of 9/11

  By Tom Robotham  On the evening of September 10, 2001, I was watching Band of Brothers with my then-8-year-old son. At one point, he asked me if I’d ever been to war. “No,” I told him. “I was lucky. I missed the Vietnam-War draft by just a couple of years. I...
ESSAY: Musical Riches Await

ESSAY: Musical Riches Await

(Virginia Symphony Orchestra’s new music director Eric Jacobsen) By Tom Robotham  Recently, for another publication, I wrote a piece about the dawn of a new era for the now 100-year-old Virginia Symphony. As of July, the orchestra has a new music...
ESSAY: Remembrance and Renewal 

ESSAY: Remembrance and Renewal 

  Words & Photo by Tom Robotham Late last month, I spent a week in New York City. It was my first visit to my hometown since 2018, and in the days leading up to the trip, I had a lot of mixed emotions. On the plus side, I was looking forward to spending time...
Legacies of 9/11

ESSAY: A More Perfect Union

  By Tom Robotham Of all the holidays we celebrate in this country, the Fourth of July is my least favorite. One reason is that it brings back unpleasant memories from childhood. Back then, in my neck of the woods, at least, it was dominated by one thing: illegal...
Legacies of 9/11

ESSAY: Fifteen Minutes a Day

  By Tom Robotham Last December in this space I wrote an essay about my renewed interest in studying French with an app called Duolingo. I’d fallen in love with the language while taking it for two years in college and have always wished I were fluent. Alas, I...