Nothing puts life into context like death. And so it was that while at Edwin Coleman’s memorial service last Tuesday, I was reminded why,...

SALEM — An hour before I’m to present a three-hour writers workshop at the maximum security facility of the Oregon State Penitentiary,...

Appeared in Register-Guard newspaper, June 5, 2016 I was high on a ladder, doing something I’d vowed I’d never do again, when a neighbor...

A FEW YEARS AGO, Dave Frohnmayer and I were speaking at Northwest Christian University on the subject of leadership when he shared an...

EDITOR’S NOTE: When Cade Welch, our first grandson, was born in 2005, I began a ritual of writing a once-a-year letter to him in The...

They say if you want to make money in the writing business you find a niche and go to that place again and again. In other words, if the...

Mother of Rain, about hardscrabble life in the hills of Tennessee in the 1930s and ’40s, is the most intriguing read I’ve experienced in...

* I’m kidding, I’m kidding! The Great “At Last” Calamity of 2012 (In Which a Lifetime of Sailboat-Launching Problems Occurred in Three...

On August 20, 1905, Oregon wilderness wanderer John Waldo wrote a journal entry from the east slope of Mount Jefferson. In it, he quoted...

Mary White, subject of my favorite column. A WHILE BACK, Ed Russo, a Register-Guard colleague, suggested we read a book called Deadline...

AS I PREPARE for the Feb. 25-27 Beachside Writers Workshop in Yachats, the question comes up as it certainly will that weekend. Why...

Been out of the loop the last few weeks while on vacation, so haven’t spent much time writing. But here’s a link to my RG column on a...

“Remember to wrap the plastic around the candy before you bury the treasure,” my first mate suggested as, shovel in hand, I prepared to...

Last month, after an Oregon baseball game, fans were allowed on the field to watch the movie “Sandlot” on the big screen. It bought to...

En route to Yachats Friday, I was reminded that Florence-to-Yachats on Highway 101 is my favorite 20-mile stretch of highway in the state...

Tonight, on salon.com I came across the only other story about family members building a coffin for their father that I’ve ever read. I...

The rumble of the Pacific Ocean as you lie on the beach, just before you drift off to sleep, cocooned in blankets, a paperback discarded...

Bob Welch’s Top 10 “Where Were You When?” Memories (See May 18, 2010 Register-Guard column) My criterion: How deeply did this event...

As with most trips, wife Sally and I experienced some low moments: having to pay $32 a day to park our rental car at our downtown hotel;...

My Sunday, May 2, 2010, column is based on a phone interview with a guy now in prison who stole a Eugene man’s war medals, then returned...