Author Archives | Tom Purcell

Tom Purcell - who has written 101 posts on Catholic Exchange.


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Eddie Gabor’s House

Posted on 04 July 2009

When I drove by Eddie Gabor’s old house, I was transported back 20 years — back to the wonderful Fourth of July outings my family once enjoyed there.

Eddie Gabor was my grandmother’s longtime companion. For the last 20 years of…

A Real Clunker

Posted on 27 June 2009

I’m torn, if you want to know the truth.

Last week, the United States Senate passed the “Cash for Clunkers” bill — they tucked it into an emergency war-funding bill — and President Obama will soon sign it into law.

Here’s how…

An End to Buffoonish Fathers

Posted on 18 June 2009

Ah, Father’s Day is upon us. I can’t think of a better time for dads and men to remember how to be dads and men.

Flip on the tube any time during the day and you’ll see fathers portrayed as…

A Pencil’s Point

Posted on 09 June 2009

Now is a good time to revisit the 1958 essay in which Leonard Read examined how a pencil is made — how it is miraculous that a pencil is made at all.

The standard pencil begins when a cedar is cut…

Summer Musings

Posted on 03 June 2009

Ah, summer is almost upon us. That causes me to think wistfully of how much better my life could be.

I am a writer, you see. I have been working hard to keep up with my corporate clients. With the economy…

Stimulus for the Dead

Posted on 27 May 2009

“Dead? What do you mean you’re dead?”

“You heard me. My physical life has long been over. Some of us are able to show ourselves to the living and that is why I’m here now.”

“What do you want?”

“Respect, my friend —…

Middle Aged and Annoyed

Posted on 13 May 2009

I turned 47 a few weeks ago. Boy, am I getting cranky.

Now in middle age, I’m less able to suffer fools gladly (including this fool). Many things annoy me:

A girl in her early 20s goes into a beer store. She…

The Pyramid Scheme

Posted on 30 April 2009

I was just a naive kid at the time. That’s how I got snookered.

It happened in the spring of 1978. My best friend Ayresie and I had quit our jobs as cooks at the Ponderosa Steakhouse to start a business…

Facebook Fatigue

Posted on 23 April 2009

I’m turning into my father.

My father was born in 1933. He was a paperboy in the days when paperboys stood on city corners and shouted “Extra!”

In my father’s home, the newspaper still is king. He has two delivered daily.…

Calling Government Motors

Posted on 16 April 2009

Ring. Ring.

"Hello, the Department of Government-Backed GM Warranties, may I help you?"

"Yes, my new GM car won’t start."

"Hold, please … Hello, the Department of the Electronic Ignition-Challenged, may I help you?"

"I bought a new GM car. It won’t start."

"Does it…

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