Rich: Tink’s accidental stardom

Quite by accident, I have made Tink a star. I, without thought, have done what the biggest stars in Hollywood could not do. Mary Tyler Moore didn’t do it. Neither did Bruce Paltrow (who, by the way, I mourn that I never met. He died too young.). Mark Harmon. Denzel Washington. Will and Jada Smith.

Rich: Nicole’s wisdom

“In so much as it is within your control in a situation, be kind.” My niece, Nicole, was telling me about a family meeting that she and her husband, Jay, had recently conducted with their five children. That commandment was the meeting’s foundation.

Rich: The photo and the Bible

It happened 15 years ago yet the memory sticks to me like cotton candy to a child’s hand. I still puzzle over it. Paducah, Kentucky, was a stop on a Mississippi riverboat cruise for which I had been hired as a storyteller. When the boat docked, I strolled down the picturesque streets.

Rich: The good doctor

It was two years ago, around eleven in the morning on a Thursday. I was in our bedroom where, more often than not, I tucked in to write.

Rich: My wife and funerals

By John Tinker (sitting in for Ronda Rich) For some unknown reason, the other day, I began adding up the number of funerals I’ve attended since moving to the South. I stopped at eight since I quickly realized what a morbid, mental exercise I was undertaking.

Rich: Unnecessary unkindness

Of course, I occasionally encounter rudeness in folks. Usually, I’m in a bubble of some kind when I’m jolted right out of it by rudeness or, in some cases, as Mama would say, “Downright meanness.”

Rich: The stories we own (part two)

In the Bible, the Apostle Paul wrote, “When I was a child, I thought as a child.” When I was a child, though, I was far older than my actual age. Quietly, I stood back and watched the adults. I observed as stories played out.

Rich: The stories we own (part one)

Everyone has a story. Or many stories. Every person, uniquely, owns a piece of history. A cherished friend of mine was a helicopter pilot in Vietnam. Twice, his helicopter was shot down in the midst of battles. As it is recorded, that was a horrendously uncivilized war.

Rich: The biscuits

In our family, no food is held in higher esteem than the biscuit. Cornbread runs a close second but there’s an art to making a biscuit that the easy-going, no-frills cornbread does not require.

Rich: The Fox studio and dirty feet

A while back, Tink and I had a meeting to pitch a television show on the Fox Studio Lot in Los Angeles. It wasn’t the first time I had been there. At least three times, before I knew Tink, I passed through the Fox guarded gates.