Latest Posts


  • ‘AMERICAN EXPERIMENT’

    By Arthur H. Gunther III thecolumnrule.com My father was a Frank Sinatra fan from the singer’s early days at The Rustic Cabin in Englewood Cliffs, N.J. He followed his career through musical styles, films and political beliefs. Of a later… Continue reading

  • FOOTSTEPS

    February 16, 2025 By Arthur H. Gunther III thecolumnrule.com In this 1936 house where I now live, in old Upper Nyack, N.Y., there are footsteps left behind. Not so where I was previously, almost 51 years in nearby Blauvelt. That… Continue reading

  • ‘CITIZEN SOLDIER’ BACK IN THE HARDWARE STORE

    February 9, 2025 By Arthur H. Gunther III thecolumnrule.com We Americans owe Ernie Pyle, the famed World War II columnist, deep respect for getting it right about military in a democracy. He described in raw, eloquent emotion the real deal,… Continue reading

  • LIGHT OF THE INSIGHTFUL

    February 4, 2025 This photograph was taken on a morning infused with the reflective light that is characteristic of the Hudson River. I was walking past the South Nyack, N.Y., home once owned by Carson McCullers, the Southern writer whose… Continue reading

  • ‘PROGRESS: RELATIVE’

    February 2, 2025 By Arthur H. Gunther III thecolumnrule.com “Progress” is relative in any age, in any place, with any people. The discovery of fire almost two million years ago was movement forward, bringing warmth, lighting, cooking, protection, etc., which… Continue reading

  • USEFUL SKILLS

    January 26, 2025 By Arthur H. Gunther III thecolumnrule.com When most schools still taught workshop, it was not only a 30-40 minute break from traditional learning and sitting at a desk, but it was a chance to acquire skills that… Continue reading

  • ECHOES IN THE ROTUNDA

    January 19, 2025 By Arthur H. Gunther III thecolumnrule.com This is about family, not politics. My old perch as a 26-year newspaper editorialist back in the day when my publishers left the opinion section free to offer varied views, which… Continue reading

  • ‘FRIENDS’ AWAIT

    January 12, 2025 By Arthur H. Gunther III thecolumnrule.com No matter where you live, absent war, fire, community neglect, there is beauty – in mountains, woods, fields, architecture, water, favorite streets, other haunts. Given the day, the time, your mood,… Continue reading

  • THE SCENT OF IT ALL

    January 5, 2025 By Arthur H. Gunther III thecolumnrule.com Memories are triggered by sight, scent, hearing and other connections, brought by the angels or not. Consider woolen gloves and old-style radiators. The house I live in now has those cast-iron… Continue reading

  • SILENCE

    December 29, 2024 By Arthur H. Gunther III thecolumnrule.com It has been noted: Some are fluent in silence. So much can be said in the quiet, whether it is two people together or one apart from the other, sitting in… Continue reading