CJ Woods III’s Story Archive

Reading, Again

October 29, 2015 | by CJ Woods III

A friend was sitting in a chair in my living room, watching TV while I cooked. There was an item on the news about an author’s new book and my friend reached out to touch a book on a table near her chair. “Is this the book they’re talking about?” … Read More

Law and Order

October 22, 2015 | by CJ Woods III

In 1981, Steven Bochco introduced a police drama to the country and I was one of millions who adopted it. Bochco trained as a playwright at Carnegie Tech (now Carnegie Mellon University) in Pittsburgh, and it has been said that he got the idea for “Hill Street Blues” from observing … Read More

What? The Fall?

October 15, 2015 | by CJ Woods III

I was looking at the work of an orb-weaver that had crafted a web across a good portion of my kitchen window. I idly noted a curled and yellowed leaf caught in the web. Later that day, I saw the spider. It clung to the threads at the middle of … Read More

It’s Me, Imani

October 8, 2015 | by CJ Woods III

“Hi, Cool Papa, It’s me, Imani.” When my granddaughter was about 4 years old, and her mother put her on the phone to speak to me, she would always announce herself in that way. I never thought of the announcement as unnecessary, despite the fact that I had called to … Read More

Mistaken Identity

October 1, 2015 | by CJ Woods III

I had just checked into the Hotel Deauville in New York City, when I heard a knock on my door. I was an advertising art director for Famous-Barr department store and had flown in from St. Louis to oversee a fashion photo shoot. On occasion, other art directors were in … Read More