CJ Woods III’s Story Archive

Telling Stories

January 31, 2019 | by CJ Woods III

Phil Lofton came up to me at the Harrison Center on First Friday, January 5th, and said that I looked familiar. “Do you spend time at Ash and Elm?” I laughed, then averred that I did spend time at my favorite cider house. After we exchanged names, I remembered that … Read More

Political Correctness

January 24, 2019 | by CJ Woods III

This column first appeared in the May 18, 2012 issue. A talk radio personality cast aspersions on a woman and publicly sneered at her point of view on an issue he views with contempt. People objected to his crude characterization of her; some of those who objected were accused of … Read More

Fathers and Daughters

January 17, 2019 | by CJ Woods III

An associate of my youngest daughter expressed incredulity: “Your father is watching her?” Lauren told me that she replied in the affirmative, with some complimentary words about me, the father who is the weekday caretaker for her 8-month-old daughter. When Lauren’s older sister was four years old, her mother went … Read More

Eight Days of Joy

January 10, 2019 | by CJ Woods III

“Dad, I want to go with you,” Lauren said to me. The days were spiraling down toward the Christmas holidays, and it has been my habit in the past to travel to New Jersey to spend time with Lauren’s sister Lisa, and the first two of my grandchildren. Lauren’s daughter … Read More

The Quality of Mercy

January 3, 2019 | by CJ Woods III

The man leaned forward in his chair, intently watching a news report about the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. “Those people are brutal,” he said, pointing at the TV screen. My response was immediate: “Yes. They go into synagogues with AR-15s and murder 11 people.” I was seated to the man’s … Read More