CJ Woods III’s Story Archive

Death in the Family

August 25, 2016 | by CJ Woods III

Late in October of 1974, I was awakened by a phone call. I was living in Camarillo, California with my wife and two-year-old child. I cannot remember who called me from my hometown of Pittsburgh, Penn., to tell me that my father had died. I gathered up my little family … Read More

Notes from the Readers

August 18, 2016 | by CJ Woods III

A columnist for a publication in St. Louis, Mo., would occasionally “turn (his) column over to the readers.” He would then address emails and letters that readers had sent to him with questions, comments and concerns. An example of his method of answering those inquiries might be something like this: … Read More

Sounds of Silence

August 11, 2016 | by CJ Woods III

Bombs were bursting in air over a neighborhood in southern Indiana; a hissing sound came from the roof as debris settled onto the house, the deck and the lawn. Inside the house that I was watching for my friend, her terrified Maltese dog hid under a bed, and her cat … Read More

Out of Tune

August 4, 2016 | by CJ Woods III

“The world is too much with us; late and soon, / Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers; Little we see in Nature that is ours; / We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!” — William Wordsworth (1807) Last December, a man started a conversation with me … Read More

What’s in a Name?

July 28, 2016 | by CJ Woods III

A 15-year-old boy, having been directed by adults to file an income tax return, did so; he received a letter of inquiry from the Internal Revenue Service that asked why the name on his return was different from the name on his Social Security card. The young man, who had … Read More