Article Archives: Words with Woods

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

Gasoline Shenanigans

September 24, 2015 | by CJ Woods III

“They say gas is going up to $3.00,” my friend said to me, “but I haven’t seen it yet.” This was in late August; on August 25th, I had paid $2.49 per gallon in Indianapolis to fill my tank for a trip to see my friend’s new house in southern … Read More