Article Archives: Words with Woods

Human

September 8, 2016 | by CJ Woods III

A professor at Indiana University Southeast went on a mild-mannered rant one day, his attitude sharpened by a comment he had overheard in the hallway. “Have a nice day,” he repeated to my class of English students. “With all of the great poems and speeches available to us, the best … Read More

My Morning Walk

September 1, 2016 | by CJ Woods III

The dogs were growing restive as I allowed the alarm to snooze again. They had come into the bedroom when they heard the initial ringing; now they were trying out different combinations of mute appeals, all presumably based on a need for relief. The two pit-bull-mix dogs belong to my … Read More

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