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The most courageous person I ever knew

Posted by Staff on Monday, May 30, 2022

Photograph of Captain Richard Louis Basinger courtesy of The Virtual Wall.

By Bill Herr, Icon columnist

Courage is defined in Webster's Dictionary as mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty. The most courageous person I ever knew was my friend, Dick Basinger. His father was my Vocational Agriculture teacher at Bluffton High School, Mr. Lorain Basinger. 

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Book Review: Shadows Reel

Posted by Staff on Sunday, May 29, 2022

By Robert McCool, Icon columnist

This is the latest book in the impressive string of twenty-two Joe Pickett novels by C. J. Box. Shadows Reel (Random House, ISBN: 978-0-593-55635-1) is part of the long tangled story of the Pickett family and their friends. Although it can be read as a stand-alone book, it is enriching to know about the characters’ lives from previous novels. Regardless, these books are about Joe Pickett, a game warden in the state of Wyoming. 

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McCool is back with The Maid

Posted by Staff on Sunday, May 22, 2022

Review by Robert McCool

It's been quite a few weeks since I've submitted a book review for the Icon. It's been quite a few weeks since I have had the motivation to read a new pop-fiction release. I’ve found myself returning to some classics: “East of Eden,” “Travels with Charley,” and even the more recent “Cloud Cuckoo Land.”

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Music review: five songs to keep you upbeat!

Posted by Staff on Monday, March 28, 2022

By Craig Hoffman

Note from Craig: It is great to be back in the music saddle writing for the Icon(s)! I hope everyone is doing well in my hometown area, and as always, thank you for reading. What songs do you use for daily motivation?

On Everything Is Smaller In Japan

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Book Review: State Of Terror

By Robert McCool
Posted by Staff on Sunday, February 13, 2022

A blockbuster book from two powerful authors.

Hillary Rodham Clinton and Louise Penny co-authored the intense political thriller State Of Terror, (Thorndike Press ISBN-13-1-4328-8983-8) a page-turning thriller on a grand scale. If you like insight into the intrigue of our political system, this book is written to your taste.

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Book Review: The Book of Magic

By Robert McCool
Posted by Staff on Sunday, February 6, 2022

When I read for pure pleasure, I read Alice Hoffman. And nothing brings me more joy than her “Magic” books.

Beginning with Practical Magic from 1995, then enhanced by The Rules of Magic in 2017, also Magic Lessons in 2020, and now finishing with The Book of Magic (Simon and Schuster, ISBN: 978-9821-5148-5), Hoffman’s novels are masterworks of extraordinarily vivid magic-realism. These books are about books, family and love, in enchanting prose that opens your heart and mind to the possibilities that life has to offer.

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