Shifting context makes a difference
A fellow writer and I were recently bemoaning our propensity to procrastinate on our writing projects. Honestly, it’s beyond propensity – we have mastered the art. To make things worse, we know how to deal with the menace – but don’t. We’ve set our goals. We have great intentions of meeting those goals. We’re fully trained in our craft and have had years practicing it. We’ve both made a living from writing in some form or another. It’s not a new concept. It’s not unfamiliar to us. We know what needs to be done to accomplish what we set out to do. We make schedules...
Read MoreWomen’s right to vote
When my mama was born in 1920, women were not allowed to vote. And that wasn’t even 100 years ago – almost, but not quite. The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution passed later that same year sometime near the end of August. In 1971, Congress designated August 26 as the official day to commemorate women’s right to vote – almost 150 years after white men and 50 years after black men. Known as Women’s Equality Day, August 26 has become an important milestone. Not only is it a time to celebrate passage of the 19th Amendment but also to call attention to women’s efforts to achieve...
Read MoreFinding the long-lost brother
My mother’s oldest brother, Donald, disappeared after World War II. He had joined the Army as a chaplain as soon as the country entered the war in December 1941, leaving a wife and four young children at home. The government notified his mother and his wife, that Donald had been wounded and was convalescing with a private nurse. They somehow managed to find out where he was, but he refused to come home. Neither his wife, children, parents or five siblings were enough to entice him back to his old life. Mable, Donald’s wife, finally lost her patience and divorced him a year later when she...
Read MoreDoing our best as parents
Early this week, a California police chief faced a parent’s worst nightmare. His own 18-year-old son appeared in a video of two young men assaulting a 71-year-old Sikh man who was simply out for a walk in his neighborhood. The chief was horrified. My heart broke for him. Like the rest of us doing our best as parents around the world, we shudder when our best appears to be insufficient. “Violence and hatred are not what we have taught our children; intolerance for others is not even in our vocabulary, let alone our values. … We simply don’t know why or how we got here,” Chief Darryl...
Read MoreReconnecting with a friend
An old needlepoint hanging on a wall in my spare bedroom is instrumental in me reconnecting with a friend from my past. My maternal grandmother stitched the needlepoint for me nearly 50 years ago. The frame is not very pretty and the glass has a crack in the upper left corner. But it’s been through 16 or so moves since I’ve had it. So, it’s actually a miracle it has any glass left at all. I love the message – “The only way to have a friend is to be one.” And I love that my grandmother chose it just for me. Today, I love more than anything else the reason she chose it. I had forgotten...
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Jane Self, PhD, was assistant features editor for the Macon Telegraph and features editor for The Tuscaloosa News. She received her master's degree in secondary education from Louisiana State University in New Orleans and her PhD in education administration from the University of Alabama. 
Jane Self was features editor at The Tuscaloosa News when the Fallen Warriors series began. Although she left the paper, she continued to write these profiles on a freelance basis for The News until the series was stopped in May 2009. Jane has since updated and published them as an E-book. 
In 1991 "60 Minutes" aired a story that attempted to destroy the life and work of EST founder Werner Erhard. Award-winning journalist Jane Self suspected there was more to these allegations than being reported. She discovered an amazing plot of espionage, conspiracy, and sabotage.