Graduation letter stirs up memories
As I was searching for a photo over the weekend, I came across an old letter that I had forgotten existed. It was a graduation letter from my great aunt, Florence Mills, to my father, David Self, congratulating him on graduating high school. She wrote that she hoped he enjoyed spending the enclosed “gift.” My guess is probably it was a $10 bill or maybe even a $5 bill, either of which would have been quite generous at the time. The envelope had a 3-cent stamp on it and was postmarked June 4, 1937, in Detroit, Michigan. Besides my dad’s name in the address, only the name of the town, McCalla,...
Read MoreMissed opportunities can be haunting
Life would be so much easier if we knew without a doubt we were making the right choice at every juncture. We wouldn’t have to be so hard on ourselves about all those missed opportunities. Always wondering what if …. A few weeks ago, I discovered that a favorite cousin from my childhood had died. Eight years earlier, we had briefly connected on email and talked about getting together. But it never happened. Bonnie Rae was the daughter of my mama’s only sister. She was a month younger than me and a hoot to hang out with. During high school we were best buds even though she lived in Bradenton,...
Read MorePreschooler demands: ‘Put down your phone’
It’s amazing how quickly we forget important lessons. A headline I saw last weekend reminded me of one I had only recently learned. And already forgotten. Put down your phone when with children – or anyone else for that matter. The article – “Kids are starting a revolution to get their parents to put down their phones” – was about a 7-year-old boy in Germany who got upset when his parents paid more attention to their cell phones than to him. Unlike most kids, he went public to address the issue. Fortunately, his parents got his message and helped him. They organized a...
Read MoreA long road trip
One of the stories my mama told a few times about her childhood was when her family moved from Texas to California. She had just turned 4 at the time but still had vivid memories about the long road trip in the fall of 1924. Her father was answering a call to be the religious education director at the rapidly growing Trinity Methodist Church in Los Angeles. He loaded up his five children (aged 2-11), wife, camping equipment and personal belongings into a big seven-passenger Marmon touring car for the trip. Before paved roads and useful maps The Marmon had a front and back seat with two jump...
Read MoreShifting 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...
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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.