Free Republic

The centennial of the great American playwright Arthur Miller, born in New York on October 17, 1915, has been noted and recognized with commemorative events and editions of his works. ...One of his most famous works, “The Crucible” — a mostly fact-based dramatic account of the 17th century Salem witch trials — is startlingly relevant to today’s culture wars, in ways that Miller himself might have recognized. Everyone knows that Miller’s 1952 play was his response to McCarthyism, with the witchcraft hysteria an allegory for the anti-Communist panic. (The latter, unlike the former, was grounded in a real danger; but,...

SIERRA VISTA — Certain knives tell stories. But, unfortunately, many of these stories remain mysteries. “Trapper Jon” Carpenter has a number of special knives made by World War II GIs, each with some kind of story behind its making. He once had a knife that was tailored for or by some soldier. It was different, Carpenter said. The handle was personal. On the butt of the handle, underneath Plexiglas, was the photo of a GI’s family, he said. “I wanted to know about that family and the person who carried it (the knife),” Carpenter said. Today, there is an increase...