Magazine and newspaper articles
From Yuca to High Tech
To mark its 25th anniversary in 2000, the Puerto Rico newsweekly Caribbean Business hired me to produce a different kind of history of the past thousand years, focusing on the economy of the island and how people earned a living over the centuries. While certainly not a comprehensive history, the resulting 30,000-word publication, which I wrote entirely, provides snapshots of Puerto Rico's development at selected moments in time.
- 1000: The Taíno civilization begins to flourish
- 1500: European conquest
- 1600: British for a while and other battles
- 1700: The age of pirates and privateers
- 1800: A dormant colony awakens
- 1900: Rough start with the U.S.
- 1910: The dawn of King Sugar
- 1920: The new regime — the Jones Act
- 1930: Desperate years
- 1940: Bread, land and liberty
- 1950: The turning point
- 1960: Turning toward modernity
- 1970: A new Puerto Rico
- 1975-2000: An economy matures
Slow way around
Originally published in Backroads magazine
A unique brand of camaraderie develops when a hard-core group of riders gathers each year for the Lake Erie Loop, a one-day charity ride around Lake Erie on motorcycles particularly ill-suited to the task.
Keeping it Alive: Stayin' Safe Motorcycle Training rolls on
Originally published in Rider magazine
Lawrence Grodsky's old friends carry on the motorcycle training program he founded, proving that you can have fun on a motorcycle while stayin' safe.
Following yonder star
Originally published in Florida, the Sunday magazine of the Orlando Sentinel
Nowhere is the tradition of Three Kings Day more beloved than in Puerto Rico. But many Puerto Ricans, both on the island and in the states, worry that a more commercialized Christmas will drown out this ancient, Bible-based holiday tradition.
In search of an identity
Originally published in Hispanic Business magazine
More than a decade ago, Hispanic Business magazine asked me to write about Puerto Rico's efforts to create a new economic model for the island. The amazing part today is how much of this story remains true.