On a Sunday two weeks ago, hundreds of hearts in pieces gathered to say a reluctant farewell to Christopher Svend Laursen.

Many contributors to black history weren’t black. Take the abolitionists, for example.

The Making of Nantucket: Family Lives and Fortunes in the Nineteenth Century, Everett U. Crosby, Spinner Publications, 2018, 250 pages, $27.

Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson is my spirit animal. My daughter’s too. I suppose I should explain.

A life well lived produces a contentment that over years seeps into the bones and becomes a perceivable calm.

I like hats. The coat rack in my library holds no coats but is adorned with hats.