Even in a run-down bar hidden between the looming modern buildings of East-Central London, you can find fellow Russians throwing back shots of vodka, while collectively berating the frigid winters, inscrutable bureaucracy and rampant corruption of their home country.

This haiku came to me after my last phone call with my Uncle Leo. In fact, it was my last phone call with him, period. He died on the last day of 2013. I never thought I’d hear myself saying this, but it was a blessing.

In a new e-book the Pulitzer prize-winning author and West Tisbury resident travels the Keystone pipeline and discovers an energy rush that could change America. An excerpt.

Last Friday the State Department released its final environmental impact review of the proposed northern segment of the Keystone XL Tar Sands Oil pipeline. The immediate reaction from the press was that the environmental community would be disappointed as the review said the project “is unlikely to significantly affect the rate of extraction in oil sands areas.”

I have walked down the Hollywood walk of fame walking into light poles, people and baby carriages because I had my eyes firmly planted on the ground, my inner monologue constantly babbling (I think I actually fell on my knees before Betty White’s star).

Writing about my friend Ken Edelin in the past tense so soon after his death (Dec. 30, 2013) is difficult and satisfying only in view of having an opportunity to salute the accomplishments of an Oak Bluffs black history maker.