I don’t remember when, in 1999, I started writing Pulse of the Heartland, but I’m either at, or approaching, the end of a quarter of a century of penning this column. I’ve gone through at least three computers. I think this is my fourth, but I still use the keyboard from my last machine. The letters on the L key and the N key have worn off, and the C and D keys are only partially visible.
In bygone days, when the Tribune was a daily newspaper, I sometimes wrote a series of columns that ran daily. One series that I remember was a six-day examination of the Bill of Rights. The Fourth of July occurred on a Saturday, and the series began on the previous Monday.
Early history
I think that I started writing the column because my experience with newspapers goes back to my childhood. When I was very young, I lay on the living room carpet with the Sunday “funny papers” spread out. Some of my favorite comic characters would be inappropriate today, like “Denny Dimwit.”