Opinion / Commentary - Pamela Lannom
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Season of waiting has lessons to teach us all
Waiting is difficult - and we don't get much practice doing it any more. We used to have to wait for our favorite show to be on TV, for the weatherman to tell us the high for the... — Updated 12/6/2023
Hinsdale falls behind competition on latest list
I am sorry to report Hinsdale once again has fallen short of the North Shore. One of those fancy “W” towns — Winnetka — beat out Hinsdale for the No. 1 spot on the latest... — Updated 11/15/2023
Sharing veterans' stories a treasured part of job
It’s a privilege to be entrusted with sharing the stories of people’s lives. I feel that often as I sit typing on my laptop at The Hinsdalean office, looking out on First... — Updated 11/8/2023
Group devoted to learning teaches me something
During my 35 years of working in Hinsdale, I've gotten to know a lot of people - and a lot of groups. Some are quite familiar, like the Hinsdale Infant Welfare Society or the... — Updated 11/1/2023
Want free speech? You'll hear things you don't like
A fellow Illinois Wesleyan alum recently blasted the school newspaper, The Argus, for posting a pro-Palestinian graphic on Facebook. "This is unacceptable from the Argus," she... — Updated 10/25/2023
Chicago Marathon the first for two familiar faces
Clare Sullivan and Laura Cronin ran their first marathons earlier this month in the Bank of American Chicago Marathon Oct. 8. Both women are familiar faces in town. Sullivan is gene... — Updated 10/18/2023
Simone Biles shows us all how it's done
Simone Biles became the most decorated gymnast in history last weekend at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Antwerp, Belgium. She won four gold medals - in team,... — Updated 10/11/2023
Top 10 reasons why I love newspapers
Thanks for taking time out to read this column in the midst of your National Newspaper Week celebrations! What? You haven't been attending countless cocktail parties and dinners to... — Updated 10/4/2023
120 pages not enough for 150 years of history
Whew! When we sent the 120-page special section commemorating the village's 150th anniversary to our printer Tuesday morning, I felt a sigh of relief. The section has consumed a... — Updated 9/27/2023
Ahh, fall, it's good to have you back again
I am jumping the gun a bit with that headline. Fall doesn't officially start until the autumnal equinox occurs at 1:49 a.m. Saturday. But we're close enough (especially when TV... — Updated 9/20/2023
Friends, neighbors make sure we never forget
People commemorate 9/11 in their own way. My husband and I always make sure our American flag is on display near our front door. Monday morning we watched news coverage of family... — Updated 9/13/2023
New perspective on living to triple digits
At my last book club gathering, one member said she wants to live to be 120. “I’ll be dead,” I replied, knowing she’s about 20 years older than I am. I couldn’t... — Updated 9/6/2023
Summer 2023 - in 585 words or fewer
Were it not for my summer sabbatical from column writing, each one of these probably would have been its own column. Instead, I offer an abbreviated look at summer 2023. Since... — Updated 8/30/2023
Columnists back, with some new faces in the mix
You might recall from previous columns how much I detest the use of June 1 and Sept. 1 as the start of summer and fall, given the existence of actual events that mark the seasons.... — Updated 8/23/2023
Tweets too short? Think about writing a column!
Sometimes a piece of writing will make you laugh. Or cry. Or think about something in a completely new way. Our contributing writers have crafted columns that do all of those... — Updated 6/7/2023
So long, eighth grade - we're moving on!
By the time you read this - or soon after - I will officially be the parent of a high school student. I believe the technical term these days is "rising freshman," but I think that... — Updated 5/31/2023
Yearbooks great fun in the moment, decades later
Today, May 18, in the commons at Hinsdale Central, the yearbook is coming. The 80th edition, to be precise, of El Diablo. I learned this from a very dramatic video, presumably made... — Updated 5/17/2023
Celebrating all women who have mothered me
Each of us had a mother. Whether we knew that woman, loved - or even liked - her, still have her or lost her to death or estrangement, we all are born to a mother. Those of us who... — Updated 5/10/2023
D181 kids working to make world a better place
One of the things that has always impressed me about Hinsdale is how philanthropic its residents are - and I'm not just talking about adults. Kids at two District 181 schools are... — Updated 5/3/2023
Column writing just isn't getting any easier
I had months to work on my very first column. The Doings had recently been purchased by Pioneer Press and we were reformatting the paper. Editors at other Pioneer titles wrote... — Updated 4/26/2023
D181 celebration of writing is quite the party
When the District 181 Foundation sets out to celebrate writing, it doesn't cut corners. I was fortunate to be able to play a very small role in the foundation's Young Writers Night... — Updated 4/19/2023
Summer, see you in about 10 minutes or so
As I have explained before, I am not a fan of the term "meteorological summer." I mean, there's an actual summer - which begins with the solstice on June 21. Changing the start... — Updated 4/12/2023
Trip to Liverpool, London didn't let us down
My senior year in college, as part of a January "short term" group trip to France and England, we traveled by bus to Wales to read William Wordsworth's "Tintern Abbey" at Tintern... — Updated 4/5/2023
Good reminders for troubled times - or any time
I first discovered Charles Mackesy in November 2020 when CBS Sunday Morning was doing a piece on him and his book, "The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse." We were enjoying our... — Updated 3/29/2023
Grube makes history as first female board chair
Ann Grube didn’t intend to make history when she started volunteering with The Community House in 1983. She and her husband, John, had just moved to Hinsdale from Manhattan.... — Updated 3/15/2023