David McGrath: As a youth, I learned that if you’re Irish, you drink. That mindset has consequences.
In my mind, it was not a drinking problem. For we were Irish. It began those summer nights when I was 15.
All Stories
McGrath: Just like in the movies, I was once the star of my own love story starring the woman in black velvet
Sometimes I become absorbed in a film to the extent that I project myself onto the screen, where I might be, say, Bradley Cooper falling in love with Carey Mulligan...
McGrath: Taking my sister and her husband fishing on the Gulf helps me see what matters most
I have had some trouble sleeping. I have been worrying about a lot of things, like the recent blood test showing a jump in my glucose levels. The 1099 tax...
David McGrath: Taking my sister and her husband fishing on the Gulf helps me see what matters most
I have had some trouble sleeping. I have been worrying about a lot of things, like the recent blood test showing a jump in my glucose levels. The 1099 tax...
David McGrath: Let’s ditch the Electoral College, plus 9 other no-brainer resolutions for the new year
On Jan. 1, 1968, I made a New Year's resolution to quit cigarettes. I lasted barely a month, during which I often awoke in the middle of the night, heart...
David McGrath: The Christmas gift every teacher craves
If teaching were baseball, I would have been sent back to the minors after my first year at Chicago Vocational High School. A 22-year-old English major, I could diagram a...
David McGrath: I give thanks for these fine Americans
Is anyone surprised that at least one poll this year, by statistics database Statista, found that Americans' favorite holiday is Thanksgiving? Expressing thanks, after all, makes everyone feel good. In...
David McGrath: A family get-together resurrects friendly ghosts from my Evergreen Park past
Halloween originated with the ancient Celts of western Europe as a celebration of ghosts and spirits in acknowledgment of and hope for an afterlife. Which is all well and good,...
David McGrath: My experiences with my kind and bigoted neighbor reveal an American paradox
When a relative, friend or colleague dies, you regret that you canceled a lunch date with them or never made the phone call you had intended but kept putting off....
David McGrath: I loved being a Chicago teacher, even with the brawls. But it’s so much worse for educators now.
Like a lot of teachers, I began as a substitute for Chicago Public Schools, making $40 a day filling in for faculty members who called in sick. As a 22-year-old...