Congratulations are in order. Author Gene Wolfe, of whom I wrote in the April issue of First Things, has won the World Fantasy Award for 2007 for Soldier of Sidon. The last time he won was in 1981 for Shadow of the Torturer, the first volume in his Book of the New Sun. Sidon is… Continue reading

Could this be the start of a new trend (please, God!)? Another Christian biologist breaks his silence on Intelligent Design. So in light of the issue’s new prominence and with a desire to improve the mental hygiene of others, I would just like to say that Intelligent Design is a really, really bad idea –scientifically,… Continue reading

Martin Scorcese has a beautiful tribute to Christopher Lee right here, on the occasion of a concert Lee performed recently at Estepona.

George Vecsey on A-Rod: This is a good sign. It shows that even baseball owners can learn. Back in the mid-1980s, the owners openly committed collusion by not pursuing free agents, a mistake that eventually cost them money and embarrassment. This time, most of the richer clubs just shrugged — but separately — when Boras… Continue reading

The fallout of the clergy abuse crisis continues to spread. Patricia Snow has a sobering piece today: Everyone has a story. A priest friend of mine was assigned to a parish in New York City only to discover that his predecessor, in a panic, had eliminated every program involving children. There were no altar servers;… Continue reading