Author Archives

Steve Nelson

Steve Nelson is a retired educator, author, and newspaper columnist. He and his wife Wendy moved to Erie from Manhattan in 2017 to be near family. He was a serious violinist and athlete until a catastrophic mountain bike accident in 2020. He now specializes in gratitude and kindness.

http://www.stevenelson.substack.com

Online News

Encountering the Divine in Colorado

December 21, 2022 Like 0 Steve Nelson

Precisely 56 years ago this week, I visited Colorado for the first time. It was not a vacation trip. I first met Willie Vance in 1966. We had been drafted and were sworn in on September 19th in Cleveland, Ohio.…

Online News

Because They Need It

December 18, 2022 Like 0 Steve Nelson

“Because they need it.” – Whitney Tilson Tilson is a multimillionaire hedge fund manager who is a major supporter of education “reform,” particularly the Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) chain. “Because they need it,” was Tilson’s unguarded response to a…

Online News

Poison Ivy

November 15, 2022 1 0 Steve Nelson

For months, she struggled silently with a sense of worthlessness. She had panic attacks that left her trembling. Nightmares that made her cry. She’d told only a handful of friends about the sexual assault she endured while she was home…

Online News

Affirmative Action Debate is Poppycock

November 7, 2022 Like 0 Steve Nelson

With apologies for being quite blunt . . . the debate about affirmative action is almost entirely poppycock. Last week the Supremes heard arguments in a duo of cases challenging affirmative action (AA) in college admissions. Based on oral arguments,…

Online News

Guns, Guns, Everywhere

October 31, 2022 Like 0 Steve Nelson

“Eventually all nations will have nuclear weapons or no one will have them.” This is a slightly paraphrased quote from my dear friend the late Rev. William Sloane Coffin, Jr. Bill, as he was known to all, was…

Online News

Blood on Their Hands

October 21, 2022 1 0 Steve Nelson

It was well past midnight. I awoke with a start as a silhouette appeared in my dorm room doorway. My heart pounded as a person approached, knelt at my bed and whispered, “Help me.” The person was a blond,…

Magazine

2022 Election Guide

October 21, 2022 Like 0 Steve Nelson

Every year, Yellow Scene Magazine publishes an exhaustive Election Guide. Because we are “old-school” and still believe journalism is important, we do not allow email interviews and require a 15-minute call with each candidate. They are all asked the same…

Online News

Erie Home Rule

October 14, 2022 Like 0 Steve Nelson

Home sweet home; home cooking; home is where the heart is. The word “home” conjures up warmth, happiness and comfort. Except in Erie, where a somewhat contentious November election faces voters as a proposed transition from a statutory form of…

Online News

The Big Lie Won’t Die

October 14, 2022 Like 0 Steve Nelson

A great many rational people, and more than a few slightly irrational folks, seem mystified by the never-ending Trump show. Trump himself is not a daunting subject to analyze. He is, and always was, a pathological narcissist, a serial womanizer,…

Online News

The Other World Cup

October 5, 2022 Like 0 Steve Nelson

The FIFA World Cup (soccer) begins on November 20th. My wife and I attended a quite different match this week at the Boulder, CO JCC. To protect privacy and to discourage paparazzi, I use no actual names. The…