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Sean Dietrich Articles

Sean of the South | Swimmers of Lake Martin

OPINION — Lake Martin shimmers beneath a heavy midday sun. I am sitting on a dock.There are distant sounds of splashing. Kids laughing. All the children are swimming. All their respective adults are sitting ashore, dry. As adults often are.There is nothing like July...
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Sean of the South | Fourth of July

BY SEAN DIETRICH OPINION — On my kitchen counter is a pound cake, sitting on a pedestal, beneath a glass dome.Pound cake is the food of summer. It can make or break the entire season. A summer without pound cake is like church without singing, Monet without color or...
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Sean of the South | The Tomato Elegy

BY SEAN DIETRICH OPINION — Thank you for the care package, Miss Paula. Thank you for the cute basket of homemade jams with handwritten labels. Do you know how long it’s been since I had mayhaw jelly? A long time.But most importantly, thank you for the...
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Sean of the South | The argument I had in the supermarket

OPINION — BY SEAN DIETRICH I got into an argument at the supermarket. This is how volatile our world is right now. It was in the checkout line. My opponent was not only clueless, but pigheaded, refusing all logic. The fact that my opponent is only 9 is no excuse.“I...
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In the Air

In the Air

Mar 22, 2023

By SEAN DIETRICH A crowded plane. I had an aisle seat. The guy beside me was snorting. I say “snorting” because he was actually making swine-like...

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In the Air

Mother’s Love

Mar 15, 2023

“I am a little old woman who lives in an assisted living facility…” her email began.  Her following message was about the length of “War and...

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In the Air

Dancers

Mar 8, 2023

The little girl sits in a hospital room.  She lives here. In this bed. In this university hospital. She lives in this gown. She usually plays...

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In the Air

Ash Wednesday

Mar 2, 2023

Ash Wednesday. The first day of Lent. I saw him in a Birmingham supermarket. He was young. Latino. Maybe 11 or 12. He was wandering through the...

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In the Air

Good

Feb 22, 2023

By SEAN DIETRICH Just before midnight. Somewhere on the Texas prairie. A 20-year-old named Mark was driving on a two-lane highway on his way home....

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In the Air

Blind Love

Feb 16, 2023

By SEAN DIETRICH She was trash. At least that’s how she was treated. She was found wandering a rural Mississippi highway. Beneath the stars. It was...

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In the Air

Good Dog

Feb 8, 2023

By SEAN DIETRICH She has long red hair. Fair complexion. A high school senior. Quiet. Mild-mannered. When she speaks, her voice sounds like Locust...

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In the Air

Breakfast

Feb 1, 2023

By SEAN DIETRICH I’m warning you beforehand, what I’m about to say is going to seem utterly ridiculous. Here goes: My mother once told me that I...

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In the Air

Mama

Jan 25, 2023

By SEAN DIETRICH They called her Mama. Everyone at Waffle House knew her that way. Few knew her real name. To them, she was “Mama.” “She was...

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