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Sean Dietrich Articles

Sean of the South | Weird Al

BY SEAN DIETRICH OPINION — The boy didn’t have a lot going for him. At least, that’s what his parents first thought.His parents were concerned. The other children would not stop laughing at their son. The other kids had turned him into a joke.His name was Al. And...
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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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Brother John

Brother John

Feb 2, 2024

BY SEAN DIETRICH OPINION — Pineview Street. A nondescript house. Off-white. One story. Nothing fancy. Nice neighborhood. Manicured lawns.On the back...

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Brother John

America’s Aunt

Jan 25, 2024

BY SEAN DIETRICH OPINION — Nobody knows when it started. But it did. The first jar of pickles to appear on Aunt Bee’s grave in Siler City, North...

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Brother John

Morning in Tuscaloosa

Jan 18, 2024

BY SEAN DIETRICH OPINION — The plane landed in Tuscaloosa at 8:37 p.m. Central Time. Coach Kalen DeBoer deboarded.He was met with an entourage of...

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Brother John

Uhhhh…

Jan 12, 2024

BY SEAN DIETRICH OPINION — It’s a rainy night in Columbus, Georgia. I have an interview on the local evening news. This is a monumental occasion. My...

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Brother John

More letters to Dear Sean

Jan 6, 2024

BY SEAN DIETRICH OPINION — DEAR SEAN: All I want this year is for this girl in my third period class to go on a date with me, but she’s way out of...

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Brother John

All the purty horses

Dec 27, 2023

BY SEAN DIETRICH The day before New Year’s Eve. I was stuck in Birmingham rush hour. A ten-mile line of standstill traffic stretched before me. It...

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Brother John

The Giving Tree

Dec 22, 2023

BY SEAN DIETRICH Merry Christmas, Layla Grace. I got your name from the church Christmas tree. It’s kind of like Angel Tree, where you buy gifts for...

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Christmas Prayers

Dec 13, 2023

The side-of-the-highway café was decorated for Christmas. Plastic balsam trees on formica tables. Beside the napkin dispenser, a nutcracker soldier...

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Brother John

Sean of the South

Dec 7, 2023

Relax, you're going to be okay You’re going to be okay. That’s not an opinion. It’s not a guess. This isn’t some trite little catchphrase from some...

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