Sean Dietrich Articles

Sean of the South | Five years ago in Huntsville

OPINION — Five years ago, I was in Huntsville when the world shut down. Five years. Almost to the day. I’ll never forget it. I remember what life was like at the time. I had spent the previous year working on a book. A memoir about my dad’s suicide. I put a lot of...

Sean of the South | A familiar accent in an unfamiliar place

Maryland. The old cafe is mostly empty this time of night. Music plays overhead. Pedal steel guitar. The cook is cleaning his flattop. The waitress is reading a magazine. Thank God magazines still exist in our AI Age. I smell cured pork and onions. There are globe...

Sean of the South | One afternoon at Winn Dixie

OPINION — He was a good kid. You could just tell.He was maybe 11. Twelve at the most. He was in the supermarket. He had his little sister balanced on his hip. You don’t often see boys carrying toddlers out in public.The kid was filling a shopping buggy. He was...

Sean of the South | Sweet Georgia Barbecue

BY SEAN DIETRICH OPINION — Columbus, Georgia. I was eating at a barbecue joint not far from the state line.My cousin, John, insisted that this joint serves the best barbecue in the state of Georgia. He made me promise to try it.I ordered the ribs.I ate them without...
Play Ball

Play Ball

They were calling for rain. But no rain came. Yet.  The umpires stood on the field, clad in clerical black, staring at the sky, palms facing...

read more
Play Ball

America

By SEAN DIETRICH "HOW ARE YOU GOING TO SAVE THIS COUNTRY?!" shouts the talking head on TV. I’m at an American diner. The kind with fried food and...

read more
Play Ball

Buc-ee’s

By SEAN DIETRICH Buc-ee’s convenience store sits outside Athens, Alabama, like a giant squatting beaver. This Texas-based gas station place is not a...

read more
Play Ball

Trees

By SEAN DIETRICH I have a thing for trees. I don’t know why. Maybe because I’ve always been a nerd. I think it all dates back to my days in Boy...

read more
Play Ball

In the Air

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...

read more
Play Ball

Mother’s Love

“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...

read more
Play Ball

Dancers

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...

read more
Play Ball

Ash Wednesday

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...

read more
Play Ball

Good

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....

read more