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Sean Dietrich Articles

Sean of the South: A ‘Dear Sean’ letter

BY SEAN DIETRICH The email came from someone named Paxton.“Dear Sean,” the message began, “my dog died today and I feel like I can’t go on. I know you‘ve lost a dog before. How do you go on without them?”As it happens, I have lost 12 dogs in my life. Twelve sounds...
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An American in Rome

BY SEAN DIETRICH Rome, Italy. The sun is rising over the City of Seven Hills. I am sitting at a cafe, not far from our hotel, editing a column on a yellow legal pad. I am here for breakfast, waiting for my wife to wake up.The Colosseum is just down the street. The old...
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Beulah Land

BY SEAN DIETRICH The man had a dream. In this dream, he died. It happened so quickly he almost didn’t know life was over. One minute he was alive; the next, poof, he was organic fertilizer.He went to Beulah Land. And it was the whole heavenly enchilada. Everything...
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All Dogs Go to Heaven

BY SEAN DIETRICH It was dark. The young dishwasher was on break. He was sitting behind the restaurant, out by the dumpster, tapping a carton of Camels on his palm.Like all dishwashers, he worked hard for junk pay. He was the first one there. The last one to leave. He...
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America

America

Apr 12, 2023

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...

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America

Buc-ee’s

Apr 5, 2023

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...

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America

Trees

Mar 29, 2023

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...

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America

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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America

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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America

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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America

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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America

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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America

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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