SPEND TIME ON COFFEY GROUNDS. READ STUFF YOU WON’T FIND ANYWHERE ELSE. GET MORE OUT OF LIFE, GUARANTEED (SORT OF).
Thirty-five years ago on a rainy September day in the Catskill Mountains of New York, my wife, Denise Willi, and I got married in a little stone church. A fireplace in the back supplied warmth and a crackling sound track. The presiding minister was Rev. Arthur E. Oudemool, who was in his early 80s and full of wisdom that went far beyond the Bible. Rev. Oudemool said two things that day I’ve never forgotten. One was that “laughter is the lubricant of life.” The other was that the key to a happy marriage was “to agree to disagree agreeably.”
Why am I telling you this? That’s an excellent question. Coffey Grounds is not a newsletter that offers helpful marital tips. It’s not about fireplaces or chapels, or learning to laugh more, though I do think it may make that happen occasionally. Most newsletters I subscribe to focus on a particular topic or the writer’s specific area of expertise. My friend, Joe Posnanski, author of JoeBlogs, writes deeply informed and entertaining pieces about baseball and his beloved Cleveland Browns, and other sporting subjects. Another friend, Heather Cox Richardson, an eminent historian, Substack heavyweight and author of Letters From An American, offers brilliant insights into current political/social/cultural events by explaining them through a historical lens.
Coffey Grounds has a far less sweeping agenda. It’s eclectic enough to be about everything, and random enough to be about nothing, but at its core it is about stories . . . about people and places and things I find compelling, illuminating or amusing. One day I may write about family challenges and the next day I may write about wearing a towel as a cape and running around my childhood home pretending I was Superman. You don’t know what’s coming next, because very often I don’t know, either. So you are richly entitled to ask:
WHAT WILL I GET IF I BECOME A COFFEY GROUNDS SUBSCRIBER?
Regular offerings from an award-winning author and journalist who has written dozens of books, including five NYT bestsellers, covered sporting events all over the globe and once got mowed down by a French snowboarder at the 1992 Olympics.
Periodic pieces on the writing process and the joys and challenges of typing words for a living.
Insights I’ve picked up from years of parenting, interviewing and grappling with a personal demon or three.
Authenticity, self-deprecation and a side order of humor (no extra charge).
An opportunity to suggest story ideas and participate in group chats.
My deep appreciation.
To borrow from the airline industry, I know that you have many choices in reading material, and thank you so much for visiting Coffey Grounds. I do not take it for granted, and hope to see you again soon.
To find out more about the company that provides the tech for this newsletter, visit Substack.com.
