Ralph Kinney Bennett March 3, 1941 – December 18, 2024
Articles, essays and columns by Ralph Bennett. Search by any word in an article, or narrow the list by publication, year or topic.
60 articles, page 1 of 3
As the summer of 1914 closed and World War I entered its third month, the British Royal Navy held a virtually unchallenged command of the seas, daring the German High Seas Fleet of Kaiser Wilhelm to come out from the…
That was the day in Philadelphia in 1776 that 12 of the 13 colonies voted to declare their independence from Great Britain, even as General Sir William Howe was landing 10,000 British troops on Staten Island in New York. (New…
It’s like a pair of really big shoes. Every year, I have to walk up and put my feet in them and look silly because I can never fill them.
“He that outlives this day, and comes safe home will stand a tip-toe when this day is named… Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot, but he’ll remember with advantages what feats he did that day.” — Shakespeare, Henry…
Funny thing about Christmas… how it just is… how it just persists.
It is the most American of holidays. The day when we neither commemorate nor celebrate nor observe anything or anyone. The day we simply go home—if we can and however we can, even if only in our thoughts—and give thanks.
It’s like a pair of really big shoes. Every year, I have to walk up and put my feet in them and look silly because I can never fill them.
When I was a kid we called it Decoration Day and, in a practice observed since 1868, it always came on May 30.
They are the Guardians. On land, at sea, and in the air they have been the guardians — of our peace and peace of mind.
For the majority of Americans, Memorial Day is first and foremost a three-day weekend. Time to watch the Indianapolis 500 or a baseball game; time to open the swimming pool or have a picnic. The American flag will be appropriated…
A brand on the hide of history and the spot still raw.
That was the day in Philadelphia in 1776 that 12 of the 13 colonies voted to declare their independence from Great Britain, even as General Sir William Howe was landing 10,000 British troops on Staten Island in New York. (New…
Oh, yes, and “happy holidays!” And, by all means, “season’s greetings.” Or perhaps you would simply like to hunker down and whistle past the whole thing, or ruminate playfully (or seriously) about a “Winter Festival” or “Solstice Celebration” or even…
The automobile’s potential is its greatest secret—an open secret and yet, it often seems, a forgotten one. The big SUV in my garage may occasionally make a 10-mile trip to Walmart or 2-mile run to the volunteer fire station when…
It is unlikely you have ever heard of Tomohiko Kawanabe. But if you are interested in cars, and particularly the future of electric cars, it might be useful to listen to what he has to say.
Come, let us praise one of the most elegant vehicles ever conceived and built.
Hard to believe, but it’s been full 40 April Fools days since the introduction of an auto landmark of sorts—the AMC Gremlin.
Kenneth P. Green’s recently raised points about saving “climate science” from itself are certainly well taken. By all means, let us rescue good science from the politico-charlatans and at last find how much “there” is really there in regard to…
I’ve been thinking about making an appointment with my old high school pal, Skip Shaffer (he’s an optometrist), but I already know what he’d tell me:
President Obama’s last minute (and futile) campaign slam at Massachusetts’s new U.S. Senator, Scott Brown—trying to belittle the fact that he drove his GMC pickup truck up and down the state on the way to an upset victory—is another poignant…