Debra Hale-Shelton

Recent stories by Debra Hale-Shelton

OPINION | DEBRA HALE-SHELTON: Georgia plays a starring role Georgia, you've been on my mind. Thank you for standing up to incompetence and corruption, for voting your beliefs, and for not boycotting the U.S. Senate runoffs as two prominent Republican attorney... January 10, 2021

OPINION | DEBRA HALE-SHELTON: A letter of love from daughter to dad Dear Daddy, So many times in the past 16 months I've wanted to give you a call and tell you the latest. You were always good to write letters when I lived far from home. Now it's my turn. I know the ... January 3, 2021

OPINION | DEBRA HALE-SHELTON: Praise for what went well in 2020 If you believe 2020 has been tough, allow me to point out a few overlooked blessings the year has given us. First, as I write this, we still have a democracy in this country. I used to take that fact... December 27, 2020

OPINION | DEBRA HALE-SHELTON: An end in sight for hypocrisy and cruelty I'm old enough to remember when it mattered if presidents lied, when they didn't cozy up to dictators, and when they tried to hide their illicit affairs and certainly didn't brag about them. Those of... December 6, 2020

OPINION | DEBRA HALE-SHELTON: A household member moves on I recently said goodbye to a longtime part of my family and hello to a new member. I drove my white 2001 Chevy Lumina for the last time a week ago today as I headed to a grocery store across town. A ... November 29, 2020

OPINION | DEBRA HALE-SHELTON: A democracy on the edge I’m afraid, and I don’t scare easily. When I worked for The Associated Press in Chicago, I walked home from work many nights hours before sunrise. While reporting on a child’s death, I walked alone in... November 15, 2020

OPINION | DEBRA HALE-SHELTON: Novelists aren't writing news stories I never wanted to be a reporter. I wanted to be a writer. Specifically, I wanted to write a novel. But even at age 17, as I was deciding on a college major, I knew I couldn't support myself by writin... November 1, 2020

OPINION | DEBRA HALE-SHELTON: Recalling the past in print The older I get, the more I have to remember and, all too often, forget. It’s easy to remember the things that make us happy, like my 16th birthday celebrated at a skating rink in Marked Tree. I had... October 25, 2020

OPINION | DEBRA HALE-SHELTON: Silence the hate all around us It’s not even 9:30 p.m., and I want to sleep, for a long time and without interruption. That means no phone calls, no texts, no thunder, no doorbells, no crazy barking exchanges between my dog and th... October 4, 2020

OPINION | DEBRA HALE-SHELTON: Worries in the middle of the night I’m losing my hair and my hope. And one has nothing to do with the other. Between renewed health problems that date to my teenage years and a deadly, politicized pandemic, I am juggling emotions that... September 6, 2020