Posts published by “mobrien@joneswaldo.com”

By Michael Patrick O’Brien– (Editor’s note: today marks the three year anniversary of this blog. This was the original post from September 25, 2017.) On a late September morning in…

By Gary Topping– Like Mike O’Brien (oops, I should be calling him “Michael”), I have fond memories of Monsignors Mannion and Mayo. (See Alpha days and Omega times–a Tale of Two…

By Michael Patrick O’Brien– One of the advantages of getting old is you get to see how things turn out. So it is with the two Catholic priests I met…

By Gary Topping– Last Sunday’s newspaper carried, for me, a very sad obituary, announcing the death of Melvin T. Smith.  In 1978 Melvin, then Director of the Utah State Historical…

By Michael Patrick O’Brien– Depending on the day, my attitude about our common ephemeral condition ranges from reluctant acquiescence to flat-out denial. As a result, I relish the rare occasion…

By Gary Topping– What I remember most vividly is my wader boots shuffling through the colorful leaves that were already beginning to fall along the river banks.  And then there…

By Michael Patrick O’Brien– The recipe for a perfect day in Italy? Try a heaping cup full of Assisi, add two large spoonfuls of Saints Francis and Clare, include a…

By Michael Patrick O’Brien– The COVID-19-delayed date of September 5, 2020 is not the only unusual development this year regarding the Kentucky Derby. I also recently learned that the annual…

By Michael Patrick O’Brien– My current writing project involves documenting the wonderful friendships that developed between the Utah Trappist monks and their Huntsville neighbors, many of them Latter-Day Saints. The…

By Gary Topping– I spent most of my working life in downtown Salt Lake City—in fact, in some of the city’s roughest districts.  Part of my life, almost daily, was…