Commentaries

The year was 1934. In his new book, A Common Faith, (1) John Dewey assured his readers that traditional religion was drifting into oblivion and that it would soon be a matter of interest only to history buffs. Given Dewey's stature, this assessment deserved attention.

When Marriage Disappears is the title of a recent study on the status of marriage in America. (1) According to the study, marriage is "stable" in only one segment of our society - the highly-educated - which comprises about 30% of the population. (p. ix) (2) In the rest of society, marriage is on life support - the divorce rate is high, the number of unwed mothers continues to grow, cohabitation has skyrocketed, fewer children live with both of their parents, and satisfaction with marriage is declining. (p. 14) Let's focus on each.

On a recent weekend, the Ursuline High School Class of 1961 gathered at a reunion to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of our graduation. During four events – a social Friday night, a tour of the school Saturday afternoon, a banquet Saturday night, and a brunch Sunday - we got reacquainted with one another, we reminisced, and, of course, we gauged the impact of the years on one another. If I had to pick one word to characterize the weekend, it would be change.

Danny Thomas (1) is one of America's most popular and famous entertainers and the pride of Lebanese-Americans. But in 1986 he learned that he was not the only show business success in his family. On the same night that year, Danny's son and daughter made history - each received a Grammy. Tony Thomas won as producer of the Best Comedy Series, The Golden Girls,(2) and Marlo Thomas as Best Dramatic Actress in a TV movie, Nobody's Child. (3) These are a few of the hundreds of facts that we learn in Marlo Thomas's new memoir - Growing Up Laughing: My Story and the Story of Funny. (4) Growing Up Laughing offers us an intimate portrait of Danny Thomas and his remarkable family, (5) in-depth interviews by Marlo of twenty-three of America's most famous comedians, (6) and hundreds of jokes, mostly one-liners, inserted between the chapters. (7)