Author Archives: Roger W. Smith

About Roger W. Smith

Roger W. Smith is a writer and independent scholar based in New York City. His experience includes freelance writing and editing, business writing, book reviewing, and the teaching of writing and literature as an adjunct professor at St. John’s University. Mr. Smith's interests include personal essays and opinion pieces; American and world literature; culture, especially books and reading; classical music; current issues that involve social, moral, and philosophical views; and experiences of daily living from a ground level perspective. Sites on WordPress hosted by Mr. Smith include: (1) rogersgleanings.com (a personal site comprised of essays on a wide range of topics) ; (2) rogers-rhetoric.com (covering principles and practices of writing); (3) roger-w-smiths-dreiser.site (devoted to the author Theodore Dreiser); and (4) pitirimsorokin.com (devoted to sociologist and social philosopher Pitirim A. Sorokin).

Isaiah 40

 

Isaiah 40

text – Word document above

 

https://rogersgleanings.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Aksel-Schiotz-Comfort-ye-from-Messiah.mp3?_=1 https://rogersgleanings.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/3-Every-valley-shall-be-exalted.mp3?_=2

 

 

— posted by Roger W. Smith

  October 2024

new post (sunrise and sunset)

 

sunrise and sunset (New York Harbor)

new post (the Statue of Liberty)

 

See

the Statue of Liberty

post updated

 

a witness at the Nurermberg trials

This post has gotten surprisingly little readership. I think the letter posted is of intrinsic interest. I have transcribed the letter, which should make it easier to read.

— Roger W Smith

  September 2024
 

 

Mary Ashley to Walt Whitman

 

Mary Ashley to Walt Whitman

 

A beautiful letter.

Mary Ashley (c. 1843–1903) was an English astronomer.

 

— posted by Roger W. Smith

  September 2024

 

my books on baseball

 

my books on baseball

 

posted by Roger W. Smith

   September 2024; updated July 2025 

Juan Ramón Jiménez – books in my library

 

Juan Ramon Jimenez – my library

 

The above downloadable Word document comprises an inventory of books by and about the Spanish poet Juan Ramón Jiménez in my personal home library.

 

— Roger W. Smith

  August 2024; updated July 2025

Ralph Colp, Jr., “Why Stalin Couldn’t Stop Laughing”

 

2 Ralph Colp, Jr., ‘Why Stalin Couldn’t Stop Laughing’ – Clio’s Psyche, Sept 1996

 

Posted here (PDF above):

Ralph Colp, Jr., “Why Stalin Couldn’t Stop Laughing,” Clio’s Psyche, Volume 3, Number 2 (September, 1996)

This article provides concise and cogent insights into the mind and personality of a dictator.

 

— posted by Roger W. Smith

   August 2024

the original “Power Broker” articles (The New Yorker)

 

See

the original “Power Broker” articles (The New Yorker)

a photo: Lorca and Jiménez

 

From left to right, Federico García Lorca, Zenobia Camprubí (Juan Ramón Jiménez’s wife), Isabel García Lorca (Federico García Lorca’s sister), Emilia Llanos (friend of Federico García Lorca), Juan Ramón Jiménez, and Concha García Lorca (Federico García Lorca’s sister) at the Paseo de los Cipreses in the Generalife (Granada, Spain), summer of 1924.

 

See also:

https://www.universolorca.com/en/personaje/jimenez-mantecon-juan-ramon/

 

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Addendum:

I showed this photo to my therapist, Ralph Colp Jr., who commented, with his usual humanity, that there  was something marvelous about the expression of the persons in the photograph; they were so alive.

 

— posted by Roger W. Smith

  August 2024