Banning Lary
Bio
Old Banning has written, edited, published or produced everything imaginable containing words: articles, stories, books, pamphlets, ad copy, documentaries, short films, screenplays and poetry. I love words and read the dictionary for fun.
Stories (11/0)
Happiness is a New Painting
I read a meme on Facebook the other day, “Do something every day that makes you feel glad to be alive.” I thought back over my life for the answer. Whether I was doing well or down in the dumps, had money or was scrambling to meet my bills, the one thing I did that always made me feel glad to be alive was paint.
By Banning Lary3 years ago in Humans
Crime Movie Catch Up
The crime genre has been an evergreen favorite since the film noire days of Edward G. Robinson (Little Caesar) and Humphrey Bogart (High Sierra). Modern classics like the Godfather trilogy, Scarface, Goodfellas, and the Soprano series depict people who might live next door, but who have chosen to be immersed “in the life”. So, if you like hard-hitting crime thrillers with lots of grit blended with occasional humor, it’s time to catch up on twenty great ones released since 2000 you may have missed. You can find these movies circulating with ads on the free channels or can view uninterrupted on premium channels and pay-per-view.
By Banning Lary3 years ago in Criminal
Common Sense
Socrates strolled down the sidewalks of his city, his flowing scarlet robes and eagle’s nest of gray hair an irresistible magnet for the youth of Harlem. Everyone knew him, but not everyone loved him. While his learned way of discourse was known to snap a ruffian out of delinquency or a depressive out self-denigrating slumber, there were those who saw him as a fraud, a charlatan, a poseur. In fact, very few people could grok what he was saying as he spoke in riddles and metaphors and cited obscure facts that were hard to believe. Many tuned him out. Those who stayed the course with him were said to have found new freedom in their personal lives. Being a law student at Columbia who had been tethered to formal education for most of my life, I felt I was lacking something, but didn’t know what that something was.
By Banning Lary3 years ago in Humans
For Whom the Pebble has Value
The mansion had gone to Roger’s widowed mother, Dolorous, and the ranch to his uncle Jim. His oldest brother, Robert, was bequeathed the house in the Keys and the cabin cruiser tethered at the dock. And his middle brother Terry got the thoroughbred farm in Kentucky. Old friends, employees and others had also received smaller items from Jules McWorth, who had thoughtfully allocated his possessions to those important in his life. Everyone gathered around the magnificent granite table in the Manhattan conference room smiled with satisfaction having gotten what they felt was their due. Everyone but Jules’ youngest son, Roger.
By Banning Lary3 years ago in Humans
A Moment at Home
“One for whom the pebble has value must be surrounded by treasures wherever he goes.” – Par Lagerkvist Lester was a drive-up, a new boot, a fish. Right from the first I could tell he was headed for trouble. Not that coming to prison ain’t trouble enough, but once you get inside there’s a different kind of trouble free-world folks know nothing about.
By Banning Lary3 years ago in Criminal
Ablution
The path to the stream was overgrown and barely visible, but Walter knew the way. As a boy he had fished there for brown trout with his father, and later brought his sons with their fly rods and wicker baskets. Standing for hours in cool moving water, threading out the line, flicking the bamboo tip so the tied fly landed precisely, freed the mind and refreshed the spirit.
By Banning Lary3 years ago in Families
The Great Reset
When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion – when you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing – when you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors – when you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws don’t protect you against them, but protect them against you – when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice – you may know that your society is doomed. -Ayn Rand
By Banning Lary3 years ago in Futurism
Sam
Had it not snowed that cold November day almost a decade ago, I never would have seen the abandoned puppy some heartless fool had left to God's mercy off Route 55 outside of Lebanon, Kentucky. Nothing is as soothing as whipping past endless miles of land covered with pine and poplar, sun-bleached grays and greens wearing a vast silken bed sheet – evidence of God’s promise worldly things would somehow turn out for the good.
By Banning Lary3 years ago in Humans