I guess I’m beginning that last act

The Front Page

Morning Update

Friday, April 29, 2022

By Ken Tingley

I’m facing a milestone today. It is my 65th birthday.

I’m not sure what to make of that number other than the cliched assessment that it sure went by fast.

Yes, I’ve retired but it certainly does not feel like my life is over. I still play noon-ball basketball with guys half my age and I’m writing more than ever. I’ve been writing this newsletter/column three times a week for more than a year while also writing two books, trying to get a third published and currently researching the story of my grandparents’ lives in Northern Ireland. I can’t wait to start writing that one, but I may have to do some pub research with my cousins in Belfast to get the story right.

I remember being thrown for a loop all those years ago on my 35th birthday, feeling I was halfway through my life and wondering where I was going.

But so much was still ahead. My son was born four years later and that changed everything. Three years after that I was named editor of the newspaper and everything changed again. Suddenly, there was an entirely new career in front of me.

By my 35th birthday, I didn’t know what I didn’t know. I’ve found the next 30 years far more fulfilling than the first 35.

I’ve gotten to travel and see some of the world.

I’ve gotten to live in one of the most idyllic places on earth.

And the work I’ve chosen has been fulfilling and enjoyable.

And right now, I’m comfortable starting the final act. When I was speaking at SUNY Adirondack on Tuesday, I brought up a quote from my final column in The Post-Star two years ago.

“What a charmed life I have led,” I wrote at the time.

That still stands.

I have been so fortunate to have the career I had, to work with the reporters and editors I did while meeting so many fascinating people along the way.

The best part about the final act is I get to do what I want to do more often - write.

For my eighth-grade graduation, I asked my parents for a typewriter. It was the first indication of what I would do in my life. I never wavered in that pursuit. It has taken an awful long time, but I think I’m getting good at it.

I decided a long time ago we all deserve more than a single day to celebrate our birth.  I suggested to my family a birth month filled with trips and family dinners. My ideal was a trip to Cooperstown to visit the Baseball Hall of Fame and a dinner with my family at Brooks Bar-B-Q in Oneonta.

Somewhere along the way, I figured out that the Hall of Fame and Brooks’ ribs were not the most important thing. It was the family.

We will be setting out this morning for Boston for a weekend visit with our son. I hope to show him the Kennedy booth at the Union Oyster House, frolic with the penguins at the New England Aquarium and enjoy some fine Italian cuisine on the North End.

Hopefully, we can finish the evening off with taste of Limoncello and toast for good health and happy times for all of us in the coming year.

Then, I need to get home and get back to work.

There are still things I need to do.

Some feedback

The guest lecture at SUNY Adirondack was a great experience with a great audience. Yvonne Goodwin, the community outreach director at SUNY Adirondack, puts on a great event as part of the continuing education series at the school.

Yvonne shared some feedback she received on my presentation. It was nice to see such positive feedback, but this one was especially satisfying:

“Good clear speaker. Enthusiastic, dynamic, heartwarming human interest stories. Love the follow ups. Totally captivating. Such challenges! Such satisfaction! Please have him back with more stories.”

What’s next

I will be speaking at the 49th annual Hadley-Lake Luzerne Historical Society Birthday Luncheon. On Sunday, May 22 at noon at the Long Horn Restaurant in Lake Luzerne.

Lunch tickets are $22 for the noon event. You can make a reservation by calling Sue at 518 403-4042. I’m told seating will be limited.

Top 10 schools

The Albany Times-Union reported today that only one Capital District School was among the top 100 in the country as reported by News & World Report. That school was Bethlehem High School.

Saratoga High and Burnt Hills were ranked among the 10 best schools in the Capital District.

Passion pays off

If you are a fan of the old TV show “X-Files” then you will love this story from the Times-Union.

Jim Shahen Jr. reports that Wilton resident Jim Thornton’s passion for the science fiction show that first aired in 1993 has led to, not only a huge collection of memorabilia, but a relationship with the show’s creator Chris Carter.

Carter donated many of the artifacts that Thornton will begin sharing with the public this  Saturday when the X-Files Preservation Collection opens its doors at 4284 Route 50 in the Town of Wilton.

Doing the ribbon-cutting will be Carter himself.

Tweet of the Day

New York Daily News @NYDailyNews

Disney’s self-governing district can't be dissolved until the state of Florida pays off its debts, experts say. 💵 DeSantis and Florida GOP waged a battle with the Mickey Mouse company after Disney's criticism of their “Don’t Say Gay” rule nydailynews.com/news/national/…

nydailynews.comFlorida can’t dissolve Disney’s self-governing district until it pays off its debtsFlorida’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, signed a bill into law last week that would dissolve the Reedy Creek Improvement District. He did so to retaliate against the Walt Disney Co. over its criticism of the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law.