Author Archives: theamericanplutarch

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About theamericanplutarch

Writer, thinker, historian.

Claude Christopher Largent: Teacher in Early Oklahoma

Claude Christopher Largent, July 2, 1888-July 25, 1975. Claude Largent was born to George Washington Largent and Mary Lue Smith in Booneville, Arkansas, on July 2, 1888. George Washington (GW) was a farmer and Mary Lue, who was half Indian … Continue reading

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George Washington Largent, Arkansas Farmer

George Washington Largent, August 15, 1855-Feb. 26, 1924 George Washington Largent’s life has a bit of mystery about it. His gravestone lists his birth date as August 15, 1859. The month and day are probably correct, though the year of … Continue reading

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Waiting

Reflections on Psalm 40 Waiting I waited for the Lord . . . Waiting. Everyone is waiting. The whole world is in expectation. Such is the way of time, that each moment passes and a new one is coming, and … Continue reading

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Prisoners’ take on “The Storyteller,” by Mario Vargas Llosa

  The Storyteller, by Mario Vargas Llosas, is a complex book that interweaves two different narratives, one by a writer, one by a storyteller; the book explores the people of the Amazon rain forest in eastern Peru from the 1950s … Continue reading

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Psalm 23

The Old Testament Psalms are constant reminders of how easily humans forget divine blessings and have to be reminded by daily prayer. The Psalms have been human prayer companions for centuries. The Psalms are some of the greatest literature ever … Continue reading

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Cyberspace, Virtual Reality, AI, and All that Stuff

First, disclaimers: much of the stuff about virtual reality and gaming is gibberish to me. I am not interested, and I don’t play games or engage in virtual reality (at least the sophisticated forms). At the same time, I am … Continue reading

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The Sea Mark: A Poem

I published a book about John Smith several years ago entitled The Sea Mark. Smith himself wrote a poem of that name. Inspired by Smith, here is my version of the Seamark. Seamark I have searched, the pages of history To … Continue reading

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Bucephalus

One of my heroes of the past is Alexander the Great. This is due in part to Plutarch, whose portrait of Alexander, in his Parallel Lives, is arguably one of the reasons I became a historian. Plutarch’s story of the taming … Continue reading

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Grunter’s Plea: The Ancient Philosophy of Vegetarianism

One of the more fascinating tales of Homer in the Odyssey is that of the bewitching of Odysseus’s men by the witch Circe. Odysseus and his men have arrived at an unknown wooded island. Odysseus sends a detachment of men … Continue reading

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Icons

We live in a world of icons: cloth, stone, digital, metal, paper: money, electronic devices, flags, statues, scriptures, media stars, and so on. Icons have been the stuff of human worship for centuries: the Hebrews worshiped the golden calf, early … Continue reading

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