Columns

(Part 1 of 3 on The Gambia and the Cape Verde Islands, jump to part 1, part 2, part 3)

Having never recovered from my addiction to Saturday matinee double features in the 1930s, I still am fascinated by the making of movies and, specifically, the actual filming locations, visiting them (or their representations) whenever possible. If a story has important historical and social value, as the book and the TV miniseries “Roots” had, then it’s all the more interesting.

On a trip I made to The Gambia in West Africa, Oct. 20-Nov. 1, 2007, one of the high points was visiting sites...

Steve, I am an 81-year-old, longtime subscriber to ITN, and you and ITN are my last resort for a problem that I have never seen addressed in print.

I made a reservation for my wife on US Airways and was given a confirmation number. I paid by credit card and asked for an e-mail or fax so that my wife could go to the airport with some documentation. After three days and several calls to India and the Philippines, I never received anything.

Is it impossible to find anyone in the United States to confirm my paid reservation? Do you send an elderly lady to the airport without...

by Yvonne Horn

As autumn rustled the last of the leaves from St. Stephen’s Green’s trees, Margaret Gormley, Park Superintendent for Ireland’s oldest public park, already had Ireland’s most famous park’s spring color palate in mind.

In the park’s enormous glass house, long tables of rose, yellow, white and red polyanthus seedlings would share space with flats of wallflower in shades of scarlet and gold. Pansy starts would be well represented — white, yellow and blue. Hyacinth bulbs were at the ready, destined to poke forth in the spring to add jewel tones and fragrance to the...