Richard Grayson's column in Boca Raton News: "Our Children Are the Future; Let's Show We Care"

Richard Grayson's column in the Boca Raton News today (Thursday, February 26, 1998), calls for higher spending on Florida's children and their welfare.

Richard Grayson letter in The New York Times: "Courts Can't End Veto Debate: New York's Penalty"

Richard Grayson has a letter in the New York Times today (February 18, 1998): "Courts Can't End Veto Debate: New York's Penalty."

Richard Grayson column in Boca Raton News: "Is America a Color-Blind Society? Not Yet"

Richard Grayson's column in the Boca Raton News today, Monday, January 19, 1998, is titled "Is America a Color-Blind Society? Not Yet."

Richard Grayson's Boca Raton News Op-Ed Column Advocates Ending Florida's Ban on Adoptions by Gay Parents

Richard Grayson has an op-ed column in the Boca Raton News today (Thursday, January 1, 1998), "Florida Must Move Forward in Gay Adoption Laws," advocating the end of Florida's law to ban gay people from adopting children.

Richard Grayson letter in The New York Times: "When Mental Illness Disqualifies Candidates: No Political Liability"

Richard Grayson has a letter in the New York Times today (Saturday, December 27, 1997), "When Mental Illness Disqualifies Candidates: No Political Liability," responding to a Frank Rich column suggesting that no prominent politician would dare admit to seeking psychiatric care.

Richard Grayson column in Boca Raton News: "Some Events in History Are Not So Far in the Past"

Richard Grayson's column in the Boca Raton News today (Thursday, December 18, 1997) is "Some Events in History Are Not So Far in the Past."

Richard Grayson column in Orlando Sentinel on Soap Opera Careers

Richard Grayson has a column in the Orlando Sentinel today (December 6, 1997) on getting career advice from soap operas:

I was a kid when I first noticed that characters in daytime dramas could go from being construction workers to brain surgeons as rapidly as the plots dictated.

Bruce Sterling, a character on the old CBS soap Love of Life, metamorphosed in the space of a decade from high-school principal to paper-company executive to college dean to newspaper editor to the mayor of his city.

If Russ Mathews on Another World could leave town one day as a drugstore clerk and return a few months later as a fully qualified physician, I figured I could pull off career changes just as easily.

I got into my first career as a college English instructor somewhat by accident. I had been working in a library when I was asked to take over the night class of a professor who had died suddenly. I was terrified the first time I faced my students, yet the dread I felt before each class soon turned into sweet anticipation as I became more comfortable as a teacher.

But after a decade as a college English instructor, I began to burn out. At my Florida community college, each year I taught 12 courses and graded about 150 student essays every week.

I didn't want to be doing this for the rest of my working life, but teaching was the only real profession I knew. Could I switch occupations as easily as the folks on As the World Turns did?

Well, not quite. I learned that it was helpful to pick a new career that was somewhat related to the old one. When computers were introduced at our college, I took to them right away. Soon I knew six computer languages and numerous software programs and got a job training public-school teachers to use the new technology.

Training people how to use computers wasn't all that different from teaching students how to write essays, after all. But after several years as a computer trainer, I wanted to try something completely different.

When I watched Trevor on All My Children transform himself from a cop to a lawyer so painlessly, I figured I could do it, too - although I knew that it would take me three years of law school, not the three months in which Trevor went from arresting crooks to defending them in court.

At law school, I met other older students who were downsized by corporations or who left careers in the military or journalism, and we encouraged and supported each other in our transitions.

Since graduation, I've worked as a lawyer involved in education and computer-technology issues. I've been a lawyer for three years now, and, as much as I enjoy legal work, I'm again beginning to get restless - even if I'm no longer so young. Ever since Marty on One Life to Live exchanged her life as a pianist for a new one as a surgeon, I've found myself surfing Web sites of medical schools to learn about their admissions policies.

Richard Grayson's column in the Boca Raton News on Florida's Turnpike Toll Booth Attendants

Richard Grayson's column in the Boca Raton News today (Sunday, November 23, 1997) discusses the toll booth attendants on Florida's Turnpike.

Richard Grayson Op-Ed Column in Orlando Sentinel: "McCollum's Dangerous Bankruptcy Bill"

Richard Grayson has an op-ed column in the Orlando Sentinel today (Sunday, October 26, 1997), "McCollum's Dangerous Bankruptcy Bill," opposing legislation introduced by U.S. Rep. Bill McCollum (R-FL) that would change the nation's bankruptcy laws in a way that would hurt consumers and favor the credit-card industry.

Richard Grayson column in Boca Raton News: "What's the Root of All Evil? It's El Niño, Of Course"

Richard Grayson has a column in the Boca Raton News today (Thursday, October 16, 1997), "What's the Root of All Evil? It's El Niño, Of Course."

Richard Grayson letter in The New York Times: "Who's a Virtucrat?"

Richard Grayson has a letter in the New York Times today (Tuesday, October 21, 1997), "Who's a Virtucrat?" responding to an op-ed column by Robert H. Bork.

Richard Grayson column in Boca Raton News: "Only Deadbeats Pay Off Their Credit Cards"

Richard Grayson has a column in the Boca Raton News today (Tuesday, September 16, 1997): "Only Deadbeats Pay Off Their Credit Cards."

Richard Grayson letter in The New York Times: "Big Tobacco Has Eyed China for a Century"

Richard Grayson has a letter in the New York Times today (Sunday, September 14, 1997), "Big Tobacco Has Eyed China for a Century," about the history of American companies marketing cigarettes in China.

New York Times Op-Ed Article by Richard Grayson: "Everything Compares to New Jersey"

Today's New York Times features an op-ed article by Richard Grayson, "Everything Compares to New Jersey."

Richard Grayson reviews SHADE: AN ANTHOLOGY OF FICTION BY GAY MEN OF AFRICAN DESCENT in American Book Review

In the current issue (Volume 18, Number 5, July-August 1997) of the American Book Review, Richard Grayson reviews Shade: An Anthology of Fiction by Gay Men of African Descent, edited by Bruce Morrow and Charles H. Rowell.