No kidding, I said to this guy we all refer to as Buster for the way he goes busting through the stories he must hand in once a day to the newspaper.
Good or bad, right or wrong, he must comply, the contract says so.
Suppose there comes a day when there is no news? Like today.
Are you serious, asks Buster? Israel is at war on all fronts, dear Jake.
That’s my point. So that is not news.
Buster got up this morning facing the same conclusion, which is why he, and the rest of us are in a panic.
King Solomon had it right. There is nothing new under the sun. Good for him to have discovered this, but was he facing do-or-die deadlines from cranky editors?
What about Trump? Somebody says. He is always good for a banner.
Not today. says Buster. Today he has gone wimpy on Iran. I kid you not. He is afraid of a long-drawn-out war. Like Iraq and Afghanistan. Have you quit smoking, Jake?
I am cutting down. You?
Yeah, and it is driving me out of my skin. I miss those old bad habits of ours. We’re getting old, Jake.
So I have noticed.
Women don’t give us a second look. Nobody Cares. Wasn’t that the theme throughout all your books?
I don’t remember. Which is a good thing, Buster.
Tell me why.
It means maturity. It means we have quit fussing over every word, every sentence, and let the public decide when you have succeeded over when you have failed.
I don’t know, Jake, whether you are getting smarter or dumber. Are you still studying the parshah of the week? It made your face bloom.
My Torah partner disappeared. Gone. No explanation.
I faced the same situation.
These Lubavitch guys. They are excellent but tough to pin them down.
Jake, my friend, help me with a headline. There must be SOMETHING going on in this rotten, terrible world.
For sure. But I would only be repeating myself. The best of me is behind me, I am afraid to say.
This would mean that there are no disasters ahead. No headlines?
No headlines.
Amen, Brother.
Now available, a collection of Jack Engelhard’s op-eds, “Writings."
Jack Engelhard writes a regular column for Arutz Sheva. Engelhard wrote the int’l bestseller Indecent Proposal that was translated into more than 22 languages and turned into a Paramount motion picture starring Robert Redford and Demi Moore. New from the novelist, the gambling ‘’thriller Compulsive. Website: www.jackengelhard.com
From the esteemed John w. Cassell: “Jack Engelhard is a writer without peer, and the. conscience of us all."