Mike Cullity

Payne Stewart: 10 years gone

Ten years ago today, reigning U.S. Open golf champion Payne Stewart and five others perished when the private plane in which they were traveling became incapacitated in mid-air and crashed in a South Dakota field.

That Monday morning, I was working in Golfweek magazine's Orlando newsroom when word arrived that air-traffic controllers had lost contact with Stewart's plane. With its windows iced over and its occupants unresponsive, the Orlando-to-Dallas flight veered off course before running out of fuel and crashing in the Great Plains early that afternoon. 

When I first heard about the runaway plane, I felt a chill like none I had ever experienced. I hoped against hope that Stewart and his fellow travelers would somehow survive. But by the time the plane nosedived to its final resting place, I was resigned to tragedy. With a pit in my stomach, I worked late into the evening editing Golfweek's coverage of Stewart's mind-boggling death.

South Africa: Journey of a lifetime

This month marks the one-year anniversary of one of my greatest travel experiences - a two-week journey to South Africa. With soccer's 2010 World Cup slated to visit this nation of immense beauty and tragic history, I thought I'd share some of my South African highlights.

Quick dinner, or the bum's rush?

Last Saturday my wife and I drove into Boston for a friendly gathering near Fenway Park. With a couple of hours to kill before the get-together, we stopped for dinner at Franklin Southie, a year-old restaurant near the Broadway T stop in South Boston. 

Arriving at the relatively early-bird hour of 6:15, we were promptly seated. I enjoyed Franklin Southie's modern vibe, and the food was reasonable and tasty. Our waiter, moreover, was exceedingly courteous.

In no particular hurry and looking forward to a leisurely repast, my wife and I were a little surprised to be walking out of the restaurant a mere 40 minutes after we'd arrived.

Within a minute of ordering our salad arrived, and as I chewed the last leaf our entrees showed up. Figuring we could linger over something sweet, we were told the restaurant doesn't serve dessert.

There are times when a quick dinner out works - for example, if you're trying to squeeze in supper before a 7 p.m. movie. But this wasn't one of those times. Though no one was asking us to leave, it was the only logical choice.

Could it be that because we decided not to order pricy alcoholic drinks - my wife sipped sparkling water, and I drank still - the restaurant was sending us a subtle hint? You be the judge.

Prayers for an old friend

A few years ago, I heard through the grapevine that Kevin Foley, an old grad-school friend, had been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer.

Another friend and grad-school classmate, Chris Serb, writes about Kevin in the Fall 2009 issue of Medill Magazine (pages 8-9). Three years after being diagnosed with epithelioid sarcoma, Kevin continues to battle the aggressive disease, and since January 2008 he has blogged about his experiences at Card Blue: Travels Through Illness.

A married father of two, Kevin lives in Vermont and until last year was a magazine and Web editor for the University of Vermont. An upbeat guy as I remember him, Kevin strikes that tone in Serb's article, but at the same time reveals that his days are more than likely running short.

I've been thinking about Kevin a lot since reading Serb's piece. Please keep him and his family in your thoughts and prayers.

Some thoughts on "Satchel"

I've been a fan of baseball literature for a long time. As a kid, I used to devour Roger Angell's accounts of life in the big leagues and chuckle over the madcap clubhouse stunts journeyman outfielder Jay Johnstone chronicled. Earlier this year, I checked Roger Kahn's classic, "The Boys of Summer,"
off my lifetime reading list.

My latest baseball read is "Satchel: The Life and Times of an American Legend" by Larry Tye. A former Boston Globe reporter, Tye tackles the life of Satchel Paige, the prolific Negro League pitcher and baseball Hall of Famer.

I had heard a lot about Paige in passing through the years, but I didn't know many details about him before I read this bio. The book didn't reveal too many surprises, but it is a well-researched tome that offers a thorough portrait of the man behind the legend.