You haven't seen my smiling face in this space for a while, and I aim to correct that. When I started as editor of The Pilot in March, I resolved I wouldn't be one of those editors only heard from every once in a while. I've done a decent job keeping a weekly column going, but I've fallen down on the blogging. My apologies for that.

I'll kick off my pseudo-return by letting you know you're now seeing a new staff blog. This one is called Teachable Moments, and it's by Frank Daniels III. Frank writes an occasional opinion column for The Pilot, but we also know Frank more as one of the co-owners of The Pilot.

Frank is currently the community engagement editor for The Tennessean, the newspaper in Nashville. As part of his responsibilities there, he writes a daily Teachable Moments column. The items are designed to educate and enlighten you to an important person, issue or matter on that particular day in history. For instance, today's column notes that, on this day in 1964, the great French author-philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature -- and promptly declined it.

Some interesting tidbits on Sartre: He was drafted into the French army at the dawn of the Second World War and served as a meteorologist. He served nine months as a POW.

Sartre turned down the Nobel, Frank writes, because he didn't want to take part in the whole East vs. West cultural wars. Wow. For the record, I would happily accept the award, should the Academy come calling some day. I'll start emailing this blog to Sweden.

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