Brian Doyle, an essayist and novelist, died on May 27, 2017. To read Epiphanies, his longtime blog for the Scholar, please go here.
Brian Doyle
Joyas Voladoras
Revisiting an ode to the heart by one of our best-loved writers
by Brian Doyle | Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Well, Some of It Was True
The life and death of Joe Strummer of the Clash
by Brian Doyle | Monday, June 06, 2016
The Lightness of Errol Flynn
In praise of the irresistible swashbuckler
by Brian Doyle | Monday, December 05, 2016
A Most Interesting Young Man
Was that Bob Dylan my sister met on a weir above Woodstock?
by Brian Doyle | Sunday, June 01, 2008
The Eloquent Silence of It
Sometimes you don’t need to fill the gaps
by Brian Doyle | Wednesday, June 01, 2016
The Hills and Dales of Their Father
Remembrance of a Saturday morning
by Brian Doyle | Friday, March 25, 2016
The National Sport
A note on Aussie football with the season Down Under now underway
by Brian Doyle | Friday, April 15, 2016
The Guy Who Wore His Son Like a Scarf
What’s more important than a game?
by Brian Doyle | Friday, February 26, 2016
A Letter to the Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz Al-Sheikh
(Who Just Issued a Fatwa Forbidding Chess in Saudi Arabia)
by Brian Doyle | Friday, February 19, 2016
A Note on Shots
Will it go through a hoop? Then launch away …
by Brian Doyle | Friday, February 12, 2016
Why Do We Not Sing These Things as Miracles?
I say flip-flops, and you think …
by Brian Doyle | Friday, February 05, 2016
How to Change a Diaper
What we talk about when we talk about love
by Brian Doyle | Friday, January 22, 2016
The Black Hole
Throw the ball in, and it’ll never come out
by Brian Doyle | Friday, December 18, 2015
Death of a Velociraptor
by Brian Doyle | Friday, December 04, 2015
This Is Russia
Where the wine is sweet but the writers are wise
by Brian Doyle | Friday, February 20, 2015
The Inexhaustible Quarry of Memory
The things that make me laugh, still
by Brian Doyle | Friday, October 23, 2015
A Note on Ironing Boards
They may be stashed away, but try going to Mass without one
by Brian Doyle | Friday, October 09, 2015
The Town Behind the One You Can See
Where you live is not always what it seems
by Brian Doyle | Friday, May 03, 2013
Empire Builders
There were a few good men among them, weren’t there?
by Brian Doyle | Friday, May 31, 2013
A Good Priest
And the lessons learned by an accidental pitcher
by Brian Doyle | Friday, June 21, 2013
The Country of Who He Used to Be
In memory of school years—and a loved one—past
by Brian Doyle | Friday, February 15, 2013
The House for Recovering Souls
What happens when you make the wrong decisions at the wrong times
by Brian Doyle | Friday, March 15, 2013
The Younger Brother Measuring System
What to do with your sibling on a cold, snowy day
by Brian Doyle | Friday, March 08, 2013
Things My Kids Have Said …
… That they do not know I know they said
by Brian Doyle | Friday, April 05, 2013
Over the Bar in the River
The final words of a dear, dear friend
by Brian Doyle | Friday, April 19, 2013
To: The National Passport Processing Center, Philadelphia
Re: The photo in question
by Brian Doyle | Friday, April 26, 2013
My Salt-Water Farm
A boyhood dream of good soil and willing insects
by Brian Doyle | Friday, August 16, 2013
A Day in the Country
Imagine the absurdity of Dad on a horse …
by Brian Doyle | Friday, September 20, 2013
The Babe
What if sporting encounters really were life and death?
by Brian Doyle | Friday, October 25, 2013
The Five-Iron
Let us celebrate that most neglected club in the bag
by Brian Doyle | Friday, November 08, 2013
The Theater of Clothing
Lessons learned from the way we dress
by Brian Doyle | Friday, December 13, 2013
This Is the Best World Ever!
The elevating focus of prayer
by Brian Doyle | Friday, December 20, 2013
Final Resting Place
Where the ashes should and shouldn’t go
by Brian Doyle | Friday, January 31, 2014
Writing Oregon
My state’s literature, in all its brilliance and depth
by Brian Doyle | Friday, February 21, 2014
Józef Korzeniowski: A Note
Perhaps the greatest writer ever born in Ukraine …
by Brian Doyle | Friday, March 21, 2014
The Five-Kilometer Race
A note on the seething insanity of running
by Brian Doyle | Friday, April 04, 2014
Writing in Australian
Notes on some stunning Antipodean authors
by Brian Doyle | Friday, April 25, 2014
The Royalty Check
It’s good to be the king—if only for a brief moment
by Brian Doyle | Friday, May 16, 2014
Walking to School
A remembrance, as another academic year draws to a close
by Brian Doyle | Friday, May 30, 2014
Paper Route
by Brian Doyle | Friday, July 11, 2014
Lanyards
How many things do you really need dangling from your neck?
by Brian Doyle | Friday, July 25, 2014
All Possible Pie
At the window of an automat, watching the world go by
by Brian Doyle | Friday, September 05, 2014
Late Summer Softball
Playing ball by the old landfill hill
by Brian Doyle | Friday, September 19, 2014
The Compost Heap
One man’s trash is another man’s nightmare
by Brian Doyle | Friday, September 26, 2014
The Mark and Measure of the Man
Remembering Uncle Elmer from Queens
by Brian Doyle | Friday, October 10, 2014
Excellent Sneakers
How to get the most out of a piece of cardboard
by Brian Doyle | Friday, November 07, 2014
My Wedding Day
The priest’s last words to a nervous groom
by Brian Doyle | Friday, November 14, 2014
The New Guy
Being utterly hapless and helpless on your first day on the job
by Brian Doyle | Friday, November 28, 2014
The Game
Who needs hi-def TV when you can simply give in to your imagination?
by Brian Doyle | Friday, January 23, 2015
A Shaggy Dog Story
Calls of nature and the lewdness of squirrels
by Brian Doyle | Friday, February 13, 2015
Eínai Enas Fto̱chós Podosfairistí̱s
Keep the ball out of the net, and deck someone if you need to
by Brian Doyle | Friday, March 27, 2015
Parsing the Paper
Try divvying up a smartphone on Sunday morning
by Brian Doyle | Friday, April 17, 2015
A Note on Stationery
And suddenly the memories revealed themselves
by Brian Doyle | Friday, May 22, 2015
Mongo
Why would you bait a guy who’d love to take out your teeth?
by Brian Doyle | Friday, June 05, 2015
Crystal Blue Persuader
Tommy James of the Shondells goes on record
by Brian Doyle | Friday, March 01, 2013
Jazz and Bras
Add basketball and you have a few of my favorite American things
by Brian Doyle | Wednesday, December 10, 2014
The Ginger Boy
Minutes that changed the course of rock history
by Brian Doyle | Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Leap
by Brian Doyle | Wednesday, September 10, 2014
The Right Honourable Mr. Burke
Impassioned orator, eloquent statesman, esteemed writer—but who was Edmund Burke the man?
by Brian Doyle | Friday, June 01, 2012
Findings: A Bogey Tale
by Brian Doyle | Thursday, June 01, 2006
Meeting Marvin
by Brian Doyle | Saturday, March 01, 2008
