Hiatus

It has Been a Fun Year

Apr 08, 2025

Bonjour. The mustachioed men pictured above are part of my lineage, and a fine handsome lot they are. My mother’s family came to the U.S. from Quebec in the latter half of the 19th Century. They were Catholic, at least in culture if not belief. (They produced no priests or religious I am aware of, though some members even into my mother’s generation were pious.) I was not raised in the Faith, converting when I was 51. None of my more immediate cousins practice the Faith, alas. Here is the book from which the photo is taken:

Jack Bilow is a local historian and a distant cousin. He has also written a lively little piece of local history: Chateaugay, N.Y. and the War of 1812. (My review of that book for Adirondack Life in 1985—40 years ago!—was my first paid publication.) The book above was privately printed; it has a few errors (esp. in dates), but it is a book I value. He includes many photos of my relatives, like this one:

These are my mother’s maternal grandparents. I never knew my great-grandmother, who died before I was born, but I do remember Great-Grandpa Tacy. (Tacy is an anglicization of Tessier, just as Dupuis became in many instances Dupree, Dore into Dora, and Peryea to Perry.) I wish I’d known him better and asked him the sort of questions my 63-year-old self would hope to have answered.

Forgive my indulging in nostalgia.

This Substack is a year old, and I think I have accomplished what I set out to do. Much of the posts have been bibliographic in nature, though over time I included more extensive material: reflections/reviews of books, links to my outside writing and other recommendations, and longer pieces of my unpublished writing. It has never been a big, splashy thing, and readership numbers have remained, well, modest.

I am taking a hiatus or sabbatical from this particular Substack. Easter is almost here and we probably all need a break. Below are links to my outside writing of the past three years in case you are interested. I think I’ll be back in the first part of May.

Article Links:

· Coming Home Network, March 31, 2014: https://chnetwork.org/story/christ-is-the-light-of-east-and-west-one-mans-search-for-the-apostolic-faith-greg-cook/

· Crisis, April 4, 2022: https://www.crisismagazine.com/2022/dont-look-east-just-because-of-the-problems-in-the-west

· Catholic Exchange, Sept. 15, 2022: https://catholicexchange.com/like-a-branch-rejoined-a-journey-from-eastern-orthodoxy-to-catholicism/

· 1Peter5, Sept. 29, 2022: https://onepeterfive.com/errors-russia-dostoevsky-putin/

· Catholic Exchange, Oct. 19, 2022: https://catholicexchange.com/the-bookends-of-catholic-health-care/

· Catholic Exchange, Nov. 4, 2022: https://catholicexchange.com/taste-and-see-that-the-lord-is-good/

· Crisis, 11/12/22: https://www.crisismagazine.com/opinion/uncomfortable-lessons-from-the-martyrology

· Catholic Exchange, 11/16/22: https://catholicexchange.com/the-new-abnormal-a-review/

· Catholic Exchange, 12/1/22: https://catholicexchange.com/theosophy-an-old-error-in-new-packaging/

· Crisis, 12/1/22: https://www.crisismagazine.com/opinion/invest-your-funds-upon-this-rock

· Catholic Exchange, 12/13/22: https://catholicexchange.com/the-summer-of-loves-kid-sister/

· Crisis, 12/27/22: https://www.crisismagazine.com/opinion/a-plea-from-an-american-periphery

· Catholic Exchange, 12/27/22: https://catholicexchange.com/sobornost-or-ego-two-women-and-two-paths/

· Radio interview: https://directory.libsyn.com/episode/index/id/25442991 and

https://content.libsyn.com/p/9/c/c/9cca14492a528cc9/TCC_-_122722.mp3?c_id=143246706&cs_id=143246706&response-content-type=audio%2Fmpeg&Expires=1672181633&Signature=GC0hLjX9LNzNfoBb3U6-~5hOJsKSsKkuF29PRmlJhwz3tlwUElTjvTkNWJJBrx-peyWW3z7H~bhipK810XzIkovZ9MEgoQuwBUW6oyA0DDPqhkYTBrefjzHI~9ODdWEPSibKnLkpZmPDBKqRJBY5LNEpk446gbqfXIEWNnPljb~UjoQ1dID7TNfOgJp2hXLDOn4cUcKdui43CM1bM~~19RCWdwVV8bI~i64SbD~hQ6wmfqEAf3hcTRkQJZ9gslEzZp2pcZp~fqI~-iivS9hUAiXbXgTiMn9RhniH8OYov9THGXou2QYFNVJiYDOiVClTzg4UG8u3o8jIZ0uny6JHRA__&Key-Pair-Id=K1YS7LZGUP96OI

· Catholic Exchange, 1/12/23: https://catholicexchange.com/protect-your-ears-and-youll-protect-your-soul/

· Catholic Exchange, 1/18/23: https://catholicexchange.com/a-beginners-guide-to-icons/

· Crisis, 1/26/23: https://www.crisismagazine.com/opinion/the-left-and-the-co-opting-of-autism

· Catholic Exchange, 2/3/23: https://catholicexchange.com/perseverance-a-brief-introduction-to-eastern-catholicism/

· Catholic Exchange, 2/27/23: Who Is Thomas Merton? (catholicexchange.com)

· Catholic Exchange, 3/8/23: At the Foot of the Cross: Lessons From Ukraine, a Review (catholicexchange.com)

· 1P5, 3/11/23: Catholics: Time to Go on Offense - OnePeterFive

· Crisis, 3/13/23: No Trespassing in the Vineyard - Crisis Magazine

· “The Pagans,” St. Austin Review, March/April, 2023, Volume 23, No. 2, p. 26.

· Crisis, 4/5/23: https://www.crisismagazine.com/opinion/theology-of-the-body-vs-body-mutilations

· Catholic Exchange, 4/21/23: https://catholicexchange.com/what-is-social-justice-a-review/

· Crisis, 5/4/23: https://www.crisismagazine.com/opinion/should-catholics-return-to-the-land