Tag Archives: bears

     In the folktales of just about every group of people around the world, the Apex Predator holds a serious place.  Whatever animal this is—the lion, the tiger, the wolf, the shark—is the supervillain, the great threat, the ever-present menace, the shadow in the wilderness  (In fact, the traditional folk villain role was sometimes deniedContinue reading “Bearable Jokes”

I hope what I wrote in Monday’s column could not be construed as suggesting the donkey (burro, jackass, etc.) served only one purpose in the postcard of midcentury vintage.  The donkey appeared regularly on postcards in many roles: at the beginning of the twentieth century he appeared as a sometimes patient, sometimes recalcitrant beast ofContinue reading “Grin and Bear”