Author: Gary Furr

I am a musician, writer and Christian minister living in Alabama. I am founder and President of the Alabama Coalition for Healthy Mothers and Children.
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June 6, 1944

Gary Furr

In 1963, I was in the third grade. We moved from my hometown in North Carolina to Clarksville, Tennessee. We lived near Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Fort Campbell is home of the “Screaming Eagles” of the 101st Airborne –-the Army’s only Air Assault Division. World War II was still in living memory all around us, and we had books and toys to reflect it—plastic toy soldiers, cap guns, and I think I remember having a toy mortar, of all things. We re-enacted D-Day and Iwo Jima, Wake Island, Pearl Harbor and El Alamein. The 101st Airborne was famous: they were parachuted … Continue reading June 6, 1944

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Review of The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt

Gary Furr

The Anxious Generation:How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illnessby Jonathan Haidt (Penquin Press, March 26, 2024, 400 pages) In 2010 I led a group of pastors to the Holy Land. I noticed that whenever there was free time, at least half of the group sat in the commons area of our retreat center staring at their phones. While I had a cell phone, I had not yet transitioned to the usage levels I would later attain. I still did a great deal of my work on the computer and through email. It seemed odd … Continue reading Review of The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt

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Lament for a Friend

Gary Furr

Fifteen years ago. On Easter weekend, I realized that I lost one of my best friends fifteen years ago. Like all losses, it alternates from being like yesterday to feeling like an eternity. He died, far too soon, at age 60 of a recurrence of a deadly cancer. Brilliant thinker, courageous pastor, unflinching leader. Philip Wise was a mentor, and encouraged my ministry for more than twenty years. He debated a future Pope, spoke out for racial justice and was a great preacher and teacher. On this anniversary, I want to share this remembrance, written in the midst of his … Continue reading Lament for a Friend

Alabama, change, Citizenship, Culture, Disease, Ethics, Healthcare, Institutions, Leadership, Poverty, Sickness and Health, Story, Theology and Life1 Comment

Taking Care of Our Own

Gary Furr

A friend mentioned to me recently that an out of state visitor saw our Alabama state motto, WE DARE TO DEFEND OUR RIGHTS on a sign and asked if it had been put there as a prank. No, he was told, that is really our motto. If you have lived here for a long time, you understand that we resist when others challenge us, no matter how well intentioned. Determination can help us in life, but it can work against you as life changes. I’d like to add another one: WE TAKE CARE OF OUR OWN. Two friends and I … Continue reading Taking Care of Our Own