About

The Flyoverland Crank is a weekly column that features "the wit and wisdom of a garrulous geezer" — me. I really do live in Flyoverland and I am a bit of a crank. 

Dear Gentlereaders,
I'm an independent, self-published columnist who has published a brand-spanking new column every week for most of the last 8.5 years (In the fall of '22 I took a sabbatical at a secret Taoist monastery in the Wudang mountains). I might be willing to be hired/syndicated/published/etc by someone whose checks don't bounce (dated Boomer cultural reference) who would let me be me. If you're that someone:

TheFlyoverlandCrank@gmail.com


"He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how." -Nietzsche 

My why is my daughter, son-in-law, the Stickies, and a desire to hang around to see if Western Civilization's ongoing attempted suicide is successful.      

I post links to my latest column on Facebook (occasionally other stuff) so that you can love me, hate me, or lobby to have me publically flogged. 

In the words of a better writer than I:

“At this point I reveal myself in my true colours, as a stick-in-the-mud. I hold a number of beliefs that have been repudiated by the liveliest intellects of our time. I believe that order is better than chaos, creation better than destruction. I prefer gentleness to violence, forgiveness to vendetta. On the whole I think that knowledge is preferable to ignorance, and I am sure that human sympathy is more valuable than ideology. I believe that in spite of the recent triumphs of science, men haven't changed much in the last two thousand years; and in consequence we must still try to learn from history. History is ourselves. I also hold one or two beliefs that are more difficult to put shortly. For example, I believe in courtesy, the ritual by which we avoid hurting other people's feelings by satisfying our own egos. And I think we should remember that we are part of a great whole. All living things are our brothers and sisters. Above all, I believe in the God-given genius of certain individuals, and I value a society that makes their existence possible.” - Kenneth Clark, "Civilization"
M.M.

P.S. You'll be relieved to know there is no community to join and no merchandise available to purchase. Also, I'm not "affiliated" with anyone; clicking on any links included in my columns will not generate any money for me or subject you to a sales pitch.  

P.S.S. Truth be told, my feeble scribbles are actually my attempt at distilling the words of one Omar von Pufendorf, a disciple of, and apprentice to, Dr. Johan Georg Faust. I reluctantly channel (it's complicated) Dr. Pufendorf and this column simultaneously attempts to pass his wisdom along and maintain my sanity by "downloading" it from my fragile psyche.