Introducing SUNNY’S SIGNAL

I confirmed recently that I have stopped being a newspaper columnist—after more than two decades.

And that the ruckus will continue.

I have seen it all over those years. My first columns appeared only in print, for online was not really a thing yet. The very first one got pulled—the editor was afraid it might incite violence! And then the next few were mangled mercilessly by overreaching sub-editors, until I politely threatened to stop writing. My first forays were therefore written very conservatively, in the manner of a dignified opinion columnist.

Well, that didn’t last long 😆. 

I soon ditched the careful tone and level-headed language and found my own voice, which gradually became more provocative, more irreverent, more in your face. Sometimes I laughed as I wrote, and tried to carry that laughter onto the page. Often my love of poetry would seep through in the form of flourish and filigree. And as the years went by, the pieces began to consider the deeper questions: of meaning, mortality, and what really matters.

I hope none of that will be lost.

Without editors and a conservative audience to worry about, I hope to experiment with both form and format—sometimes sharper, sometimes stranger, occasionally breaking my own rules. Let’s see what happens when the leash comes off. I will be stretching the length when needed, breaking rhythm when it helps, and saying things the old column might never quite have gotten away with.

What should you expect?

Shorter jabs, as well as occasional deep dives.

Roguish assaults on pomposity and fru-fru.

Uncomfortable questions about rules, rituals, and received wisdom.

A sincere leaning into kindness, and the quiet power of humility.

And always, reflections on the big one: What’s it all about?

This is SUNNY’S SIGNAL. 

It will live on www.sunwords.com—and land in your inbox if you subscribe (at no charge). It will also echo across social media, on X, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook. Find it!

I hope the signal reaches you wherever you are.

The column is over.

The conversation continues.

✊🏽

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