Word: nolan
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...most of her life, Pam Nolan, 45, found herself in a cold war with God. Her parents, disaffected Roman Catholics, left the church when she was 18, taking her with them. But more than a decade later, after the birth of her daughter, she made a slow creep back to religion, first as a Unitarian and then as a Methodist. But still her soul kept its distance. Then last year her church went on a retreat at the Abbey of the Genesee, a monastery in upstate New York. During a discussion, when a monk (and a recovering alcoholic), repeatedly said...
...Nolan still doesn't attend church regularly, and she considers herself spiritual, not religious. The only ritual she has decided to keep is coming back to the abbey every June for her birthday. A three-day weekend, it is her only vacation away from her job as a computer specialist in Edinboro, Pa., and this is what she gets: a hard single bed with threadbare sheets in a sweltering, non-air-conditioned room; a warped desk and chair that would be rejected by Motel 6; and simple meals like baked beans or tuna casserole. And for the whole weekend...
...Nolan is on a path increasingly well traveled. Across the country, Catholic monasteries and convents, usually regarded as strange or the stuff of medieval myth, are besieged with would-be retreatants and booked months in advance. "Please don't mention our name," begs an abbot at a Vermont monastery where the wait for one of its 29 spaces stretches a year. "We're overwhelmed." There is even a popular guidebook, Sanctuaries, that helps readers choose a great monastery or convent. While organized church retreats are not new, what is startling is that much of the increase is in individual retreatants...
...when hitters like Ken Griffey Jr. are thrilling teen fans bloated by a media diet of MTV and asteroid explosions, watching Maddux throw for the Atlanta Braves is like flipping to PBS. His fastball isn't fast (nearly 90 m.p.h. on his best day, vs. around 100 for a Nolan Ryan). His curveball barely curves. He has never pitched a no-hitter. All he does is win games. How? He finds a batter's weak spot and throws right at it nearly every time, which is why he will probably win an unprecedented fifth Cy Young pitching award this year...
...game on Maddux--2.03, to be exact, since 1992, which is the lowest mark over such a long period in the postwar era. In 1994 his earned-run average was just 1.56. So far this year, it's 1.57. Sandy Koufax never had such a good year. Nor did Nolan Ryan. In fact, only two pitchers in modern baseball have: Bob Gibson (1.12 in 1968) and Dwight Gooden...