Spoutings: An insightful collection of 12 commentaries by William J Grimm, Publisher of UCA News. The essays discuss issues facing the world and the Church.

Author Speaks

I was a reticent toddler, not even using baby talk. My younger sister was already a chatterbox when I had yet to utter a single word.

My worried parents took me to be examined by a specialist who reportedly said some version of, “He just has nothing to talk about, but someday he’ll get around to it.”

Then, when I was three years old, we went to the zoo. On the way home we visited some neighbors, and as I walked in the door I announced, “I saw a hippopotamus!”

(Decades later, I verified that story with the person to whom I made the announcement.)

Mom claimed that once I started, I never ceased to spout off, making up for time lost.

Whatever the reason, I do spout off: I preach in church; I churn out opinion via UCA News. The eye-rolling I sometimes (alright – often) see during conversations is a response to yet more spouting off.

And so, the Grimmgram opinion columns that UCA News editors have put together in this collection are rightly called Spoutings.

In fact, it is doubly appropriate because hippos are the closest living relatives of whales.