John Rice

Feb 4, 2025 | forestparkreview.com | John Rice

We must embrace new technology if we’re going to reach a younger audience. I learned this recently when it was requested that I make a YouTube video of our film “Ezra & Mike: Facing Racial Tension in Forest Park.”The film is about a Black man named Ezra Buckner buying a home in Forest Park in 1975. His family suffered racially motivated harassment until a stranger, a white Forest Parker named Mike Chiappetta came to their rescue.

Jan 28, 2025 | forestparkreview.com | John Rice

Did you have a good friend you never met? That was the case with me and Dorothy Misleh. We became friends in 2014 and have spoken and written ever since. Dorothy remained young at heart even when she was 102. I last spoke to her around Christmas 2024. She talked about donating an unused grave at Forest Home Cemetery to a family in need. She also planned to donate a child-sized Roos cedar chest to the Forest Park Historical Society.  That was Dorothy — generous to the end. She passed away on Jan.

Jan 21, 2025 | forestparkreview.com | John Rice

My wife and I just returned from our first-ever destination wedding. It was held at an all-inclusive resort in Puerta Vallarta. We had previously stayed at an all-inclusive, but that had been a far different experience. At that place, we were forced to wear wristbands. Our currency was worthless, and our room number replaced our names. We felt like we were losing our identities. Plus, the resort was surrounded by a wall. Outside the wall was dense jungle, so escape was futile.

Jan 14, 2025 | forestparkreview.com | John Rice

When I was growing up, I liked nothing more than playing board games. My favorite was Risk: The Game of Global Domination. What kid doesn’t want to conquer the world? It was a great feeling to vanquish your opponents and emerge as “king of the world.” The problem comes when U.S. foreign policy begins to resemble Risk. In the board game, you must conquer a country every turn, with the goal of controlling an entire continent.

Dec 10, 2024 | forestparkreview.com | John Rice

I don’t like using words that readers have to Google, but I’ve had two guys tell me they were drawn to Forest Park because of its “propinquity.” I looked it up just to learn the pronunciation: “pro-PING-kwede.”For such a long word, the meaning is simple. Propinquity comes from the Latin word meaning “nearness.” It’s a social phenomenon that we form relationships with people who are in close proximity. This can happen in the workplace or in schools.