Email Author Jeannette Batz

2002 Stories by Jeannette Batz

• Cab Fair

  published November 27, 2002

  Oiled by decades of cronyism and routed by St. Louis's shifting, patchy economic terrain, St. Louis's city, county and airport taxi systems all... More >>

• The Reluctant Archbishop

  published November 13, 2002

  Halfway through the opening reflection, two Roman-collared priests slipped into the back of the auditorium and took seats in the last row, awkward... More >>

• String Music

  published October 30, 2002

  Tom Bills takes tight hold of a wadded ball of cotton and rubs on another coat of insect resin, moving in continuous circles, turning the guitar's... More >>

• Fail Safe

  published October 2, 2002

  It was a Saturday night and 23-year-old Karen was home alone, and she didn't mind one bit. She'd rented What About Bob? -- Richard Dreyfuss... More >>

• Wildcat Strike

  published September 11, 2002

  Sandra Smith falls asleep in a trailer in Warrenton, Missouri, surrounded by roaring lions. Bengal tigers pace their cages; cougars pounce on... More >>

• Best in Show

  published August 21, 2002

  Debi Baker calmly led a ten-month-old lion onto the set of a Becky the Carpet Queen commercial and told him to lie down. She turned a 1,300-pound... More >>

• In Harm's Way

  published August 7, 2002

  One night before bed, Pat Bradley picked up a copy of God's Smuggler, a book about a Dutchman who sneaked Bibles into the communist... More >>

• Speed Isn't Enough

  published July 17, 2002

  It's time.They slide the glossy black '63 Corvette Stingray out of its berth. Firesuit still unzipped, drag racer and onetime world... More >>

• The Bailout Artist

  published June 26, 2002

  The phone at Quick Release Bail Bonds rings twice."May I help you?" inquires a deep, gravelly, sleepy-sounding voice. The caller... More >>

• Act of Omission

  published June 26, 2002

  Visit the Web site of Patrick Henry Elementary School and read the eloquent greeting from the school's principal:"Students may not always... More >>

• When Dragons Escape

  published June 19, 2002

  Elonka Dunin glances into the conference room of the Simutronics Corporation as she passes by, nodding to five glazed young men huddled over a new... More >>

• Unholy Ghost

  published June 12, 2002

  Cunning as the serpent the Southern Baptists already believe him to be, the Reverend Mel White staged yesterday's protest of the Southern Baptist... More >>

• Conduct Unbecoming

  published May 22, 2002

  William Baily Beachum Jr. flew rescue missions in Vietnam, each trip a gamble against the odds. His chopper was shot down five times. He looked... More >>

• Firepower

  published May 1, 2002

  The gun is an instrument of death; choose it, therefore, for its beauty and precision. -- an eighteenth-century father's... More >>

• Judgment at Hookyville

  published March 27, 2002

  [Editor's note: For the adults in this story, only first names have been used. The students' first names are pseudonyms.] Wanda... More >>

• Agony of Sorrows

  published March 27, 2002

  In early February, the Rev. Michael Campbell took the brittle, yellowed palm leaves he had blessed a year ago and burned them into ash. As his... More >>

• The Loss Within

  published March 13, 2002

  Robin Lahargoue pushes the gym door open. She's 45 minutes early for practice, but three of her Bears teammates are already there, firing free... More >>

• The Clan of the Cavesnail

  published March 6, 2002

  It is blind, and translucent. It stands as high as a grain of sand and, at its fattest, reaches 2 millimeters across the whorls of its... More >>

• The Graveyard Whistlers

  published February 6, 2002

  The tiny Maritz jewelry company went bankrupt during the Depression. Then it got religion. Three decades later, it was building a city on a... More >>

• Scissor Hands

  published January 9, 2002

  On the window, the vowels of his name are pure geometry, the "O" a solid circle, the "A" a triangle. Inside, there's a ballet-sized mirror and a... More >>

• The Ballad of Willie Akins

  published January 2, 2002

  Willie looked at the mellophone for a long minute. A lousy bloated trumpet. He raised it to his lips and blew a high, protesting bleat, and... More >>