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Articles by Tom Luce
Seattle’s Epiphany Choir Sings at London’s St. Paul’s Cathedral
British Cathedrals’ regular choirs go on summer holidays, but the religious services still need good singing, so they invite choirs from abroad. London’s historically and architecturally amazing St Paul’s Cathedral last weekend had the good fortune of splendid singing by the Seattle Epiphany Parish choir for four church services. My wife and I (who had been married in the Epiphany Chapel) attended the long and musically complex Sunday morning Eucharist Service.
UK Government Slashes Arts Funding in London, Boosts it in the Provinces in Mistaken Notion of Parity
In line with other European countries and many parts of the USA, Britain has important museums and art galleries in its big cities. It also has significant theatre companies scattered among leading cities. Although Britain’s opera and music organizations are generally of good quality, their quantity is notably smaller than, for example, Germany, which reportedly has 80 permanent opera companies, and Austria.
Tristan at Seattle Opera
- In the last nearly four decades I have seen all Wagner’s regularly performed operas at Seattle Opera, including the Ring Cycle more times than by any other company. Seattle Opera’s new production of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, directed by Marcello Lombardero and finely conducted by Jordan de Souza, was up to the standard.
GUEST COLUMN: Energy transition? Texans should plan expansion
Texas embraces everything about energy — especially what’s new. Texans struck oil at Spindletop in 1901, and it would have been easy to sit back and relax after that. But that’s not our style. Instead, we pioneered the fracking revolution that created an unprecedented oil boom. We invested early in transmission lines, harvesting wind and solar power to become one of the nation’s leading renewable energy generators. Now, another opportunity presents itself.
OPINION: Energy transition? Texans should plan expansion. - Orange Leader
By Tom Luce and Jeremy Mazur Texas embraces everything about energy — especially what’s new. Texans struck oil at Spindletop in 1901, and it would have been easy to sit back and relax after that. But that’s not our style. Instead, we pioneered the fracking revolution that created an unprecedented oil boom. We invested early in transmission lines, harvesting wind and solar power to become one of the nation’s leading renewable energy generators. Now, another opportunity presents itself.
Promenade: A London Tradition Returns to In-Person Concerts
The BBC’s justifiably famous summer Promenade Concert Festival (The Proms) is held in London’s huge Albert Hall. Last year, all the concerts were broadcast but because of the Covid pandemic there were no public audiences in the hall, and orchestras tended to be small so they could socially distance on the stage.
Texas Needs Planned Resilience For The Next Unlikely Event
From the coronavirus pandemic to the winter storm that knocked out essential infrastructure across the state, the “unprecedented” events of this past year have caught us unprepared. There is an important lesson here – many of the events we consider unlikely are still very possible. Probability says they will happen at some point, and the resulting impacts will be significant enough that we have to be ready for them.
GUEST COLUMN: Planned resilience will help Texas prepare for the next unlikely event
From the coronavirus pandemic to the winter storm that knocked out essential infrastructure across the state, the past year has been marked by several “unprecedented” events. And for each of them, we have been caught unprepared. There is an important lesson here — many of the events we consider unlikely are still very possible. They’re known in the business world as “gray swan” events. They may not happen often or even soon.
Texas must shore up infrastructure to meet climate change
From the coronavirus pandemic to the winter storm that knocked out essential infrastructure across the state, the past year has been marked by several “unprecedented” events. And for each of them, we have been caught unprepared. There is an important lesson here: Many of the events we consider unlikely are still very possible. They’re known in the business world as "gray swan" events. They may not happen often or even soon.
Planned resilience will help Texas prepare for the next unlikely event
From the coronavirus pandemic to the winter storm that knocked out essential infrastructure across the state, the past year has been marked by several “unprecedented” events. And for each of them, we have been caught unprepared. There is an important lesson here – many of the events we consider unlikely are still very possible. They’re known in the business world as “grey swan” events. They may not happen often or even soon.
Health insurance unattainable for too many Texans
Construction workers continue to work as essential workers on major projects in downtown San Antonio. Credit: Scott Ball / San Antonio Report For far too many Texans, health insurance has become unaffordable to the point of being unobtainable. For other Texans, even those with insurance, the cost of premiums and health care have become unsustainable.
Lawmakers, make sure Texans are educated for jobs of future | Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Apprenticeships can be effective ways for teens to pick up career skills. T. Ortega Gaines 2015 file photo Texas’ 2019 legislative session was one of the most productive in years. That was due in part to lawmakers’ focus on public education: After years of watching our state fall further behind, the Legislature took meaningful action to improve lives by ensuring all students had access to a quality education.
Dallas city, county and philanthropic leaders must come together to expand COVID-19 testing
By Nicole Small, Tom Luce and John Stephens 1:30 AM on Jul 26, 2020 CDT We are at an important and pivotal moment in our fight against COVID-19. Despite the truly heroic efforts of public officials and health care workers, the disease continues to ravage our neighborhoods, throttle the economy, disrupt schools and overload hospitals. Cruelly, the impact has fallen disproportionately on our Hispanic and Black communities. What can be done?
Fallen statues and national myths: Where do we go from here?
More than a half century ago now, but not long after the national tragedy that became our city’s enduring story, Bob Dylan released Ballad of a Thin Man, a jangling piano tune that mocks the established and thoroughly confused Mr. Jones who, poor guy, can’t get a handle on exactly why the world he knows is falling apart all around him. After all, Mr. Jones is well read. He gives to charity. He talks to regular folks.
Texas’ long-term prosperity is at risk unless we build an educated workforce
By Tom Luce and Margaret Spellings 1:30 AM on Jun 28, 2020 CDT Texas’ future is in its people. It’s Texas’ people who will lead the state out of this pandemic and economic crisis. And it’s people who must perpetuate the economic prosperity that has fueled Texas’ quality of life for generations. On March 2, 2036, Texas will turn 200.
At an inflection point, Texas can emerge as a leader for the nation’s biggest challenges
Right now, there’s a global pandemic that has killed almost half a million people and isn’t slowing down. There’s a deep recession that has pushed 14 million Americans out of work and threatens to slow economic growth for years to come. There are people marching in the streets, marking almost a month now of daily demonstrations to encourage America to deal with its history of injustice and inequality.
Immediate challenges shouldn't stop Texas from planning for the future
Texas wouldn’t trade places with any other state. That’s important to remember during a historic pandemic and downturn in oil prices. Even in the face of these challenges, Texas has the people, resources and drive to bounce back and ensure that future generations of Texans enjoy economic prosperity. Our future hinges on how well we prepare Texans for the opportunities and challenges we know are coming.
The first step to economic recovery is data
Beyond its damage to Texans’ lives and livelihoods, the coronavirus has exposed the need here and nationally for better data systems. Such systems do more than save taxpayers’ money and state employees’ time. They save lives. Unfortunately, agencies across the country have been saddled with outdated technologies that make it impossible to pull together information and insights that could improve public health and safety.
Comparing British and American Pandemic Politics
— London — How well and how differently are Britain, where I am now in sequestered residence, and America doing in coping with the politics of the pandemic? For starters, there are considerable differences and similarities between political styles in the two countries. Some differences are linked to profound constitutional variations.
Covid 19: death certification in England and Wales
Tom Luce, chair of 2001-03 fundamental review of death certification and investigation London, UK Tom.luce{at}btinternet.com Thorough scrutiny of deaths remains essential during the covid-19 epidemic Different views may be aired on the timeliness of the government’s overall response to the predictable arrival in the UK of the coronavirus pandemic.
Commentary: Texas needs an economic recovery task force now
By Tom Luce Wednesday Apr 8, 2020 at 9:58 AM Apr 8, 2020 at 11:47 AM Each morning, we wake to the grim news that more of our fellow Texans have succumbed to the coronavirus, and even more have been diagnosed. As I write this, more than 700,000 Texans are expected to file for unemployment, and one out of four small businesses surveyed by the U.S. Chamber have said they are one month away from remaining shuttered once the crisis is over.
Texans, here’s how you can help fight cancer — from the ballot box
When Kathy Martin’s doctor suggested that, as a longtime smoker, she be tested for lung cancer, the 62-year-old resident of Graham didn’t have to travel far to be screened. Thanks to a program that the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas funded in 2018, Martin was able to have the necessary scans at her hometown hospital at no cost to her. To her surprise, the screening revealed that she had early-stage cancer, and she underwent surgery to remove a tumor.
A conversation began at TribFest. Let’s keep it going.
A number of folks approached us during the recent Texas Tribune Festival and asked, “What is Texas 2036 all about?” It’s exactly the question we were hoping to hear. We explained that Texas 2036 is a nonprofit organization building statewide support for sustained, data-driven planning efforts. We are focused on the challenges and opportunities our state faces as it prepares for its bicentennial in 17 years — and the 10 million more people who will call Texas home by then.
How Ross Perot created the Information Age
We lost a unique and visionary American in Ross Perot. We so often see Ross in the red, white and blue colors of an earlier America. Deservedly so. Here are notes from his Horatio Alger life story: Texarkana newspaper boy; midshipman shaking lands with Dwight Eisenhower at graduation; leading salesman for IBM, fulfilling his sales quota for the year on Jan.
What’s next for Texas?
Texas stands at the peak of prosperity today. The surging economy pushed the unemployment rate to a historic low, 3.7 percent, in October, and is on pace to produce 353,000 new jobs this year. That healthy economy, plus a relatively low cost of living and warm climate, attracted upwards of 1,000 new residents per day last year. Texas has added more than three million people so far this decade and is predicted to grow by another 13 million by its bicentennial in 2036.
Death certification reform in England
The 11 June announcement from England’s Department of Health and Social Care heralds a new phase, though not a final one, in the long slow saga of death certification reform.1 New local “medical examiners”—different from North American forensic pathology services with the same title—will from April 2019 start checking all death certificates issued by treating doctors for accuracy and compliance with coroner notification obligations.
85th Legislature: Improving the Texas state of mind
Over the course of the Texas Legislature’s 85th regular session lawmakers had tense debates about some issues, however they worked together diligently to produce a set of mental health-related bills that could greatly improve behavioral health care in our state. Bold, game-changing legislation passed and sent to Gov. Greg Abbott could make Texas a national model in how to provide, fund and evaluate mental health services.
Tom Luce: It’s time to act on mental health care in Texas
Last year, the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute asked Texans what they thought about mental health and the role of the state. They told us quite a bit, but it boiled down to this: They’re not only ready to talk about it, they’re also ready to act. I served on the Texas Sunset Commission while it reviewed the Health and Human Services Commission this past year, and I have seen how complicated, and at times disconnected, services are for mental health and substance-use disorders.
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