“The pen is mightier than the sword.” A guy named Edward Bulwer-Lytton said back in 1839. One hundred and seventy-four years later, I have found a way to rewrite his thought to describe my own experience. “The pen might get you chased by someone with a sword.”

Ed’s quote was one of many things that led him to be remembered 17 decades later. My hopes are that the world will quickly forget a couple of slips of my pen that came close to the sword chasing variety.

Months ago Sue and I visited Ireland. I wrote a lot about our experience. These columns contained stories about ho...