Read All About It- Important things to look at online this week by Dr. Sam Bommarito
Each week, I search the internet and find important posts that you shouldn’t miss. The descriptions of these posts will be brief, hence the title Read All About It. Read All About It posts typically appear during the week. Read All About posts will allow you to link to the featured items.
I picked these posts because this week I am using elements from each of them in my upcoming keynote address for the SoMLA conference. Viewed from the lens of the “Reading Wars,” it might appear that there are two distinct sides with little hope of finding common ground. However, viewed through the lens of a Centrist like me, the picture is different. That is because I take a nuanced view of the issues surrounding literacy. Viewed that way, there really is more common ground than most folks imagine.
My keynote address at the conference will talk about how we can take an unencumbered view and talk (not argue) about literacy issues, using common sense to find common ground. Registration for this year’s conference is closed. For those of you who have registered, please do attend the opening session and also the appreciation dinner the evening of the session. There will be lots to see and do at SoMLA this year.
Read All About It- Important things to look at online this week
by Dr. Sam Bommarito
Each week, I will scour the internet and find important posts that you shouldn’t miss. The descriptions of these posts will be brief; hence the title “Read All About It.” Read All About It posts typically appear during the week. Read All About posts will allow you to link to the featured items.
ENJOY!
See next page
You won’t want to miss this one. Register for the 2026 SoMLA conference. LOTS of great sessions to pick from. One you won’t want to miss is the March xx dinner honoring Dr. Tim Rasinski. Tim will be coming in virtually. Dr. Sam Bommarito will be there in person and interview Tim live. Dr. Sam will be on the stage, and Tim will be on a large screen behind him. After the interview, Julia Armstrong and her cadre will be on the floor and will provide various books. She will use those books to show participants how she implements Tim’s FLP (Fluency Lesson Plan). Each participant will get three books from the Benchmarks KG Storytelling program to take home. Some other lucky participants will get a copy of Tim’s FLP book. That book contains all the materials you need to carry out FLP’s for a full year. Talk about something to bring back to use on Monday. Wow! We hope to see you there. Here is the link to register! LINK.
Julia Armstrong discusses the hands-on advisory services she and her cadre will provide to supplement Dr. Tim Rasinski’s virtual appearance at the upcoming SoMLA conference in Maryland. An Interview by Dr. Sam Bommarito
The upcoming SoMLA’s (Reading Conference) is going to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for both Julia and me. What is happening is that I am interviewing Tim Rasinski at a conference dinner being held in Tim’s honor. People attending the dinner will see Tim arrive via a live feed. I will be on stage conducting a blog interview. People attending this event will get to see all this live. I’ll be on stage; Tim’s real-time feed will be displayed on a large screen, visible to all attendees. Among the topics Tim and I will discuss is a book he co-authored with Lynn Kulick, Ph.D., and David Harrison. The book’s title is The Fluency Development Lesson Plan: Closing the Reading Gap.
After the interview is finished, Julia Armstrong and her cadre of volunteers will circulate among the tables. Each participant will be given copies of books from Benchmark’s Decodable Readers Theatre single-copy set. They will be able to keep these books, so that means all participants will be getting “take-home materials they can use on Monday”. For my readers interested in attending this session, here is the conference link. This session is one of the add-ons you get to choose from. I hope to see many of you there!
Here are the time-stamped talking points for the interview (They allow you to go to the sections that interest you the most first)
Here is a link to the YouTube Interview:
Julia’s Other Resources:
Julia and her husband create puppet skits incorporating songs or raps to reinforce phonics skills. If you like these skits, be sure to subscribe to their channel.
Julia also created passages for the “Words Their Way” series, including multisyllabic passages that align with the SIPPS Challenge program. These stories are located at:
As I said earlier, taking part in this event with Dr. Tim Rasinski is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I have known Tim for a very long time and have watched the evolution of the FDL from its earliest days to now. Tim’s latest book about FDL is an amazing resource for teachers. It has all the materials you need to conduct a FULL YEAR’S worth of Fluency Development Lessons. The only cost beyond buying the book is printing the support materials, which include word ladders from Tim and poems and passages by the very talented David Harrison. Julie found she could use these materials with her 4th and 5th-grade kiddos, with some amazing results. Here is a LINK to her blog post about that. It includes information about the data she gathered on the impact on her kids. Julie is not alone in finding the significant impact Tim’s work on repeated reading has had. I will detail that information during my keynote at this conference. The biggest takeaway from that keynote presentation is this: teaching fluency using Tim’s methods has produced effect sizes larger than those for phonics. I make it clear that I see his work as an addition to, not a replacement for, phonics. I’m asking educators to imagine what it would be like to adopt both.
Dare to Dream!
Dr. Sam Bommarito (aka, the guy in the center taking flak from all sides)
Copyright 2026 by Dr. Sam Bommarito. Views/interpretations expressed here are solely this author’s views and do not necessarily reflect the views of any other person or organization. Materials from Benchmark used in this entry are copyrighted by Benchmark. Tim, Julie, and I want to acknowledge the generous support Benchmark has provided by sponsoring this event and providing the take-home materials to the participants.
PS If you found the blog on Facebook or X (formerly Twitter), please consider following it so you will not miss future posts. Use the “follow” entry on the sidebar of the blog.
Read All About It- Headlines for the week of Feb. 23rd,
Dr. Sam will be doing a podcast with Tim RasinkiMarch 24th Dinner Event at the SoMLA conference
Podcast: Tim Rasinski & Dr. Sam
Attendees will have the opportunity to view a live podcast as Dr. Sam Bommarito (aka Dr. Sam) interviews Tim Rasinski about his book, The Fluency Development Lesson: Closing the Reading Gap. Following the interview, participants will engage in a sampling of activities from the book, including a focus poem, step-by-step guidance for implementing the fluency development lesson, and a song. Participants will receive ready-to-use materials for immediate classroom application, along with a selection of Reader’s Theater books. Attendees will actively participate in hands-on activities designed to support transfer, application, and meaning-making.
To: Administrators of Early Childhood and Elementary Schools From: Ann C. Kay, Rock’ n’ Read Project Date: February 2026 Re: The Link Between Singing, Music Skills, and Literacy Development
The Science of Reading Includes the Science of Music. Recent brain research has revealed that auditory processing is the foundation of language and literacy. Singing and basic music skills are essential tools for developing these neural pathways. For instance, research shows that children who cannot maintain a steady beat are significantly more likely to struggle with reading.
Full Research Bibliography: Effects of Music-Making on Brain Development
This bibliography is 10 pages long!
Proven Results: The Rock’ n’ Read Project.
The Rock’ n’ Read Project (RnR) is a Minnesota 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to using music to prepare young brains for reading. Our impact includes:
State-Backed Success: After receiving a $600,000 grant from the MN Legislature, RnR helped 2,500 elementary students achieve an average 1-year reading gain in just 14 hours of usage.
A Song A Day: Brain Prep for Pre-Readers: Our research-based curriculum (published by Ventris Learning) is designed specifically for 4- to 6-year-olds to bridge the gap between music and literacy.
Musical Fitness for Every Child: A Call to Action
We invite you to promote student wellbeing and brain development through daily music-making. Access our free resources at rocknreadproject.org/pre-reading skills, including: free musical fitness assessment, “brain train” activities, and professional development opportunities.
Save the Date: Science of Music & Reading Summit (Fall 2026)
Join neuroscientists and educators to explore evidence-based strategies to prepare all children for reading success—more details to follow via the website.
Contact: Ann C. Kay, Co-Founder/Education Coordinator ann@rnrproject.org
Be on the lookout for my upcoming blogs. This week, I spoke with Dr. Latisha Smith, the author of numerous children’s books. She calls herself an avid writer. I must agree with that assessment. The timing for talking about her books couldn’t be better. After all, it’s Black History Month, and Latisha is a black author writing books for black children. You can’t get a much better match than that. Because the Read All About post came in late, I am waiting until tomorrow (Sunday, February 28th) to post the blog about that interview.
And there’s more to come after that, including Dr. Chase Young and Rachel Gabriel.
So those are the headlines of this week. Until tomorrow:
Happy Reading and Writing
Dr. Sam
The guy in the middle: catching flak from all sides
Copyright 2025 by Dr. Sam Bommarito. Views/interpretations expressed here are solely this author’s and do not necessarily reflect the views of any other person or organization.
Follow this blog to make sure you don’t miss anything– use the lhe links in the top right-hand corner of this entry.
Read All About It- Important things to review from the week of Feb 16
by Dr. Sam Bommarito
As I said last week, I’m adding a new feature to my blogging routine. Each week, I scour the internet to find important posts you shouldn’t miss. The descriptions of these posts are brief, hence the title Read All About It.
THIS WEEK’S HEADLINES
This week marks a career high for me. On March 24th, I will be the Keynote speaker at The State of Maryland’s annual convention. That evening, I’ll be joined by Dr. Timothy Rasinski. Dr. Rasinski will attend the event virtually. I’ll be on the stage in front of 100 dinner guests, and Dr. Rasinki will appear behind me on a very large screen. That should be quite a sight.
Dr. Rasinski is the world’s foremost expert on fluency. Stanford University recognized him as among the top 2% of researchers worldwide. He has conducted years of research on fluency. He has found ways to TEACH (not practice) fluency through repeated reading. Using his methodologies, he has clearly demonstrated that students not only learned the target words during each week’s session, but also start at a higher level in the next week’s readings. So the students are not just learning a few sight words; they’re also improving their ability to figure out future words. He found the effect size of this bridging process to be larger than that of explicitly taught phonics. So imagine what it will be like when you do use both explicit phonics and repeated reading with your students.
After the podcast, Dr. Rasinski and I will stay around while Julie Armstrong and her cadre lead several engaging activities with the audience. Each audience member will receive a copy of the Benchmark book Pat & Pals Decodable Readers Theater. That book contains eleven hilarious CVC/digraph scripts tailored for small groups. A very special thank you to Benchmark for sponsoring the event. This is an event you won’t want to miss. Find out how to register for this in-person convention on the SoMLA Facebook page LINK. I hope to see you all there!
Recently, Lester Lemack posted what may be the most important announcement of this school year.
Be on the lookout for my upcoming blogs. This week I talk to Dr. Latisha Smith. She is the author of numerous children’s books. She calls herself an avid writer. I have to agree. The timing for talking about her books couldn’t be better. After all, it’s Black History Month, and Latisha is a black author writing books for black children. You can’t get a better match than that.
And there’s more to come after that, including interviews with Jefferey Austin, who serves as a Dyslexia Reading Consultant to several school districts, Dr. Chase Young and Dr. Rachel Gabriel.
So those are this week’s headlines. Until next week:
Happy Reading and Writing
Dr. Sam
The guy in the middle: catching flak from all sides
Copyright 2025 by Dr. Sam Bommarito. Views/interpretations expressed here are solely this author’s and do not necessarily reflect the views of any other person or organization.
Rock N Read into Fluency: Ann Kay talks about her new program-
An interview conducted by Dr. Sam Bommarito
It’s been almost 6 years since I first talked to Ann about her Rock N Read project. Ann’s interview about that program was my very first video podcast. It was very well received. She told me about her very successful Rock N Read program as it existed at that time (2020). Here is a link to that first interview LINK.
Fast forward to today. Let’s listen to her newest video interview. In it, she talks about how her project has changed. Beginning about 4 years ago, she shifted the project’s focus to early childhood. It has a strong parental component. As part of that transition, she carefully reviewed early childhood research and used it to guide her revisions to her program. What has emerged is an effective, engaging program. Ann was the first person to call my attention to the tremendous impact music can have on the brain. Her work dovetails nicely with Rasinski’s research about repeated reading. Using song as a vehicle, she gives students a reason to read and reread selected passages. Her initial interview changed the way I do my blog. Video podcast interviews have become a standard fare on my blog. This latest interview made me realize that there is growing evidence that students benefit substantially from music in general and singing in particular. Accordingly, I’ll be creating a category in my blog display where readers can explore all the blogs related to this topic, and there are quite a few of them.
The really important point is this. Ann has found a way to help parents help their kids. Let’s now turn to her biography and video interview to learn more about what she has done.
During the interview, I was particularly impressed by the depth of information Ann shared about the brain research underpinning her practices. Be sure to examine the links about these on her webpage. I included a few highlights of those in the section just before this one. I was equally impressed with the activities that she shared. Teachers get an extensive, ready-to-use package of free brain activities and a Musical Fitness Assessment, both based on the research she shared. I think you can see how this fits into Rasinski’s repeated reading format. I hope you find the research and the activity useful in your class. If you do, please share that information on how it worked for you by making comments on this blog. Sooooo- until next week:
Happy Reading and Writing.
From Dr. Sam, the guy taking flak from all sides
Copyright 2026 by Dr. Sam Bommarito. Items from Rock N Read are copyrighted by Ann K and used with permission. Views/interpretations expressed here are solely this author’s and do not necessarily reflect the views of any other person or organization.
Read All About It- Important things to look at online this week by Dr. Sam Bommarito
As I said last week, I’m adding a new feature to my blogging routine. Each week, I will scour the internet and find important posts that you shouldn’t miss. The descriptions of these posts will be brief, hence the title Read All About It.
Here are some things I noticed this week- The week of February 9th.
THIS WEEK’S HEADLINES
David Harrison just got an article published in the California Reader. The article will be available soon, but in the meantime, he described it on his blog: LINK.
LitCon’s Virtual conference is officially open now:
Here’s the link to the conference: LINK. Note that registered attendees can start seeing the on-demand sessions TODAY. If you are not registered, here is a LINK to register. Dr. Donna Scanlon is the keynote speaker, and the list of on-demand presentations is nearly endless. They cover a variety of important literacy topics.SEE YOU THERE!
Julius Anthony was interviewed by Sarah Thompson, a local TV personality in St. Louis. The show is called City Corner. I look forward to seeing the segment air. I’ll put it in the Headline post when it does. In the meantime, visit my blog interview with Julius about his amazing literacy project. He now has 18 sites across the St. Louis region where children can relax and read books relevant to them. Please see the blog interview I did with him about his book LINK.
Be on the lookout for my upcoming blogs. This week, I’ll be speaking with Ann Kay about her Rock and Read Project. We’ll find out about the new turn the project has taken. The week after that, we’ll talk to Dr. Latisha Smith. She calls herself an avid writer. She has a full-time job in education, but still finds time to author numerous children’s books. She calls herself an avid writer. I have to agree. The timing for talking about her books couldn’t be better. After all, it’s Black History Month. And there’s more to come after that, including Dr. Chase Young and Rachel Gabriel.
So those are this week’s headlines. Until next week:
Happy Reading and Writing
Dr. Sam
The guy in the middle: catching flak from all sides
Copyright 2025 by Dr. Sam Bommarito. Views/interpretations expressed here are solely this author’s and do not necessarily reflect the views of any other person or organization.
Read All About It- Important things to look at online this week by Dr. Sam Bommarito
I’m adding a new feature to my blogging routine. Each week, I will scour the internet and find important posts that you shouldn’t miss. The descriptions of these posts will be brief, hence the title Read All About It. Read All About It posts typically appear during the week. This is the first Read About It post. Read All About posts will always allow you to link to the featured items
But wait a minute, Dr. Sam. Did you notice that today is Saturday? Opps!
Today’s post introduces the new routine. From this point forward, Saturday will be reserved for OP Eds and NUMEROUS interviews. The interview coming up next week is long overdue. It will be about Ann Kay’s Rock and Read site—my apologies to Ann for the long delay. There are lots more interviews coming after that- I already have 5 lined up with more to come.
It’s Dr. Gabriel’s take on state mandates for literacy programs. An information-packed post by an internationally known literacy expert. It’s a worthwhile read.
LitCon’s Virtual conference is opening early
Here’s the link to the conference: LINK. Note that registered attendees can start seeing the on-demand sessions TODAY. If you are not registered, here is a LINK to register. Dr. Donna Scanlon is the keynote speaker, and the list of on-demand presentations is nearly endless. They cover a variety of important literacy topics. SEE YOU THERE!
Dr Mark Seidenberg’s post about explicit and implicit instruction. LINK. Dr. Seidenberg’s blog post really caught everyone’s attention. See what he has to say. His post is also an information-rich piece from an internationally known literacy expert. It’s a worthwhile read.
So those are this week’s headlines. Until next week:
Happy Reading and Writing
Dr. Sam
The guy in the middle: catching flak from all sides
Copyright 2025 by Dr. Sam Bommarito. Views/interpretations expressed here are solely this author’s and do not necessarily reflect the views of any other person or organization.
Visit my blog website for more information about my take on the current state of literacy LINK
The Ever-Changing World of Literacy Part 2: What Seidenberg just said about the New Yorker article
“The instructional needs of dyslexics and nondyslexics are not the same. What is best for people with dyslexia, children who have conditions that interfere with learning to read, is not best for nondyslexics, who do not.” From Dr Seidenberg’s blog of Jan 20thLINK
INTRODUCTION: For those of you who aren’t already regular readers of this blog. My name is Dr. Sam Bommarito. I have been in education for over 6 decades. I’ve been a high school social studies teacher, a Title 1/Chapter 1 reading teacher, and a professional developer for Title I. I’ve taught virtually every reading course required for certification at the university level, including the content area reading course. I have served on numerous ILA boards and completed a two-year term on ILA’s Dina Feitelson Research Award committee. I am currently “retired,” but I continue to work in literacy. I write a weekly blog advocating a centrist view in the so-called reading wars. I have two major goals for my blog. First, I try to identify common ground among the varying views on how to teach reading and writing. Second, I try to get people from all points of view to talk to each other so they can fully understand what the “other sides” think.
Today’s blog centers around a major statement just made by Mark Seidenberg. Seidenberg is a well-known researcher and a staunch advocate of SOR. Here is what he said:
“The instructional needs of dyslexics and nondyslexics are not the same. What is best for people with dyslexia, children who have conditions that interfere with learning to read, is not best for nondyslexics, who do not.” From Seidenberg’s blog of Jan 20thLINK
I can’t really discuss the above statement without also considering his September 2025 statement about the concept of a “take-off point” for early readers. Right now. I want to give you my take on what he said and focus on what parts of his statements I agree with or partially agree with.
My take on Dr. Seidenberg’s key ideas from his September 2025 statement:
Dr. Seidenberg says early readers need a heavy dose of explicit phonics instruction. They also need activities that provide implicit learning with feedback. Eventually, readers reach a takeoff point at which their instruction should shift from explicit to implicit. THEY ARE STILL LEARNING PHONICS, but in the main, they are learning it by applying their deep background knowledge to learn the phonics conventions that they don’t yet know.
See my Sept 2025 blog, where I give a detailed analysis of what he said, including slides he presented at a conference in early 2026. LINK
My areas of agreement with what he said
My personal view on instruction is that we need both implicit/intrinsic and explicit, direct instruction. The roots of each method go back over 2,000 years. In all that time, both methods have coexisted without one ever replacing the other.
I am excited to see that Doctor Seidenberg sees the need for BOTH explicit and implicit instruction. I think his views closely track with mine. I totally agree with him that students need a heavy dose of phonics early on, so they can develop the in-depth knowledge of phonics they need to unlock words. I was especially happy to see his idea of “escape velocity”. This is the point where the child needs less direct instruction and is allowed to give themselves implicit instruction as they go about the business of figuring out words and discovering more about phonics. I’ll note that this idea is similar to Clay’s self-extending system. While not an exact match, it does give me hope that there really could be more common ground than we think.
My take on his key ideas from his January 2025 statement:
The statement has already been directly quoted. I glean two important things from it. First, not all students with reading problems are Dyslexic. Unfortunately, some SOR advocates are beginning to treat the term as if they were. I think the following research-based, peer-reviewed article by George Hrubry treating the term as meaning anyone with a reading problem has information in it that shows calling all children with a reading problem Dyslexic is an exceptionally bad idea LINK. Bottom line, there are more causes of reading problems than just those related to the individual child’s brain.
Please don’t take that to mean I think there really isn’t such a thing as dyslexia and some of the other conditions that make up the world of special education. I am one of the folks who has such a condition myself. My brain is wired differently. That is one of the reasons I have been able to succeed with many of the children I have worked with over the years. I view these differences as strengths, not disabilities. Other educators see things the same way. For instance, please read my blog about a mother-daughter team who wrote a resource book for parents of Dyslexic children. The daughter was Dyslexic. As the daughter grew up, the mother did many things to help her. She carefully documented what worked. After the daughter grew up and got her university degree, the mother-daughter team wrote a book for the parents of dyslexic children. Here is my interview with them about that book LINK. By the way, they have a new book out, and I’m scheduling another interview with them soon.
The second thing I’ve gleaned from Dr. Seidenberg’s statement is that people with dyslexia need a different kind of program than the general population. They do need intensive direct phonics instruction over an extended period of time. I agree with Seidenberg that a number of the “not dyslexic” children need to acquire a large batch of start-up information about Phonics. Once they have that, they should not be forced to delay their move to the next stage. However, not all children benefit from the direct approach. I wrote about one such child LINK. That child found synthetic phonics impossible, but thrived when he used analytic methods he thrived.
Areas slated for future discussion.
There are five kinds of phonics instruction, not just one. Here’s what the NRP reported
Synthetic Phonics: Explicitly teaches students to convert letters (graphemes) into sounds (phonemes) and blend them to form words.
Analytic Phonics: Teaches students to analyze letter-sound relationships in previously learned words to avoid pronouncing sounds in isolation.
Analogy Phonics: Teaches students to use parts of known words (word families/rimes) to read unfamiliar words.
Embedded Phonics: Teaches phonics skills implicitly during text reading, often incidental rather than explicit.
Phonics through Spelling: Teaches students to segment words into phonemes and select letters for those sounds.
There is such a thing as too much of a good thing, you wouldn’t just dump a ton of salt and pepper onto your steak because it would ruin your meal:
In the same way overdoing any one form of phonics instruction will have the same effect. It will ruin your teaching. That is why I believe the swinging pendulum does exist. I’ve seen it swing back and forth many times during my forty plus years in education. One side or the other tries to overdo their phonics approach and the educational methods that go with it. What exactly is the swinging pendulum swinging between? I believe it’s been swinging between overemphasis of one form of phonics over the other. Most often, that swing has been between analytic and synthetic phonics. In addition, the methods used to teach each kind of phonics (direct instruction vs. inquiry learning) were overemphasized. Since a picture is worth 1000 words. Here’s a picture of that thought.
What the folks in the great debate have been doing is engaging in binary thinking. This is especially true of folks talking on social media. It’s winner take all. Both sides of the reading pendulum have been guilty of ignoring the other side’s approaches to phonics and the teaching practices that support them. As a result, children have been hurt. One obvious example is that, for a time, some educators ignored synthetic phonics. Sometimes they even said phonics weren’t necessary at all. We all know how much that hurt dyslexic children.
I’d like to suggest that there’s another story to consider. That is what happens when the pendulum swings the other way? Analytic phonics and inquiry-based teaching methods are ignored. In the latest swing of the pendulum, they are not only being ignored but also being outlawed. Programs that include inquiry-based instruction have fallen victim to nationwide, state-by-state passage of laws that effectively outlaw all forms of phonics except synthetic phonics and essentially forbid inquiry-based classroom instruction. The result is that those children who need analytic phonics find themselves in the exact same place as dyslexic children were in all those years ago. Why are we doing that to those children? This is a question I’d like Doctor Seidenberg to consider. This is a question that I’d like state legislators to consider as well. There are ways to accomplish many of the things the legislators intend to do without banning all other forms of teaching, such as inquiry-based methods. Wording bills properly is critical to achieving that end.
IN CONCLUSION
That wraps up what I want to say about Doctor Seidenberg’s latest ideas. I agree with most of Doctor Seidenberg’s latest pronouncements. In the coming weeks, I’ll be presenting at various conferences, using the information in this blog as an important part of my upcoming presentations. I will also address other issues, such as the impact of social media discussions on people’s perceptions of reading. A recent study on that question found that the binary thinking (us vs. them) is so prevalent in much social media discussion that it has led to widespread misinformation about reading and how to teach it LINK. Binary thinking results in pendulum swings, not progress. I hope that peeking ahead will spark some interest in those future presentations. Here are the links to the two conferences: LITCON 2026, online, starts Jan 26th and SoMLA (State of Maryland Literacy Association) conference in Baltimore, Maryland, March 24th and 25th LINK (I’m proud to say I am the keynote for that one!) One of the interviews I have lined up will be interesting. It is by a mother daughter team who I first met when they published a book a couple years ago. The daughter was dyslexic. Over the years, the mom kept track of all the tools she used to help her. The daughter grew up and got her degree. Then the mother-daughter team wrote a book containing all the tools used to help the daughterLINK. Now they have completed a second book and I will be interviewing them soon. I can’t wait to hear what they will have to say.
In the meantime. Happy reading and writing. Hope to see some of you in person soon.
Dr. Sam
The guy in the middle taking flak from all sides 😊
