Nan Gorman was born in Memphis, Tenn., on St. Patrick's Day. She moved to Hazard in 1929 when her father, James Hagan, a recent medical school graduate and aspiring surgeon, went to work there.

When Peace Corps was first proposed, some in Congress assumed that only men would be volunteers.

The work of these women doesn't end when they return home from overseas, as one goal of the Peace Corps' mission is to help promote a better understanding of other cultures here in the United States.

As we celebrate Women's History Month this March, it's important to remember the key role women have played in promoting a better understanding and relationships between our country and the rest of the world.

There are many reasons to worry; the evening news is full of them.

Perhaps the original layaway angel knew from experience, or simply deduced, that people resorting to the old-fashioned installment method of layaway may be struggling financially.

Because of these layaway angels, many children did not have to wonder why Santa skipped them in 2011.

Though the National Bureau of Economic Research deemed the recession to have ended in June 2009, to most Americans, that conclusion seems not to square with reality.

Three years after the four deepest previous recessions began - in 1953, 1957, 1973 and 1981 - employment was on average 4.7% higher than the pre-recession peak.

While there have been news reports of recent college graduates living with their parents because they have been unable to find a job paying a salary sufficient to move out, their near and long-term career prospects remain far brighter than for those without a college degree.

We Americans typically are more positive about our individual futures, which we have some control over, than we are the nation's or the world's, which we see largely through the media prism.

News-free existence is not a serious proposal, but it is worth noting that while today's 24/7 media environment is wonderful in many ways, it can also be like drinking out of a fire hose and intensify a downward reinforcing cycle of despair.

The greatest job creation is driven by entrepreneurs and young businesses, so they merit special attention.

Capital available for individuals to start and expand businesses would increase with regulatory and strategic tax reforms, like reducing marginal rates, repealing the alternative minimum tax, and making the U.S. the most welcoming place for employers to relocate and create jobs.

America needs a new approach to boost the economy - one that does not doom future generations to being saddled with paying off today's federal deficits.

Policymakers, elected and unelected, need to be ever-mindful that the U.S. economy does not exist in isolation.

There should be an immediate moratorium on federal regulations that endanger jobs.

To better deal with shortages of qualified applicants now and in the future, government policy makers need to acknowledge that government job training programs could stand improvement.

To maintain their own competitiveness, workers need to attain and stay current on the qualifications needed to advance in a constantly evolving economy.

America's private sector job creators need elected leaders to lead and get out of the way.

President Obama has been admirably pro-trade in public remarks, but there has been no progress in moving any new free trade agreements to expand exports abroad and create jobs at home.

Washington's parasitic approach to the private sector must change for there to be widespread, near-term and enduring prosperity and job creation.

To foster entrepreneurship, expansion and job creation, more leaders at all levels of government have to demonstrate some understanding of what it takes to build and grow businesses in the private sector.

As tough as it is for many college graduates to get their planned careers on track, it could be worse: They could be trying to find a job without a college degree.

Most private sector workers can only dream of getting the generous lifetime pension and health benefits typical of government service.

Where public pensions are concerned, many jurisdictions are running out of road.

Taxpayers should demand that their states honestly assess public pension plans, accurately measure the assets and liabilities, and take steps to provide fair benefits to public employees that limit taxpayers' liability.

Consider trade protectionism. It's been tried - and found wanting - since the Great Depression.

Rising energy costs kill jobs and hit America's poorest the hardest.

Left-wing shareholder activists seek to leverage the mass economic power of institutional investors such as pension funds, whose managers are supposed to focus strictly on their fiduciary responsibilities to retirees.

Activist shareholder resolutions do not have to pass to succeed. The process itself can be so injurious to a company that management will cave to demands.

The Obama administration likes to say that it is 'pro-worker.' But something is amiss when its labor priorities are forcing unionization and labor contracts on American workplaces, and denying union members information on how their dues money is spent.

The Democratic Party's governing elite has long believed there is no problem that European-style policies cannot cure.

European-style interventions to which the Obama administration is inclined will not make America more competitive in the world-wide economy. Such policies will not increase growth, will not decrease unemployment, and will not increase wages for workers.

When the Smoot-Hawley bill landed on President Herbert Hoover's desk, more than 1,000 economists urged him to veto it. Tragically, the president ignored their pleas.

Americans did not suffer alone. World trade overall fell two-thirds in the first few years of the Depression.

I think being boring is just the worst sin of all time.

You cannot tell an audience a lie. They know it before you do; before it's out of your mouth, they know it's a lie.

There will always be ladies who lunch. Always. And apparently they live a long time.

I don't think there's any thrill in the world like doing work you're good at.

There's certainly nothing lasting and definite about the theater.

I always say, 'If you can't give a reason for the banana peel being in the alley, then don't have the comic slide over it.' Do you understand what I mean? First explain how the banana peel got there quickly. And then there's a reason for all the comedy.

Diabetes is a lousy, lousy disease.

I don't want to see my family all the time, and they're delighted, I'm sure, to be aware of that.

I compare Stephen Sondheim with humor, because humor is unanalyzable. You can't analyze humor. You just have to get through it.

My idea of serenity - that wonderful word that everybody's trying to get into their life - is call-waiting.

All you have to do is say, 'I'm going home,' and you're the most popular girl at the party.

I love holidays in New York. I love 'em. I want to celebrate something all the time, and New York has holidays for every day of the week, practically. I like holidays in New York City.

I just serve others through entertaining. That's when I am happy.

Dying is easy. Comedy is hard.