All of this is great info, Jim. If you plan to write more about politics, you might consider submitting some of your stories to the Medium political pub The Polis, where I've had good experiences: fast publication, responsive editors, multiple boosts.

I'd guess that if this story had run there, you'd have had double or triple the number of claps by now (although that may not be your goal).

I'm also trying to play matchmaker between you and Medium newbie Jeff Turner, also a retired prof. He has many academic books or other pubs to his credit and taught in New London, which I'd bet has a lot of Portuguese Americans (as I've told him). https://medium.com/@jscotrnr