Silvio Laccetti writes with passion, but more important, he writes with authority about topics that matter. You want opinion writers to know their stuff. Silvio knows his stuff.

Silvio Laccetti may be a professor, but he doesn't write like one, and that's his strength. He uses simple sentences and descriptive words. He proves his points with concrete examples. He is a terrific storyteller; when I read his op-ed piece on how less could be more at Christmas, I couldn't put it down — I desperately needed to know where he was taking me. He has a real sense for what concerns readers, whether it's the empty handicapped parking spaces they pass on their way into the mall or the violent video games entertaining their kids. There is nothing esoteric about his work. And, like a good preacher, Laccetti comes up with ideas readers can carry home. Writing about video games, he proposes designing quests that encourage strategic thinking toward moral, just and peaceful ends through concepts such as mutual understanding, negotiation, compromise and peacemaking.... Say, how about developing an internet game called "Peace in the Middle East?" I don't know if anyone's done that, but I know it's a great idea, more relevant now than when the (Peoria, Ill.) Journal Star published it eight years ago. When I was reading the many potential op-ed pieces that passed through my hands each week, few made me ignore the ringing phone the way Silvio Laccetti's did. I figured our readers would do likewise.

Silvio Laccetti's essays display thoughtful analysis, wide-ranging intellectual curiosity and a sure-handed writing style. And buttressing each essay is an admirable decency of spirit. In sum, a superb thinker, skilled writer, astute observer.

Silvio Laccetti's work for The Providence Journal over the years was always rigorously reported and clearly - often charmingly - written. He would take a subject of national interest - a public-policy issue or simply a situation - and give it a regional spin without losing any of its broader, even universal, importance. He is an elegant essayist. America needs more writers like Silvio Laccetti!

You can count on Silvio Laccetti to find an intriguing perspective in almost any event, large or small, and analyzing it with wit, insight and historical command. His carefully crafted articles inform, entertain and surprise.

Most columnists are carried along by the tide of current events, offering their "take" from some tenuous vantage point, usually colored by class, politics and economic interests. Silvio Laccetti's work, by pleasant contrast, is grounded in a deep knowledge of history and solid grasp of human nature. Whether his topic is the Middle East in turmoil, the meaning of citizenship or the intricacies of the financial world, he looks beyond the obvious and short-term. In a genial, nonpartisan, yet passionate voice, he aims for a truer understanding of our world than the mass media can offer. Agree or disagree as you will, but make no mistake: Laccetti has done his homework.