“Nice and easy does it every time”— Sixto Rodriguez How do you write about a social gathering of any kind in a novel? It could be a meeting at work, a party with friends or even a traditional family get-together. It’s extremely hard, whether your character comes into a room or space after everyone else,… Continue Reading
“Keep your Confederate money even if it’s made of tin”—The Confederates (a popular 1950’s barbershop quartet) Some of you may have recently read an opinion piece in the NY Times written, surprisingly, by actor Tom Hanks. It expressed his outrage and concern over the omission of The Tulsa Massacre from the curriculum he’d been offered… Continue Reading
“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” –James Baldwin There are many books out now about the subject of family—against the background of the pandemic; or in other centuries; perhaps within different cultures; or at different times of one’s life. Clearly this is a structure… Continue Reading
“What is past is prologue.”—William Shakespeare That query produces either giggles or groans from the exhausted parents in charge of navigating to grandma’s house—or anywhere else that’s taken a long time. My grandmother told me that wasn’t something her parents had to deal with, because children of her day didn’t grow up with automobiles. Carriage… Continue Reading
“There are no strangers here; Only friends you haven’t yet met.”—William Butler Yeats I’ve never questioned the fact that we humans share a commonality of needs. I even accepted, as I think most of us did, that Maslow’s Hierarchy made enough sense to have value as a motivational tool. However, I did wonder about the… Continue Reading
“If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.”― Mother Teresa A friend of mine cancelled out of a zoom meeting she’d been looking forward to because of an unexpected opening in scheduling for the virus vaccine. We all understood, of course, when she said by way… Continue Reading