by Sidney S. Stark “Please tell me when it will be done so I can manage expectations.” My colleague delivered this request via email but her query vibrated with inherent tension and the tone was clear. “The best way to do that is not to have any expectations.” I answered honestly although looking back on… Continue Reading
The Heart at the Center
“Nana, Nana,” I cried as I reached the top of the stairs,“ will you make my hair into a biscuit?” On that hot June morning, at five years old, I had been outside playing in my grandmother’s large backyard. Bordered by a privet hedge, her yard was my world as I explored the bursting rosebuds… Continue Reading
The Loneliness Factor
by Sidney S. Stark “It’s such a lonely life in some ways…being a writer…and you do this thing in a room by yourself for a long time…and you might be the only person who cares that you do it.” This reflective, almost wistful statement was offered by Melissa Bank, an author who teaches a fiction… Continue Reading
The Wild West
by Sidney S. Stark My father always burst through the front door of our apartment when he came home seemingly unaided by human effort. I’m sure it had something to do with the spirit of adventure and cosmic energy that hovered around Daddy wherever he went. He had an air about him that convinced you… Continue Reading
Lifelong Learning
by Sidney S. Stark The phrase came into focus for me at my first college graduation. That matriculation was a two year foray to acquire an associate’s degree. In 1963 two years seemed like more than enough of a commitment as I was burned out from my academically competitive high school years. The reduced timeframe… Continue Reading
Who is Santa Claus?
by Sidney S. Stark Even though I grew up in New York, most of my Christmases when I was a child were spent out of the city. You might well think my parents were rebelling against the commercialism and hectic pace of the season in a big metropolis; not so. Actually, my father had an… Continue Reading