My grandmother, born in 1901, was afraid of water. She’d look at the ocean, a river, a lake, or even a small brook, and just think that she could never be far enough away to be safe. When she moved to Richardson, TX in the 70s, she went out of her way to purchase a … Continue reading
I had some stories read recently at the “Memory to Monologues” performance as part of the Newtown Arts Festival (www.newtownartsfestival.com). The Newtown Cultural Arts Commission (www.newtownartscommission.org) produced the event, which was the first in the history of my small hometown, Newtown, CT. The festival featured live performances, exhibitors, workshops, demonstrations, lectures, presentations, and food vendors, … Continue reading
A friend (thanks Karen!) recently loaned me a book that’s titled “Family Album, Photographs of the 1890s & 1900s.” The book was “assembled” by Mark Silber and published in 1973. The photographs were taken by Gilbert ‘Burt’ Tilton and Fred W. Record, in Buckfield, Maine at the turn of the century (1900!). Silber assembled the … Continue reading
I wanted to follow-up on my theme of authors who do (or don’t) write memoirs. I was recently introduced to three authors who DID write a memoir/autobiography. It makes sense that a published author would write a memoir. Presumably, they already know how to write. But, do we get more insight into their writing … Continue reading
There’s always the chance that an author writes a masterpiece, but where do the brilliant ideas come from? I saw a documentary about Ayn Rand a few weeks ago. Rand got the idea for “Atlas Shrugged” in a conversation that led her to think that the mind going on strike would be a good idea … Continue reading
I’ll confess that I usually switch on the television while I eat my morning cereal. Yesterday, HBO was showing the movie “Titanic” in my breakfast time slot. I’ve seen the movie a dozen times, but somehow it never gets old. There are so many aspects of the tragedy to contemplate, but the movie seems to … Continue reading
I love women’s soccer, but I usually don’t like to watch it. It just stings too much that my generation didn’t have the chance to play for a national team. Today was the exception. I finally watched…and the U.S. women won gold! I’ve been working on my book this evening and happened to read over … Continue reading
I missed my hometown library’s book sale in Newtown, Connecticut this year. 120K books for sale, and I missed it – darn! A few weeks later I happened to visit the Martin Luther King Library in San Jose, California. The downtown library of the 10th largest U.S. city is about a zillion times bigger than … Continue reading
Anderson Cooper was in Aurora, CO tonight, interviewing the families of the shooting victims. I was particularly struck by the interview with the father of one of the shooting victims. Alex Teves, 24, was killed in the shooting. Mr. Teves described his son in the most loving terms imaginable, but also threw down the gauntlet … Continue reading
I received feedback on my manuscript about a month ago, that I needed to provide a lot more background about my parents to explain why my childhood was both so fun and funny. One reviewer (thanks Jen!) suggested that I explain why my father was such a good cook and why I grew up in … Continue reading
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