I suppose that everyone has a few “a ha!” moments in the research of their family history. One such surprise occurred when my father related that German POWs had worked on his U.S. Army base as he trained on B-17s during World War II. While I’ve related this story in my book, it still shocks me … Continue reading
I have a friend who told me once that fish don’t remember anything for more than a few seconds, which in his mind explained the miracle of ceramic castles in a fishbowl. A fish could swim past the unusual object and experience the joy of “oh look, there’s a castle!” before swimming to the edge … Continue reading
The snow is finally melting as New England heads for the mud season. What do you call a day with rain, fog, and melting snow? My 89-year old father from Stratford, CT, recently referred to the weather as “roomy moo!” He was so comfortable with his pronoucement that I was a little stunned I had … Continue reading
A few days ago my 88-year father, the brilliant cook in the family, started cooking for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day dinners. I’ve heard “stay out of the kitchen,” since I was a child. Dad simply prefers to work alone and has never desired to reveal his culinary secrets. Spices are swiped on and off … Continue reading
When I wrote about my mother’s family in Hatched in Newtown, I included a lot about her oldest brother, Ernest Kelley. Ernest graduated from high school in San Antonio, Texas, in 1938. His father had wanted him to drop out for many years to get a job and earn money. It was only due to … Continue reading
Originally posted on Cate Macabe:
Diana Jackson at A Selection of Reflections was kind enough to post an article I wrote about how I put This New Mountain together (and she gave it a great title, too). Visit her site to read “Writing Readable and Compelling Memoir.” If you’re looking for places to glean great writing advice…
Anyone read his/her state’s title?
As I dug through the family albums to find pictures for Hatched in Newtown, it was fun to see pictures that I didn’t remember. Had I seen the pictures before and forgotten them or had I uncovered them for the first time in my adult life? There is no way to know for sure, but … Continue reading
Dani Shapiro’s best-selling memoir “Slow Motion” was published by Random House in 1998. I have not read the book (yet!), but it appears to be a woman’s awakening after a terrible car crash. The book was reviewed by the New York Times during the same year in an article titled “Wake-up Call.” Two years later … Continue reading
My mother, who had a Ph.D. in English linguistics, used to say that she listened to a linguist on the radio pre-World War II. The host of the show would have callers recite a list of words and guess their U.S. geographic origin based on dialect. Apparently, the man was quite accurate and the show … Continue reading
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