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
Ever get that astonished feeling that some of the simplest things come as a complete surprise? When a friend of mine offered to give me some pawpaws from her tree last fall, I hesitated; what is a pawpaw? “Haven’t you heard the children’s song ‘pickin’ up pawpaws; put em in a basket?’” my friend asked. … Continue reading
Before I rolled out of bed this morning, I quickly checked email and Facebook on my Kindle. I was surprised when a friend alerted her social followers to our local school system’s closing. A glance outside, and it was no surprise as to why–snow! I must have missed the weather report as my weekend was … 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
Okay, I’ll admit it–I’ve played the game called Candy Crush Saga. I’m not proud; the game is an addictive time-waster. The casual game was developed by a London-based company called King and launched on smartphones in 2012. The game requires the user to mix and match colored candies to earn points or bonuses. According to … 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
The Colin McEnroe NPR talk show broadcast “The Art (and Glut) of Memoir” in January 2012. The link includes a short article and the roughly 49-minute audio. The host discusses the memoirs that have made it to the bestseller list (all by celebrities), whether “memoir” is prestigious or simply a dirty word, and some writing … Continue reading
Great opinion piece by author Ken Budd in the November 30, 2013 NY Times called “When Writers Expose the Dead.” How do we handle the painful truth in our memoirs? Budd answers.
I was intrigued when “From Hula Hoops to High Fashion: G. Fox in the 1950s” appeared on Monday’s agenda for the Newtown Historical Society lecture series. G. Fox was a department store chain when I was growing up in the 70s, but seemed to disappear in the 80s by my teenage years. What was G.Fox? … Continue reading
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