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
When I received an email from Suzanne Davenport in early summer 2013 that described her ambitious project to compile a book based on how Newtowners felt after 12/14, I admired her courage. Suzanne and I met as volunteers in the Newtown Volunteer Task Force Call Center where we received and returned phone calls and emails … Continue reading
Having moved from California back to my hometown of Newtown, CT, a few months ago, I find myself writing a few more updates to friends than usual in the form of personal emails or Facebook posts. My California friends want to know what I’m doing and it’s hard to connect regularly by phone when there … Continue reading
I’m always curious about what high school kids are asked to read in their English classes these days. I’ve had a few conversations with friends about we read back in the 1980s. Call me a packrat, but I found my own reading lists from my 9th and 10th grades. I only have the outside reading … Continue reading
“Nothing remains the same. When a man goes back to look at the house of his childhood, it has always shrunk: there is no instance of such a house being as big as the picture in memory and imagination for.” — Mark Twain As I passed through Hannibal, Missouri, on my recent cross-country trip, I … Continue reading
20+ years ago, I was required to read “The Clockwork Orange” by Anthony Burgess for a college English class. English was my favorite subject and I loved to read, but I wasn’t thrilled about the assignment for a very specific reason. I had read the book before. With so much to read in the world, … Continue reading
I listened intently as the experts shared their knowledge on television about guns and mental illness in the aftermath of the December 14 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary. But, when an expert on mass shootings declared that an individual was less likely to become a victim of a mass shooting than a victim of 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
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
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