Christmas Lists – or Not
“Here’s my list,” my husband says, thrusting a computer printout at me. “Where’s yours?” “No lists,” I say firmly.
Writing Samples Archive
Invasion of the Textbook Department
I slip into the aisles of the textbook department, shoulders hunched. I’m feel like an interloper, intent as I am on raiding the inventory meant for college undergrads. Clearly, I’m no undergraduate: that was decades ago. Yet I am drawn to this place. At least twice a year I wander its aisles, looking for what […]
Adventures in Core-Periphery Relations
My son is in love and engaged to be married. Trouble is, he wants the two families to fall in love as well.
Flash Flood
“Watch the sky,” says the man in the battered jeep, chin jerking skyward. “That canyon’s no place to be in a rain.” He switches into 4-wheel drive and guns his jeep along the sand-and-slickrock track toward the nearest paved road 10 miles away.
Meditating at High Speed
A friend of mine meditates in the classical way. For hours, she sits quietly or walks in slow and measured steps. I can’t stay still for long. But I meditate in my own way — at high speed. While my friend folds her legs under her, and follows her breath, I race around a cold […]
Self-Presentation: A Writer’s Dilemma
At a recent literary event, where I milled about with writers, editors and agents, any one of whom could help advance my career, I realized, after being asked by several people “What do you write?”, that I’d forgotten to prepare a “sound bite.”
Tip Sheet on Getting Paid
You’ll probably get a go-ahead for an article by phone. Make sure you ask — is this an assignment, or will I be writing on speculation? If it’s an assignment, you’ll want to know, before you get off the phone,
Ah Hah Moments
Early one Winter morning, needing money for a trip out of town, I drove to the nearest bank outlet. I used my card to get into the ATM area, grabbed my cash and rushed out, then realized that I’d failed to retrieve my card.
Four Reviews of Books About Racism in the U.S.
The Soiling of Old Glory: The Story of a Photograph That Shocked America, by Louis P. Masur (Bloomsbury Press, 2008) focuses on Boston Herald freelance photographer’s photos of a Black passerby, attorney Ted Landsmark, being attacked by anti-busing protesters,