UNDER THE RED TENT I posted an article last Thursday about a proposed law in Arizona. It requires that a woman seeking medical coverage for birth control pills provide her employer with a note from her doctor verifying that the pills are prescribed for medical treatment and not for co

“Under the Red Tent,” tomorrow’s blog, examines the ever-expanding notion of religious freedom in this country. Think it’s time for a national debate and the blog attempts to start the ball rolling.  I look forward to reading your views.  If you haven’t checked into the b

THE WEARING OF THE GREEN As Saturday is St. Patrick’s day, I can think of no better way to celebrate the occasion than by honoring an Irish author who is the living spirit of Emerald Isle, at least as I imagine it. Lizzy Shannon resides in the Pacific Northwest, though she is from I

 (Robert Frost, “Mending Wall”) I know, I know. I am not the measure of all things. There is much I don’t know… more than enough to make me blush. It is also true that I haven’t followed trends in poetry for a long, long while — not since William Carlos Williams — thoug

Hi Everyone, I’m responding to queries about an e-book version of Gothic Spring, I am happy to announce it is now available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Google books and will be on Apple in a couple of days. I’ve provided the links so you can open the page and read the first ch

ON THE OTHER SIDE OF ANYTHING I came across a column written in the March edition of “Good Housekeeping” by Dominique Browning. About a year ago, I commented on her last book “Slow Love: How I Lost My Job, Put on My Pajamas, and Found Happiness.” She was once t

DOUBTS ABOUT THE MEANING OF WORDS I know it’s a big, big world out there but before the Internet, it didn’t seem that way. One had family and friends that were near but the outside world came across the threshold in the form of newspapers, literally waiting at our feet until we we

THE ARTISTRY OF MEMORY AND DISTANCE I had lunch with a friend the other day who asked about a mutual acquaintance. My reply was that he and I hadn’t talked for some time. Then I added, “We get along better when we don’t communicate.” My luncheon companion giggled at my wittici

WHAT’S YOURS IS MINE AND WHAT’S MINE IS MINE Is “Fahrenheit 451” about to become a greater reality than we imagine? Ray Bradbury’s story about a government’s attempt to destroy books may be a greater possibility than we think, according to a recent article in the F

THE MATILDA EFFECT The other day, I came across the name of a woman in the suffragist movement whom I did not know, Matilda Josyln Gage. She was more radical than her cohorts, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, because she refused to narrow her concerns to only those of wome