Recently, a young woman on my Facebook page won a writing contest. She’s been struggling, like most writers, to get her voice heard. Winning the contest was validation of her talent. But why did she succeed now where in the past, she’d faced rejections? The difference this time, I
Sometimes, being a feminist is a pain. Especially when choosing gender pronouns. In a sentence like, A writer will have greatest success if [he? she?] avoids passive voice, which pronoun should I use? In the early days of the women’s movement, some authors switched to “she.
Recently, I was a guest on a radio program, Labor Hour, where, with co-hosts Susan Stoner and Lane Poncy, we discussed the future of the labor movement. (Click) When asked what I thought was the single most important issue facing the workplace, I answered, “robotics” and the thr
My blog of June 23, “Frail And Sensitive Little Bullies,” evoked a number of responses, particularly among Facebook readers. At issue was the concern a female student shared with her instructor about Ovid’s Metamorphoses. She was a rape victim and feared reading the descriptio
The curtain is down on Woman on the Scarlet Beast and now, after a few months of reflection, I wish to share my thoughts on the experience in the hope it may be of use to some future playwright. Woman on the Scarlet Beast is about the desire for redemption through love. It revolves
Martin Ford’s new book, Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future is likely to produce as many nightmares as Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Reviewer Edward Luce in the Financial Times describes it as an apocalyptic warning for the coming decades when “mor
J. C. Halliman cocks a doubtful eyebrow at novelist Philip Roth’s announcement he has retired from writing. (“The Monk Retires,” The Baffler, Vol. 27, pgs. 184-189.) If so, the essayist wonders, why do we keep seeing him on television or as a speaker at literary events. From t
Entrepreneur Warren Buffet, the nation’s second wealthiest man, (Click) was asked what advice he’d give to his wife about investing if he died before her. His reply was she should buy a low cost index fund, preferably from Vanguard. (Click) An Index fund buys and holds stock