Normally, I don’t post petitions on my Facebook page. People know how to find causes they support without my help. But recently, I made an exception: a petition to Congress to pass the unemployment extension. As a child, I remember how important unemployment checks were to my mother
In my blog of January 20, I speculated on the pluses and minuses of attempting to preserve every little jot and squiggle we have decided to honor as great art. If Shakespeare had been denied his hour to strut and fret upon the stage, I wrote, would the stars twinkle less brightly? The
Susan Stoner, author of the Sage Adair Historical Mystery Series and I were browsing through in a large, three-storied bookstore the other day when suddenly my friend paused and, looking down the aisle at the floor to ceiling shelves, uttered a deep sigh. “Gosh, there are a lot of b
Ever wonder where all the masterminds of the mortgage and derivative debacle have gone? According to Mother Jones, they’re lurking in the electric utility business. (“Out Front, Electric Shadyland,” by Stephanie Mencimer, Mother Jones, January/February, 2014 pgs. 5-10.) Under ne
A friend sent me an announcement for a memoir contest sponsored by the Huffington Post and AOL. Top prize is a book contract with a major publishing house and $5,000. My friend knew I’d been thinking of writing a memoir about my four years abroad, first in England and Europe and the
While Edward Snowden cools his heels in the Russian winter, the world continues its heated debate on the good or ill he accomplished when he released volumes of information about NSA’s data mining. Few in this country are coming to the young man’s defense, though foreign leaders h
“Our doctor says we’ve become alcoholics.” The man opposite me took hold of his wife’s hand as a sign of mutual support while I sat stunned, staring at the couple I’d known since college. I admit, I took umbrage on behalf of my friends because they were the most everyday peo
On Facebook I’ve connected with a few students from India, most of them studying to be engineers. When they write, they address me as “mam,” and their concerns are almost exclusively about girls. Most recently, one of them contacted me for advice. He’s in love with a young wom