Georgia O’Keefe, “…laughed at the idea that anyone would care what she ate for breakfast, yet she understood that the mythology surrounding an artist’s practice was useful material.”  (“Self-Made Woman,” by Rachel Syme, New Republic, July 2017, pg. 59.)  Ernest

I’ve always loved high fashion.  I consider it an art form, though you’d never guess to look at me. In my retirement years, I might pass for a bag lady.  If I could, I’d wear pajamas all day.  Dominique Browning, former head of House and Gardens, befor

A few days ago, I left my hairdresser’s shop feeling happy. When a woman’s hair looks good, she feels good, too. Then I reached my car and discovered my keys were missing. Suddenly I felt as if I’d swallowed a live gerbil. Of course, my keys had to be near. I’d driven to the s

One of my favorite novels of all time is Patrick Süskind’s, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer. The protagonist is Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, born to a woman who was a fishmonger in 1738. Having had 6 children, all still-born, she tries to abandon the 7th but is caught and hanged for

  The month of May marks a new beginning for Just Read it and for me.  Just Read it is the 10 minute YouTube video program Susan Stoner and I have co-hosted over the last 4 years.  During each show, a Portland, Oregon author joined us to discuss a book from the New York Times B

I may have told this story before, but it bears repeating.  When I headed a teacher’s union, years ago, I defended a black member whom the school district longed to dismiss.  Her hair, greying enough to appear dusted with ash, surrounded a leathery face that seemed incapab

There’s a reason why women don’t earn as much as men, and discrimination isn’t the cause.  It stems from a female’s cultural role as a caregiver. In fact, 81 percent of people who tend to a family member in the home are women. Unsurprisingly, most of them are mothers and

When a person reaches “a certain age,” doctors begin to examine him or her with an eye to senility.   One of their tests requires a patient to draw the face of a clock and insert the required numbers.  I tend to fail because I prefer hexagonal clocks to round ones a

One of my fellow authors is scratching her head because she’s discovered her books are being sold on foreign websites.  Her discovery raises a couple of questions. How did her novels wander so far from the home? Does one get bragging rights for making the bestseller list in Tra

At 81, I now have a pair of hearing aids, and believe me, I’d prefer not to.  If I didn’t already know life moves at a frenetic pace, I would now, judging from the noise around me.  I’ve worn these expensive devices for three weeks and I’m struggling to make the adju