That fiction can serve truth as well as history is my long-held belief, though I base that judgment on intuition rather than science. Understandably, when I came across an article that upheld that belief, I made note of it. The author, Esther Jones of Clark University, cited a 2016 st

I never cried for my mother when she died, nor am I inclined to do so now, three months later.  At first, I thought my behavior peculiar.  A counselor assured me it wasn’t. “Some people need to hold on to their grief.  You’ll cry when you’re ready.” As the weeks pass,  I

When I was in college in the 1950s, my philosophy professor spent his summers at White Sands, New Mexico among a coven of NSA scientists.  When I asked how much he knew about physics, he laughed and said,  “Almost nothing.” He went on to explain his job at NSA was to visit the l

Waiting for Gadot, a play about waiting and written by Samuel Beckett, had its one-night performance at San Quentin in 1957. When it ended, the inmates were reported to have given the production a standing ovation. Few know better about waiting than prisoners, their lives on hold, and

Is the Covid-19 virus masculine or feminine?  That’s a conundrum the Académie Française settled recently. The decision fell to the feminine, “la.” How they drew this conclusion would be an interesting discussion to hear. No matter. The decision is final.  The pandemic, as I�

“Sorry I didn’t respond to your email sooner. I’m recovering from a mild stroke.”  The voice at the other end of the telephone belonged to a writer whose play-reading I’m producing. Naturally, I gasped to hear his news. Already, he’d faced so many obstacles in his life it

Democracy can’t be left in the hands of the rich, I’ve decided.  No, I’m not a socialist or communist or any kind of “ist.” But this pandemic has demonstrated with needle-sharp clarity that Scott Fitzgerald was right.  “The rich don’t think like us.” If anything, he

While thumbing through a magazine, I came across writer Anne Tyler’s confession that she feared to concentrate upon a bad idea because it might come about. She holds herself responsible for the coronavirus pandemic, in part, because for some time she’d been praying for an excuse t

Twice each day while I was quarantined because a neighbor was awaiting coronavirus test results, a nurse came to my apartment to take my temperature. One morning, I forgot to put in my hearing aids, so I didn’t respond to her knock until she pounded on the door like a lumberjack. Wh

Confronted by an avalanche, the best a person can do is run like hell. The current pandemic feels like it may bury us but instead of running, we are advised to shelter in place. So, today I’ve decided to spend time reflecting upon some curious aspects of human society.  No small ta