A poet I know sent me her latest verse.  The subject was homelessness.  I replied to her with a compliment and a link to one of my blogs on the topic. Days later, she sent me four lines that I thought were lovely. About to send her a second compliment, I paused.  A distant memory f

A gentleman at my retirement facility returned from a visit with friends in Australia recently.  One of his hosts took him to a remote part of the country where they were joined by others who were his host’s friends.  As might be expected, the conversation turned to American polit

The woman seated opposite me in the coffee shop was more than a decade younger than I was.  Long have I admired her talent and leadership in the artistic community. Naturally, I was stunned when she swallowed as if a peanut had lodged in her throat and said, “I’m going blind.”

A friend of mine took a series of tests to determine her mental decline as she aged. Happily, for her, the tests were comforting.  Even so, I admired her courage.  What she’d done was like poking a sleeping bear with a sharp stick.  If the news hadn’t been good, how would she h

(More wisdom on self-publishing) He is a veteran of self-publishing. Even when small and mid-sized presses published my novels, I read his column in the local writers’ newsletter.  His advice was useful for everyone.  Having decided to self-publish my upcoming memoir, Getting Lost

(The Wonderland of Memoir Publishing) A friend wrote to tell me his memoir had been accepted by a small press.  They’d approached him on his Facebook page.  Also from Facebook, he’s been contacted by someone who wants to develop a television series based on the memoir, and a thi

Support for Republicans in the next election is rising because the economy is down, some say.  Even women independents are leaning toward Republicans despite the party’s hostility to female rights and its aim not only to end all abortions but contraception as well. Men may have the

Those of us who take an interest in women’s issues remember Republican Congressman Todd Akin’s remark that a female rape victim rarely becomes pregnant as a result of her ordeal. How the newspapers laughed!  Scoffed! Sniggered! Yet, science agrees with Akin. Spiders, turtles, fro

He was hunched against the retirement center’s brick wall, his figure illuminated by the light from a single bulb overhead. A hoodie covered most of his face, but by his crouched position, I knew he was young. He was probably one of the homeless in the area, though I’d not seen hi