WORDS THAT DIMINISH My telephone rang Friday morning and the voice at the other end was a stranger’s. A social worker from Wisconsin was calling to inform me that my stepmother, Marie Miller, had been moved into a hospice program. Years ago, when Marie had been diagnosed with Alzhe

THE FUTURE IS US Will the country be ruled by a one party system in the future?  That’s the question Thomas Frank raises in a recent essay for  “Harper’s” magazine, “It’s a Rich Man’s World.” (4/2012, pgs. 22-17) Since the Supreme Court’s decision in “

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DOUBLE, DOUBLE, TOIL WITHOUT TROUBLE — and happy Friday the 13th A friend called the other night complaining of an earache and asked if I knew any home remedies. As it was a dark and stormy night, I could understand his unwillingness to venture out in search of a drugstore. Why

WORDS FOR THE IMPATIENT Waiting to hear from a publisher after a work has been submitted is, like all forms of waiting, difficult. John Milton tried to put a good face on the experience when he wrote, “They also serve who stand and wait.” He meant well, I’m sure. But only those

DYLAN THOMAS GOT IT RIGHT Roger Rosenblatt has written two books about the death of his daughter. “Making Toast” came soon after she passed away. The writing was an exercise to expatiate his grief, but it didn’t work. Two years later, he’s written another book on loss,

TO THINE OWN SELF BE TRUE My blog post for St. Patrick’s Day celebrated the work of a friend who just published “A Celtic Yearbook.” The timing seemed right not only because the author is Irish, but also because she had suffered a couple of daunting surgeries, one after

WE, THE PARTY OF THE FIRST PART… If there is one form of writing that outshines the obscurity of academic writing, it is the legal document. Unfortunately, legal documents are everywhere. One can’t open a page on the Internet without being required to accept one contract or anot

Ever get stragled in legaleses?  Mondays blog might help. 

Ever felt strangled by legalese?  Ready Monday’s blog.