A MIND OF ONE’S OWN Virginia Woolf’s collection of essays, “A Room of One’s Own,” attempts to explain why no woman writer has lived who is comparable to Shakespeare. Her explanation is that throughout history women have been under educated and dependent upon men for

MIDNIGHT THOUGHTS ON THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL One of my favorite stories is Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novella, “Rappaccini’s Daughter.”  It is set in medieval Padua where a student, Giovanni Guasconti, comes to study at the University. From his rooms, he overlooks a be

OF GODS AND RELICS Years ago, I watched a television program where a man claimed he could recognize any prominent author in western culture simply by the writing style.  The premise was that every author had a “voice” as unique as a thumb print. I suppose, the same could be said

SELFISHNESS AS A VIRTUE I wrote a blog post a while back (July 22) about a woman who had relied heavily upon the support of her husband and came to regret it. A reader responded that the woman had lived a selfish life. The flaw is common. I can hardly think of a work in literature tha

THE LESSON OF OLD AGE John Steinbeck’s segment “The Leader of the People” from his novella “The Red Pony” introduces Jody, a boy of 10, to his maternal grandfather who has come for a visit. Behind his back, Jody’s father complains the old man does nothing but repea

COTTON CANDY DREAMS CAN CAUSE A HANGOVER It’s tough being a girl, I know that. Debora Tolman, a professor at Hunter College and author of “Dilemmas of Desire: Teenage Girls talk About Sexuality,” recently commented on the impact of toddler pageants on the rise in America. Accord

THE COMRADERIE OF THE SHORT DISTANCE WALKER There are many books extolling the merits of walking. Andrew Weil and Mark Fenton co-authored one called “Walking” and I even found “Walking for Dummies.” I wasn’t tempted to buy the latter as I’ve never been smar

THOUGHTS ON ALPHABET SOUP Barbara G. Walker, author of “The Woman’s Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets” (1983) has written a new book entitled “Man Made God.” It examines the charges raised against women by the three major religions. Apparently, the prejudices

YOU WIN SOME AND YOU LOSE SOME David McCullough, author, historian and lecturer has a new book out which chronicles the earlier migration of Americans to Paris after World War I. Among the group were artists, industrialists and entrepreneurs — not unlike a later migration that i

CREATIVITY AND THE COSMOS A friend recently wondered if I plotted my writing before I sat down to work. In other words, he was asking, “Do you know where you’re going before you get there?”  I admit when I taught expository writing, I required students to write from an outline