I’m not saying this because I’m old.  I’m saying this because it’s true.  What’s new isn’t always what’s best.  When I’m feeling nauseous, I’d prefer a doctor’s home visit rather than sit clutching my sides in her office. She imagines care is more efficient when

Most societies link human childbirth to the spiritual. “It’s a miracle,” a new parent is likely to gasp upon seeing his or her offspring for the first time.  That sense of the divine is not lost in patriarchal societies. To downplay the woman’s role, religious myths credit th

“Video and audio are the hottest media,” writes Clive Thompson, a reporter for the tech magazine Wired. ( “Every Word You Say,” by Clive Thompson, Wired, May 2021, pg.15,)  I have to agree.  My Write Away blog is approaching its 11th anniversary and enjoys a respectable numb

Peter Susskind’s masterful novel Perfume is the story of a man, beastly in form, who concocts fragrances so intoxicating, they summon illusions. Ignore the fact that he murders beautiful young women to obtain his secret ingredients. Fantastic as it seems, the book’s association of

Browsing through my latest copy of Town And Country, I learned some facts that surprised me.  Normally, I don’t expect to be enlightened by the magazine.  Mostly, I hope to be amused. What I discovered wasn’t earth-shaking.  I’d heard about power lunches before, but I didn’

Moments exist in my life when I have stood transfixed by a work of art. A 1965 performance of Prokofiev’s ballet, Romeo and Julie in which Rudolf Nureyev and Dame Margo Fontaine danced the title roles is one example. Rembrandt’s painting, The Return of the Prodigal Son is another.

In my upcoming memoir, Getting Lost to Find Home, I describe a scene outside a Kenyan village where I was seated in a first-class train compartment opposite an Indian man. We were waiting for other passengers to board, time enough for me to take the measure of my traveling companion.

“Ready on the right.  Ready on the left. Ready on the firing line.  Commence firing.” In my early teens, as an entrant to long-range shooting competitions, I heard these words many times while I stared down the barrel of my Remington 22, the sites adjusted for wind, gravity, and

The woman seated in the retirement center’s lounge was waiting for the box lunch she’d ordered. With nothing to entertain her, she studied the carpet beneath her feet as if to find a message in the pattern. For the last year, the pandemic has forced residents to live distant from

When he heard the cost of the computer repair, the old man at the opposite end of the telephone line wept. “I’m going to have a heart attack.  I feel sick.” The scammer who was listening remained silent but others in the boiler room operation broke into laughter. They were unaw