I love Russian literature.  Much of it is pessimistic, of course.  If a bright future lies ahead, it will come in another lifetime.  Certainly, that’s the view of Anton Chekhov. (Click) At the very least, I find this point of view eccentric.  A Russian countess in Dostoevsky’s

When I turned 39, I received my first letter from AARP.  Looking down at the envelope, I was stunned.  Me?  Middle Aged?  There’d been a mistake. If my response seemed melodramatic, then, imagine how I reacted when a crematorium invited me to lunch, recently. My heart stopped. �

In 1961, in his farewell address to the nation as our 34th President, Dwight Eisenhower warned that “we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex.” (Click)  His words are often repeated, a reminder

Despite the high critical praise he receives, I’ve always felt Ernest Hemingway was an overrated writer.  Maybe his chauvinistic sweat offends me.  That shouldn’t be a reason for shunning his art, of course, but it does explain why his female characters are so flat and docile &#

The saying is, “opposites attract.”  It’s true for me when I meet someone who is talented yet self-effacing.  By contrast, I’m all bangles, spangles and show-biz beads.  Lemme hear that roar!  I suppose growing up as an only child of divorced parents and living in poverty

Despite what members of the alt-right might believe, I’ve always known diversity makes America great.  People come to our country to pursue their dreams and we, also immigrants,  have learned to accommodate the different lifestyles and views they bring.  In periods of economic or

Sometimes, in the late afternoons, a woman comes down from the second floor of the retirement center to sit in our small café. She always orders a glass of white wine.  With the chilled liquid in front of her,  she gazes into the tall trees that sway outside the picture windows. 

Recently, I wrote a blog that expressed a belief the nation would rebound from its current nationalist contraction and emerge as a more inclusive society. (Click)   During the interim, the danger is that we lose faith in our nation and its institutions.  My hope for the future may

I don’t know whether Barbara Ehrenreich is entirely sincere in her new book, Natural Causes.   Gabriel Winant thinks she is and argues the author’s intent is to “refute the idea that it’s possible to control the course and shape of one’s biology or emotional life…”

In True Believer, Eri Hoffer writes this about cataclysmic times and the wisdom of stepping outside a rising tide. When conditions are not ripe, the potential leader, no matter how gifted, and his holy cause, no matter how potent, remain without a following…  There is a period of w