I’m friends with a couple about to set off for Paris for their first visit. How I envy them.  My upcoming memoir looks back fondly to my first days in Paris.  If there is magic in the world, it exists there.   Though the man and wife who are about to fly there  are retired, I’

On several occasions, I’ve blogged about technological advances in robotics and how androids could disrupt our society. What I hadn’t considered was the way large tech companies could become a threat in themselves.  I’m talking about monopolies.  Not the traditional kind, like

I’ve never been comfortable with the designation, “Hispanic.”  I see myself as being of Latin origin, a descendent of those who spoke a romance language — in my case, Spanish rather than French or Italian.  I have no knowledge of any language known as “Hispanic.”  H

My visit with my former student from South Africa was memorable but all too brief.  We had a wonderful time exploring Portland and, as the saying goes, “by my student I was taught.” Kitty is a travel agent in Cape Town, used to finding her way in foreign places.  So, when I prop

 If writers have one reason to rejoice in Donald Trump’s victory over Hillary Clinton in the 2016 US Presidential election, it’s that he’s revived the book publishing business.  That’s Alex Sheppard’s opinion. (“It Takes a Pillage,” by Alex Sheppard, New Republic, Aug/

When they return from a vacation, I suspect my readers have an experience similar to mine.  I’m surprised the hurley burly of the everyday world has changed not a whit.  Old political feuds continue.  North Korea has fired another rocket. China remains complacent.  Russian hacke

My mother turned 98 in February. She does pretty well for her age but of late, I’ve noticed changes. She has trouble finding words to express herself and little skills, like knowing how to use a knife and fork, sometimes escapes her. When I intervene by filling in the missing word o

When I negotiated for a teachers’ union, years ago, I avoided the trap of arguing with School Board members about where to find money for health care or salary adjustments.  I insisted the district reset its priorities.  That’s why I turn a deaf ear when Republicans say there is

” …there are experts and then there are experts, and they come in varying degrees of credibility.” So writes Milton Esterow about keepers of the canon in the  art world, particularly those devoted to Pablo Picasso’s contemporary, Amedeo Modigliani. (“The Modigliani Code