I sat down to brunch with friends, recently, a long overdue pleasure. As they were friends, they asked how my memoir was progressing. “Oh,” I  replied, the genre isn’t called a memoir anymore.  It’s referred to as “literary nonfiction.” “What’s the difference?” The

 No doubt about it, a star is born.  Recently, during a Congressional hearing, Representative Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez “played a game,” with leaders of agencies that serve as government watchdogs.  Common Cause was among them.  The topic was about elected officials and the numb

I’ve been a card-carrying member of the Labor Movement of a long, long time.  The organization, however, can be doctrinaire and retrograde in its thinking.  Unlike my brothers and sister, for example, I supported the NAFTA treaty.   Yes, I acknowledged there’d be a disruption

Yasmin Nair, in “Rights Make Might,” gives us a damning picture of Hillary Clinton, the woman who  almost became the 45th U. S. president. (Baffler, Winter 16, No. 33, pgs. 37- 48.) One complaint the author levels is Hillary’s support for her husband’s welfare reforms during

I know.  This is election day and we’ve got enough to worry about. But, I can’t help myself.  You need to know we have a seaweed problem.  We’re losing this natural habitat to harvesters who can’t keep up with international demand.   You and I may see seaweed as gunk we h

After my blog of May 19, 2016 in support of Hillary Clinton’s bid for the presidency, a reader sent me a column by Gail Collins that appeared in the New York Times. (Click)  The gist of her remarks were a warning to the presumptive Democratic candidate that she avoid wrapping her i

“The book costs $129.” A clerk at the local bookstore looked at me with eyebrows lifted. He could probably tell by my shocked expression the price wasn’t what I’d expected. “What?”I resisted. “Are the pages made of gold leaf?”  The young man laughed. “It’s a textb