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Optimism Collection | COVID | America Collection | End of Life | Feminist Collection
Optimism
Taking My Husband’s Ashes Home
A PERILOUS, NOSTALGIC, OCCASIONALLY HILARIOUS JOURNEY TO CORNWALL “Tinners’ Way” near Penzance, Cornwall (Author photo) It is entirely legal to take someone’s ashes (“cremains,” in…
Aging’s Best Kept Secret
THE ENTIRE THING COMES DOWN TO JUST ONE SINGLE WORD Photo by Joshua Woroniecki on Unsplash Enough. That’s the word — so you needn’t read any farther if you’re…
On Outliving Your Friends
How to cope with loss upon loss? What do you do about shrinking Friend Lists? (Author photo) My friend Carol (above) went to the…
COVID Collection
On Being “A Writer for The Atlantic”
How to handle seeing my own words on these pages? The bottom line? I have become officially insufferable. I mean, I’ve had stories and…
Optimism Is Still Alive and Well
Don’t just take my word for it. Here’s an expert making the case Photo by Ahmed Zayan on Unsplash If anyone’s noticed, this space has been quiet…
How to Sleep Tight, All Night
WHY IS EVERYONE (ELSE) HAVING INSOMINIA PROBLEMS? Photo by DON RANASINGHE on Unsplash What’s with all these stories about insomnia? I feel as if every time I…
America
AIDS: Victories and Sorrows
A PERSONAL STORY OF LOVE, LOSS & DISMAY ABOUT TODAY’S LEADERSHIP Photo by Everton Vila on Unsplash In the 1990s I led an HIV Support Group that…
Tips from a Master Storyteller
GEORGE SAUNDERS HAS A FEW GOOD WORDS FOR WRITERS (AND READERS) Photo by Lê Tân on Unsplash George Saunders’ interviewer led off with a semi-familiar quote: “People…
When the Glaciers Melt Away . . .
WATCHING THE PASSAGE OF TIME AT THE ENDS OF THE EARTH Svalbard 2019 (Author photo) There were polar bears — though far fewer than we’d hoped;…
End of Life
My Mom, & Likely Yours, on Civility
Some lessons never die . . . and maybe that’s not such a bad thing. Here’s to a kinder, gentler New Year Photo by A A on Unsplash My mother, Helen…
Looking Back at a Roller Coaster Year
Chainsaws, axes and masked militias must still contend with ordinary people standing up for justice Photo by Quino Al on Unsplash (As a rule I avoid talking politics…
The Huggable Christmas Tree
How I found the perfect tree, and regained the holiday spirit (Author photo) OK, it’s not your grandmother’s Christmas tree; it’s a pillow. But it was…
Feminist Collection
One Bright New Voice for Justice
My money is on today’s young people. Faced with problems local, national and global that earlier generations could barely have imagined they remain undaunted.…