Marshallville Stories Now on Audible.com
Optimism
Music into Art —Art into Music
AN OLD IDEA MEETS 21ST CENTURY IMAGINATION Photo by Tengyart on Unsplash They were called the “Mighty Five.” A handful of Russian composers wanted to create a…
Whose Side Are You On?
ANTAGONISM IS MESSING WITH OUR HEADS – – & OUR PLANET Photo by Tyler Nix on Unsplash “You have to choose sides,” said my friend, on her…
Running for Life — or a Lifeline
REFLECTING ON 90 YEARS OF FLEET FEET Contemplating the Pacific before Marathon Day 2006 (Author photo) In the untroubled days of my long-ago, think…
Welcome to my digital world. I’ve been writing (for newspapers, magazines, online sites) since the 1950s, and blogging since first introduced to the idea via a paid blog for news aggregate site True/Slant in 2009. My roots are in small town Virginia and my heart is in hometown San Francisco. For more than you ever wanted to know, click on the tabs above. Current essays and hopefully enlightening &/or entertaining thoughts are under the Blog tab, or grouped in my most frequent categories below. Thanks for visiting!
Current big news: MARSHALLVILLE STORIES is HERE and available on Amazon and Audible. You can read about its genesis in this blog post. Or, here’s a 2-minute sample from the audiobook (video by Sara Vitale, narration by Katherine Conklin.)
COVID Collection
Comfort and Optimism for the Future
SMILE: THE ICE AGE IS COMING, READY OR NOT Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash At a recent dinner party in San Francisco the conversation swung from…
Inspiration for the Writing Life
A LOVE LETTER TO ANNE LAMOTT – AND KUDOS TO HER SON SAM Photo by Ian Schneider on Unsplash Retreats, workshops, conferences and literary gatherings are everywhere…
What Can I Say, After I Say I’m Sorry?
THE CASE FOR NICE OVER NASTY Photo by Kristina Paparo on Unsplash A recent Miss Manners column — you DO follow Miss Manners, don’t you? — featured her response to a Gentle…
America
Constitution & Citizenship Day!
INDEED! SEPTEMBER 17th IT IS Photo by Anthony Garand on Unsplash Want to join the celebration? It requires nothing but a pause. Constitution & Citizenship Day celebrates the United…
Grieving for Morocco
MEMORIES OF MARRAKESH AND ITS UNFORGETTABLE MEDINA I never really learned my way around. But my brief stay in the Medina — ancient center…
Super Moon, Super Blue Moon
A SUMMERTIME OF MOON WATCHING COMES TO A SPECTACULAR CLOSE The Super Blue Moon, after shining spectacularly over San Francisco Bay and the surrounding…
End of Life
Treasures With A Thousand Faces
WHAT MATTERS AFTER ALL: ALMOST A CENTURY OF FRIENDS (Written in response to a Medium.com invitation to write about one’s treasures) What would you…
Solving the Abortion Rights Problem
A SIMPLE, EFFECTIVE PLAN ACCEPTABLE TO PRO-CHOICE AND ANTI-ABORTION SIDES ALIKE Photo by James Wainscoat on Unsplash I don’t know why nobody’s thought of this before. Recent…
Should You Eat That Eel?
AND OTHER NOT-SO-DIFFICULT LIFE CHOICES Not for dinner! An eel at the Academy of Sciences aquarium in San Francisco (Author photo) The eel in…
Feminist Collection
The Price of Politics Today
WHEN DID WE LET CRUELTY GO MAINSTREAM ? KQED’s Marisa Lagos with Representative Adam Schiff, July 21 (Author photo) “I can’t stand that millions…
Watching an Urban Mall Die
Downtown America stares into a challenging, unknown future Westfield Mall’s main entrance on a Saturday afternoon To be clear: I love San Francisco. I…
The Wild Witch Speaks
OR – How I want to be remembered I come from several generations of mostly women — who may or may not be witches. The youngest…