I first heard of Josephine Baker in the 1980s, when my sister wrote a story about her in the New Haven Courier Register. Debby was a feature writer there, and her story mostly focused on the 12 children Baker had adopted from countries around the world. Josephine Baker and 10 of her 12 children on … Continue reading ‘Josephine Baker’s Last Dance’ tells an important story at the right moment
Category: books
I used to do way more book reviewing than I do these days. I also did a lot more feature writing. But that’s hardly a surprise when your job title is reporter. I still write the occasional book review at work – in fact, I have 10 to write in the next couple of weeks … Continue reading Hat tricks & ‘Palestinian Neighbors:’ a crash course in book review protocol
It’s been a long month. Two weeks ago I underwent a procedure most people call cataract surgery, which I have unilaterally nicknamed “extreme Lasik.” It has left me unsettled, crabby and neurologically unhappy. I know cataract surgery is different than Lasik. With Lasik, a medical professional reshapes your cornea using a laser. Cataract removal is when your cloudy … Continue reading Writing with one eye: diary entry of a neurologically unhappy quasi-cyclops
Before I was a librarian (by which I mean from the time I was about 3), I read a lot. As a baby journalist in the early 1990s, I started reviewing books and discovered the fun and wonder of sometimes getting paid to read. Which didn't stop me from continuing to do it for free. … Continue reading Recent reading adventures: A “Some-ary”
When The New York Times recently ran a front page story about China's effort to combat "gray rhinos" --large and obvious problems that are often ignored until they become crisis-- I was beyond excited to see one of my dearest friends getting some well-deserved props. Then I looked for the citation – because, after all, “The Gray Rhino: … Continue reading The ‘Gray Rhino’ moves into a nursing home; great experiences ensue
The best seven months of my work life so far are the ones I’ve spent as a public librarian. Here are a few of my favorite moments librarying and some pictures of the reason I now describe myself as my library’s “Display Queen.” (Yes, I did use “library” as a verb. Thank you for noticing.) … Continue reading Great moments in librarying (yes, it’s a verb now), with illustrations
It wasn’t until my niece and nephew were 10 and 8 that my life was in a logistical and financial place to take a week off and fly from Milwaukee to Edmonton to visit them. My brother-in-law, who travels a lot, was going to be gone even more often that month and my mother had mentioned … Continue reading Our childhood, the ‘do-over version:’ Brought to you by my sister and starring my niece & nephew
Last summer, I gave myself a gift. My friend Judy was offering a four-week writing workshop. I went on-line and registered. She’s one of the Writer’s lunch writers, owner of Redbird Writing Studio and the author of “Shut Up & Write.” It was everything I hoped for and then some. You can draw a straight … Continue reading Just me, at a writer’s retreat weekend, or “Three seismic paragraphs and a sandhill crane”
It’s official. As of last night, I am a beekeeper. It feels very strange to write those words. My mental image of a beekeeper used to be some sort of slightly feral sage, an interesting sort of semi-holy person standing quietly in the midst of a raging storm of flying, buzzing, stinging creatures. In other words, … Continue reading For a minute, they were the world’s tiniest motorcycle gang: Now, our new backyard crew is in the hive
I’m a little late on this week’s blog post because I’ve been too busy doing things and not busy enough writing about them. Tonight, 12 people are going to sit down at my dinner table and take a trip from Flyover Country to Egypt. Then we will flee from slavery there. I’ve been listening to … Continue reading Heading out of Egypt from Flyover Country: A pre-seder post
the sentence factory 