Those of us involved with books – writers, editors, librarians, teachers – worry a lot about the whole reading and writing process. Will there be people in the next generation willing to read challenging literature? Will there be people in the next generation who can write articulately? I can name one for sure. She is… [Read More]
Say Thank You
May 31, 2011 By
Anyone out there who thinks saying “thank you” is a lost art should visit an elementary school – any elementary school – and give a presentation. In response to my talk to the 3rd and 4th graders at Crestdale Elementary School last week, I received the most colorful, creative, effusive thank you notes ever: I… [Read More]
A Green Truck
May 23, 2011 By
When I traveled out to Wyoming back in 1998 to do research for When Esther Morris Headed West, I was stunned when I got off the plane in Cheyenne. It was so unlike anyplace I had ever been I thought I might have landed on the moon. I walked across a brief stretch of tarmac… [Read More]
Arguing With Friends
May 19, 2011 By
I met one of my oldest friends in Athens where we both attended a year-long college program. Together we studied the architecture of the Parthenon, flew to Cairo and rode camels, and spent endless hours deciding which Greek island we would sail to next. When the year came to an end, she departed for her… [Read More]
I Don’t Talk – I Just Write
May 9, 2011 By
Here’s something I didn’t consider before I got into this writing business: As soon as you’ve published something, various groups start wanting you to talk to them. My first invitation came from one of my sons’ classroom teachers. What I (terrified!) wanted to say was: “I don’t talk – I just write.” What fell out… [Read More]
Edith Wharton…Pleased
May 2, 2011 By
She would have been pleased with the guests: aspiring high school writers who participated in the Edith Wharton Writing Contest, families and friends, published authors, and people from near and far who simply love books and reading. She would have been pleased at the world class staff that was on hand to show her house… [Read More]
Mean Girls
April 25, 2011 By
There were some mean girls in my fifth grade class but I wasn’t one of them. I was a nice girl and I had nice girl friends. Four of us nice girls had formed a group to work on a school project and we had divided up all the tasks and figured out how we… [Read More]
Translating Edith Wharton
April 18, 2011 By
The biography that first introduced me to Edith Wharton was Shari Benstock’s No Gifts From Chance (1994). From there, I worked my way back to R.W.B. Lewis’ Edith Wharton; A Biography (1975) and then forward to Hermione Lee’s Edith Wharton (2007). By the time I’d devoured these three books I was grabbing anyone I met… [Read More]
Fairy Tale
April 18, 2011 By
I taught first grade at an English-speaking school for foreigners in Seoul from 1975-1977. Korea was a poor country at that time and the walk each morning from my small, Korean-style house to Seoul Foreign School was dusty and colorless. Animal carts and bicycles pulling heavy loads shared the road with cars and it was… [Read More]
A Place to Write
April 11, 2011 By
Here’s some advice I received years ago that I’ll pass along to you: Never let yourself get tied to one specific place where you write. It’s much better to be able to write anywhere. Here’s the truth about how carefully I followed have that particular advice: My absolute favorite place to write is the Bagel… [Read More]