WORDS

This is where you will find short stories, personal essays, and guest posts.  Family and friends and the ordinary business of life are the inspiration for this section.

The 1918 Pandemic And Willa Cather’s One Of Ours

The 1918 Pandemic And Willa Cather’s One Of Ours

 Previously Discussed Literature On The 1918 PandemicKatherine Anne Porter:  Pale Horse, Pale RiderWilliam Maxwell:  They Came Like Swallows This grey wall, unshaken, mighty, was the end of the long preparation, as it was the end of the sea. It was the reason for...

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William Maxwell’s They Came Like Swallows

William Maxwell’s They Came Like Swallows

 To deal with pandemics, read about them.  That’s my advice.The 1918 pandemic did not inspire much literature of its own.  World War I sucked up all the paper and ink with such greats as Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet On The Western Front (1928) and Hemingway’s...

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Some Personal Thoughts On Ali Smith’s Seasonal Quartet

Some Personal Thoughts On Ali Smith’s Seasonal Quartet

 “Cruelty to animals will get you punished, but cruelty to humans will get you promoted.”  (as one of Brit's friends said to her at the immigrant detention center where she worked in Ali Smith's SPRING) In a previous blog I explored Ali Smith’s Autumn, the first of...

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Guest Post: Origami Place by Hayden Jones

Guest Post: Origami Place by Hayden Jones

 Origami Placeby Hayden Jones In the origami place,origami pelicans soar through the sky.In the origami place,stars shine bright.In the origami place,origami boats sail through the ocean.In the origami place,you can stop and smell the origami tulips.In the origami...

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Persimmons and Mezcal

Persimmons and Mezcal

 The cold, the winter, the holidays—lazy.  What better time to honor others in the blogosphere than when you are too lazy to write your own blog.  This blog was inspired by an Instagram post from my friends at Mezcalistas, Baking with Mezcal.  Today’s experiment in...

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Bacalao, Christmas, Zhuatanejo and Behind the Locked Door

Bacalao, Christmas, Zhuatanejo and Behind the Locked Door

 In the acknowledgements to my novel Behind the Locked Door I write:  This book had a long gestation period. The idea first occurred to me in 1972, and I began to research in earnest in December of 2010. I first put pen to paper in Zihuatanejo, Mexico, in January...

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Behind The Locked Door – 3 – Quotes and Details

Behind The Locked Door – 3 – Quotes and Details

 Previously:Behind the Locked Door - 1Behind the Locked Door - 2 - Book Notes As we wait for the final steps in the publication of Behind The Locked Door, we offer these quotations from the book.  There are no pictures in the book but we have paired the quotations...

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Behind the Locked Door – 2 – Book Notes

Behind the Locked Door – 2 – Book Notes

 Comment:The book is about my older brother (Errol) who died of colon cancer at 33. I know, it sounds gruesome, and it is, but it’s also beautiful. I’ve poured my heart and head into every chapter, every word. The competent Cypress House staff informs me that I should...

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Behind The Locked Door – 1

Behind The Locked Door – 1

 Keep your eye on this space.  We are hoping our novel will be out by year end.  As we wait, we will be posting excerpts, thoughts and pictures.  There are no pictures in the book.  These blogs will provide some additional historical perspective to hopefully induce...

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Arguing With Myself

Arguing With Myself

 The spiritual view is that man is divine in origin with an immortal soul. The materialist view is that man is an evanescent accident with no moral nature except that created in him by his experience and culture. As mortal human beings, we have no way o’ knowing which...

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Ignorance, Apathy and More

Ignorance, Apathy and More

 As the joke goes:              Q:  What is the difference between ignorance and apathy?             A:  I don’t know and I don’t care. What are we to make of this in today’s political environment?  The First Lady wears a jacket that conspicuously says:  “I don’t...

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Pandora Box Complex

Pandora Box Complex

 I have been called a Luddite. I welcome it. Do you know what a Luddite is? A person who hates newfangled contraptions…  Electronic communities build nothing. You wind up with nothing. We are dancing animals. How beautiful it is to get up and go out and do something....

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