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REQUIRED READING: HEATHER COX RICHARDSON
One of the consolations of working late is ”Letters from an American,” the daily dispatch from Heather Cox Richardson that usually arrives around midnight. She doesn’t break news, she does something better: she interprets the news. And she’s better at this than anyone else now claiming pundit’s status because she’s a historian. She’s a professor of 19th century American history at Boston College. She’s published six books. She graduated from Harvard and has a Harvard Ph.D. but she writes in English. If you’re on Facebook, you can read her for free. Soon after you read a few dispatches, you’ll want to subscribe to get her column by email. A subscription costs $5 a month, and it’s worth it — this is one commenter you actually want to support.
How did Heather Cox Richardson become what the Times calls “the most successful independent journalist in America?”
After earning her B.A., Richardson stayed at Harvard to pursue an M.A. There, she studied under the late David Herbert Donald, two-time Pulitzer Prize Winner, noted Lincoln biographer, and one of the most notable historians of the American Civil War and Reconstruction period. But after her now ex-husband accepted a job in Oklahoma, she joined him, and took a break from grad school to become a waitress. “I was the only person on the floor who was not a born-again Christian,” Richardson said.
After that, she went on to teach at MIT, where she taught a wide range of history classes, including both halves of a survey of American history, the American West, American Women’s History, and, of course, the Civil War.
While at MIT, Richardson found herself in a dark microfilm room again, this time reading The New York Times for the years of the Civil War. “The story that jumped out at me was entirely different than the story I read in the textbook. I just wrote down what I saw. It was not rocket science, but what I said is that in 19th century, and possibly always, America’s always been racist, so racism is constant,” Richardson said. “You can’t use it to explain historical change. What explains historical change during the Reconstruction years … is the way white Americans in the north thought about class.”
Richardson is 58. She makes dinner most nights and eats with her partner, a lobsterman, then starts reading. She often falls asleep face down on her desk for an hour around 11 p.m. before getting back up to write.
Cautionary note: you may find yourself staying up late, just to read her.
MARK KNOPFLER: “WE CAN GET WILD”
“Listen now, right here… it’s going to be a beautiful year.” Youthful optimism, recaptured. A guitar that glides, as if on mercury. I’ll take a double shot of this calm and beautiful music. Do listen.
COULD A LIFE COACH HELP YOU?
I’ve known Karen for years, and I have seen how, at her day job, clients stop at her desk to share their problems and seek her advice. She’s also an experienced, accredited life coach, and it’s the same story: she’s a great listener and a wise counsel. If you’re in a period of transition, I commend her to you, especially if you’re female and not a kid. I’m posting this because she’d like to add a few clients. Her fees are modest, and there’s no charge for the first Zoom session. Write me at HeadButlerNYC@AOL.com, and I’ll forward your mail.
THE LAST BOOKSTORE
A Los Angeles bookstore that’s beyond idiosyncratic. And the owner’s story makes it even better. CBS visits, step right in.
WEEKEND READING: THE TWO MRS. GRENVILLES
Dominick Dunne had the misfortune to die a day after Ted Kennedy. Because he loathed the Kennedys, his family held that news back so a Kennedy wouldn’t swamp the coverage of his death. There was much I loved about Nick, and this was one: He kept score. And boy, could he get people to talk. He sat with my mother for a few minutes; a year later, a character who seemed suspiciously like me was having a tryst with a woman who also seemed spookily familiar. Simply, Nick knew stuff about people they wished he didn’t. Unlike Capote, he didn’t burn bridges with people who were very much alive. “The Two Mrs. Grenvilles” gets the world of the rich and privileged exactly, with a Capote-like narrator doubling the pleasure. To read more about a novel with a tasty scandal at its center and grab a copy on Amazon, click here.
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Previously published here and reprinted with the author’s permission.