— Almost a decade ago, I told my mother how I’d begin her eulogy: “Does anyone need any wooden hangers?” That was a metaphor. My mother was a collector, not a hoarder. The vicuña coat she bought at Orbach’s in 1958 has lived, ever since, on a wooden hanger in a special bag in her…
A Great Singer Lived Quietly on an Island You Almost Surely Have Not Visited
It was Cesaria Evora’s fate to be born there.
It was Cesaria Evora’s fate to be born there.
Father’s Day: a Gift List
Plus, what I want and what I'm giving.
— Buy it on Amazon. I don’t want a single thing. Not in a country that had one child in six going hungry last year and has one in four kids inadequately fed this year. Not with the government doing everything possible to limit benefits to the needy. In honor of my brother, a remarkable…
In 1960, John Steinbeck Asked: ‘What are Americans Like Today?’
What he learned became "Travels with Charley"
— Buy it on Amazon. GUEST BUTLER JULIA PIZZOLATO grew up in the heart of Texas and is a wannabe New Yorker currently living in Palm Springs, California. She gave up television for good 2 years ago and is currently reading the books she’s been hoarding for years. She offers psychology-based ad agency services when…
‘Sophie’s Choice’ in 2020: ‘Work and Very Possibly Die, Don’t Work and Your Family Starves’
— In 1979, William Styron wrote a novel about three people living in a Brooklyn boarding house. One is Sophie Zawistowski, who is Polish, Catholic, beautiful. And haunted. On the night she arrived at Auschwitz, a camp doctor gave her a terrible choice: one of her two children would die immediately by gassing, one would…
Surviving the Pandemic: Do You Have Plague Fatigue? Are You Irritated? Do You Suffer From ‘Tone?’ (I Do)
— My parents were screamers, so it’s no surprise I do everything I can to avoid situations where someone is yelling. And I try never to be the one who’s raised his voice. Except, apparently, yesterday. It started in the morning, when a friend, a fellow writer, sent me the video of the English doctor…
Surviving the Pandemic: ‘Who Was That Masked Man?’ (Hint: No Longer the Lone Ranger)
— A million years ago, I wrote a novel with a Mafia guy. It was fascinating to hear how he put together the largest cash burglary in the history of Chicago, and how he got arrested for a zillion felonies, and how everyone in his crew was convicted. But not Luigi — he’d built his…
Surviving the Pandemic: We’re Wearing Masks… but the Masks Are Coming Off
— Pope Francis about to start extraordinary prayer in empty St. Peter’s Square for those suffering from the virus, their families and medical workers. That’s Rome. Here’s what’s happening at Mt. Sinai West Hospital. 10th Avenue and 59th Street, 4.8 miles from my apartment. Please spend 2 minutes with Diana Torres, a nurse there: “There’s…
Surviving the Pandemic: ‘No One Can Look Long at the Sun or Death.’
— La Rochefoucauld: “Le soleil ni la mort ne peuvent se regarder en face.” (“No one can look long at the sun or death.”) That is, however, exactly what I have been doing — as have many of you — for two weeks now. It’s good to have a purpose and feel I’m being useful,…
Surviving the Pandemic: So We’re on Our Own. What to Do?
Audrey Hepburn: "To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow."
Audrey Hepburn: “To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.”
Surviving the Pandemic: Subjects to Change, Cheap Shots From the Cheap Seats, Are Snakes Necessary? and More
— Buy it on Amazon. PROVERBS 4:23 “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” In the summer, you can drive down Fifth Avenue from the 90s to the 70s and not see a light on in an apartment building — the rich are gone. It’s almost like that now.…
Surviving the Pandemic: Keep Your Head on Straight
Healing your head.
Healing your head.
In an Ugly Season, a Good Story About a Good Woman
— Buy it on Amazon. I watched a man read words from a teleprompter that he did not feel to reassure people he does not love, and when he was finished, I thought it would be nice to meet a 100% decent person — yes, a character in a novel, but so well drawn she…
Ugly and Noisy and Scary Out There. Peaceful and Beautiful in Here.
Beethoven Violin Concerto
— Buy it on Amazon. Franz Clement may not have been as great a violinist as Ludwig van Beethoven was a composer, but he was quite the celebrity in 19th century Vienna. He was director of the theater where Beethoven had premiered “Fidelio.” As a composer, he had some success. And as a former prodigy…
Imagine You’re Quarantined for 14 Days. What Would You Get to Prevent Boredom? I’d Get This.
“Borgen” is shorthand for “the castle,” the home of the Danish Parliament and the government’s executive offices.
“Borgen” is shorthand for “the castle,” the home of the Danish Parliament and the government’s executive offices.
You May Never Get to See This Great New Film
(Why? Click) Irony: You can read the book.
(Why? Click) Irony: You can read the book.