Gratitude/3
For Jim Grote, who introduced me in my late twenties to the work of Rene Girard, whom I am still reading, especially through three recent works by Cynthia L. Haven. Girard’s ideas inspire, humble, energize,…
Category: Friends
Gratitude/1
For Dr. Erin Nealon, who introduced me to Jojo [Jonathan Richman] circa early 2000. Even right now as I write this, I’ve got That Summer Feeling… We still need more parties in the USA.
Share the Wealth with Christina Gebel: “Mantras of a Newly-Minted Moderate”
This is a tough time. As the election approaches, our collective psyche is berated with polarized messages amid widespread lack of faith in the political system of the United States. Surviving the next five months…
Andrew & Joan
Andrew Ivers continues to guide me when it comes to the delights of the Western Canon. Last week I asked him where I should start with Joan Didion and without hesitation he suggested Slouching towards…
Camerados
I swore an oath of eternal brotherhood with Yuan-ruo, and pledged him my everlasting allegiance, as an expression of my lifelong loyalty to him. Chinese people have always treated their friends with this sort of…
Share the Wealth with Chris Wallach: Love to All
When my father died in 2011, I was given the box of letters he had written to his mother and father during WWII. Albert Whitney Wallach started writing on his way to Boot Camp…
Share the Wealth with Kelsey Shaver: Dancing the In-Between
The word “liminal” comes from the Latin word for a threshold or doorway. Transitions in life are normal, but what happens when the doorway becomes prolonged, like a passage or tunnel? My name is Kelsey….
Share the Wealth with Katie Murphy: Lessons from Bees, on 2.25.2024
In 2020, when everyone was baking sourdough bread, I was signing up for an intro to beekeeping course. By April 2021, I had a hive living on the roof of my house in Washington, DC….
Remembering Our Beloved Friends and Teachers
Ann Manganaro, 1993 Mev Puleo, 1996 Mark Scheu, 2003 Dan Horkheimer, 2007 John Kavanaugh, 2012 Pete Mosher, 2013 Hedy Epstein, 2016 Ellen Rehg, 2019 Jean Abbott, 2021 Andrew Wimmer, 2024 Andrew with Aldo, photo by…
Walt, for Andrew, 1.22.24
I hear it was charged against me that I sought to destroy institutions,But really I am neither for nor against institutions, (What indeed have I in common with them? or what with the destruction of them?)Only…