The Middle 2: A Small Town Time

The Middle 2: A Small Town Time

October 18th, 2013 | General, Memory, Travel, United States, visual arts

Once upon a time there was a town called Independence, Missouri. It was famous mainly—at least to us denizens of the right and left coasts of the country—as the hometown of Harry S. “Give’em hell, Harry” Truman, 33rd President of the United States, the Vice-President...
Making Danute’s Bread

Making Danute’s Bread

August 11th, 2013 | Cooking, Kitchen and Table, General, Memory, Travel

I did it. I baked a bread that was almost like the bread Danute served with breakfast at the Nemunas Tour guesthouse in Kaunas, Lithuania: dense, sweet, nutty with seeds and whole grains, crunchy of crust. I have pined for good Lithuanian bread from the day we got...
Art and Artist-Assisted Suicide

Art and Artist-Assisted Suicide

May 14th, 2013 | General, Memory, Popular Culture, visual arts

There was an interesting piece in The New York Times this morning. Under the headline “An Artwork Turns to Mush, All According to Plan,” William Grimes described sculptor James Grashow’s desire to be the “architect” of his own work’s demise. In December 2006,...

Wrought with Steadfast Will

April 18th, 2013 | Education, Friends, General, Memory, Time Passes, Women

I read the new history of my school, Emma Willard School in Troy, New York and paid particular attention to the summary of my own era within those “grey walls protecting.” I am struck by the paradox of the book’s enveloping familiarity and its utter strangeness. Was...