“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.” — Mark Twain So I’ve been mulling a fix for our political situation. So what I propose is this: We’ll call it The Big Shuffle*. Every five years, people will be reassigned new Read more…
There’s no equivalent to Anne Shirley in literature for boys. Harry Potter has not yet stood the test of time, and anyway, there are as many girls as boys who love Harry. Maybe Call of the Wild? Treasure Island? Kim? But do boys even read those books anymore? And do men remember the legendary characters of their childhood with the same ferocity and protection that women remember Anne? Anne Shirley is a force unto herself, Read more…
I walked in Gordath Wood on Wednesday. Went right by the morrim and everything. Sometimes I’m taken by surprise by how much these Connecticut woods informed my first novel. It’s like visiting a movie set. Oh, there’s the ledge Lynn tumbles down. Oh, there’s the horse farm where the book begins. Oh, there’s the mysterious Balanced Rock in North Salem, NY, which plays an integral role in the novel. Lynn peered into the woods, sharply Read more…