The Bach family’s fascination with, and seminal contributions to, the flute repertoire orbits around the musical centers of Dresden and Berlin. It was in these capital cities of Saxony and Prussia respectively that Germany’s greatest…
Posts published in November 2013
In those long ago days when I was invited to read from my novels in bookstores and libraries, and for college audiences and writers groups, I was frequently asked if I had any helpful advice for people who wanted to become writers and make their livings from writing.
From her obituaries, and the serious critical assessments of her work, I hardly recognize the Doris Lessing I knew. I don’t fault the obit writers (I used to be one) or critics and admirers for…
Friday, November 22, was going to be my last day of civilian employment in Manhattan, barring a miracle. I was supposed to start basic training at Fort Polk, Louisiana, on Sunday the 24th. I had…
WE'VE POSTED the obligatory county press release “honoring” Beltrami with its usual rote “will be missed” (Hamburg), and “he will be greatly missed.” (CEO Angelo). Hamburg served as a supervisor for one-term while Beltrami was…
In the predawn hours of Monday September 16th of this environmentally catastrophic year, Peggy Backup, 64, of Willits, a former plant pathology researcher at UC Davis, and Lucy Neely, 27, an organic gardener from Ukiah,…
On August 9, 1994, Patricia Ruth Bernard Grim jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge. Doesn't that bother you? What a strange word that is... bother. But still I can't think of another word to describe…