I live in one of the fifteen states where Brood X (that’s Roman numeral X), the largest brood of periodical cicadas, has graced us with its presence this summer. Following a weirdly accurate inner clock, these insects emerge from the soil every seventeen years, live it up for maybe four to six weeks, and then…
No Business Like Show Business
My father was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1928. His was not the “typical” childhood: he spent the 1930s and ’40s performing on radio and in the Yiddish theater, where divas starred in ingenue roles even after their daughters were old enough to play their mothers, and the actual words of the script were…
The Public Nature of Private Journals
(A version of this post was originally published on Nov. 13, 2013 on the Late Last Night Books blog.) I write journals. Year after year, the stacks of filled notebooks on my closet shelf grow taller, leaning into each other until I’m forced to start another pile. This stash doesn’t even include my high school…
Victoria Woodhull as Muse
Hillary Clinton’s historic turn as first woman presidential nominee of a major U.S. political party has sparked renewed interest in Victoria Claflin Woodhull. Victoria who? Back in 1872, when Victoria Woodhull became the first woman to run for President of the United States, nobody would have asked that question. Considered a visionary by some, a…
Who Tells Your Story?
My husband’s godmother passed away last night at the age of 100, and attention should be paid. Here are some facts: Madeleine Alena Hebert entered this world on August 22, 1915, in Montpelier, VT. She was number 10 of 13 children born to Alexandre and Alouisia Berube Hebert. She served in the WAC for three…
