Blog
Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw and Winston Churchill all are credited with some version of: “England and America are two countries separated by one language.” That differing versions of a supposedly common language can create barriers applies within America. Language variants have created an issue between Blacks and whites and also within the Black community—as if there…
One of our family left us. No one died. The comedy TV series Grace and Frankie (Netflix) aged out. I feel the loss. Seven seasons involved Carolyn and me with two elder women thrown together reminiscent of The Odd Couple. The straightlaced WASP Grace Hanson (Jane Fonda) and ex-hippie Frankie Bergstein (Lili Tomlin) were forced to live together…
When it comes to banned books, I once was ahead of the curve. I fell back. Now, I appeal for a boost from Florida governor Ron DeSantis. In 1969-70, I taught English at a private school in San Antonio. I assigned a high school class Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize winner To Kill a Mockingbird. The school…
The Israelites fleeing Egypt, and Albert Sobel, the transgender protagonist of my novel Lola Flores, share something in common. Their freedom requires traversing or immersion in a body of water, source of life. Following the exodus from Egypt, the Israelites find themselves trapped between Pharaoh’s army and the Reed Sea. “Then Moses held his arm over…
Last Sunday, Carolyn and I attended a preview screening of Last Chance, Charlene. Carolyn had a small role in this independent film and did a great job. But the movie offered only a glimpse of her life as an actor. Charlene’s star, Allison Ewing, is a fellow student in Carolyn’s film/TV acting class and suggested that…
Mondays, I often read “The Conversation,” a wide-ranging chat between New York Times columnists Gail Collins and Bret Stephens. This week’s, “It’s Never a Good Time for the Hunter Biden Story,” disturbed me, though it had nothing to do with the president’s son. Stephens, a conservative, supports year-round daylight savings. Collins, a liberal, doesn’t like…
Americans hoping Ukraine can resist Vladimir Putin share a common trait with many of the most memorable characters in the Hebrew Bible. This may discomfort us. Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaron, Miriam, David, Solomon all exhibit real flaws. (David takes Bathsheba to wife after sending her soldier-husband, Uriah the Hittite,…