Sometimes you just get lucky. I believe that. About six months ago I started this column, writing about books I’d come to love dearly and early on, I praised Shirley Jackson, a writer that almost seemed forgotten. My mother had loved her work and introduced me to it at an early age. That was lucky because, in those days, Jackson’s work (with the exception of one story) wasn’t reprinted. At that ...
Okay, I know it’s close to Mother’s Day but there’s something about Fathers and Daughters. God knows, I adored mine. He was funny, smart and bullheaded, just the kind of man to indulge a mischievous daughter who didn’t want to obey her mom. Yes sir, I think my father was brilliant but a lot of girls feel that way about their dads.. Adela Rogers St. Johns certainly did and she captured that...
Adolescent friendships are unique: The close friends we make as children almost become part of our family, watched over equally by supervising parents, teased or ignored by resident siblings. Glad to be included, they become part of the whole and accept conditions without thought or judgement. On the other hand, our adult friends find us as self-sufficient beings, with loosened family ties. Only the friends of our adol...
Every adult who was once a kid reader has some books tucked away in his/her soul. These stories are usually hidden quite well but they still guide the adult. The history professor won’t talk about the book of ghost stories that got his attention in grade school but it stimulated his first interest in the past. The attorney may speak of hornbooks and precedents instead of the copy of Katie John that stayed with he...
Me, I’m a fool for history. Show me a place where something really happened and tell me the story so I can see it in my mind and I’ll be your friend forever, even if the story is sad. So much has happened where I live that I’ve always got plenty to read but there’s one bit of regional history that I haven’t found captured in books. It’s time someone wrote about the Rhythm Club Fire. ...