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Learning from Williams by Stephanie Brown
One of my favorite poems is Kenneth Koch's "Variations on a Theme by William Carlos Williams" which spoofs (mocks?) "This is Just to Say" by Williams, the famous poem about the juicy, ripe plums the…
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First Fruits (by Laura Orem)
Here is the first harvest from my garden. I probably picked things a bit early (although the funky skinny small peppers are supposed to look funky and skinny and small), but I got excited.…
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The Great Loesser (1910-1969)
Frank Loesser (1910-1969) was born a hundred years ago today. He wrote two of the greatest musicals ever to play on Broadway, Guys and Dolls and How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying.…
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In Love with Nathaniel Hawthorne by Stephanie Brown
In college I developed a crush on Nathaniel Hawthorne. I not only liked his books, I liked his looks, too, at least as he appeared in a painting at the Essex Institute in Salem,…
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“An atmosphere of dread. . .”
My friend S. subscribes to the London Review of Books for the personals, which are superior not only to those in American journals but also to the other ads on the page ("Memoir Writing…
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Happy Birthday, Dick Rodgers — and Laura Orem!
Once in a blue moon a composer turns up who can celebrate the joys of Manhattan, turn a slaughter on tenth avenue into a stunning ballet, salute a beautiful morning in an Oklahoma of…
