I’ve written about my years as head librarian at Jane Addams,  a New York City public vocational high school.  (See Magazines for the Principal,  The Parking Lot Seniority List,  Shelf List, The Diary of a Young Girl,  Early Session and Educator of the Year:  Remembering Milton) Here’s another story. Because of our large student body for many years our… Read More

Imagine my shock as a kid when I saw my parents throw a set of luggage into the rising waters flooding our basement. Read More

Originally published for the prompt Close Calls,  I hope you’ll read or reread this story now! Cooking with Gas “Now you’re cooking with gas.”,  my grandmother used to say.  I thought of her after Hurricane Sandy hit New York on October 29, 2012. Although we live uptown,  our proximity to the East River puts our… Read More

(Note: this story was originally published in August, 2016 for a “Disaster” prompt.) The call came very early that August morning in 2007. We were both still in bed on the island of Martha’s Vineyard. I heard the voice of my Brazilian cleaning lady from my house in Newton. She was very upset, talking quickly,… Read More

  File under: ‘It could be worse.’ On a warm January day in 1919, a disaster struck Boston’s North End. A giant tank of molasses burst open, releasing a wave of sticky syrup that swept through the streets, crushing buildings and killing 21 people. The Great Molasses Flood, as it became known, was a bizarre and… Read More