Suprise Me

May my mother not box my ears. May the traditionalists in the party crowd notice nothing amiss (except possibly rouge highlights in the salami crust). Read More

I STILL cannot post comments on other people’s stories, so…. Comments on “Favorite Teacher” prompt. Educator of the Year – Remembering Milton by Dana Susan Lehrman A very evocative tale for me…my grade school had a Milton of its own, although he was the shop teacher, not custodial staff. Mr. Crawley never got full peer-to-peer… Read More

Every Easter Sunday my mother dressed me, a Jewish child, in my best finery, fancy bonnet and all.  My older brother was discouraged from  going to  the local basketball court in his sweats and sneakers. The   unspoken message we were being taught was one of my mother’s cardinal rules of conduct called  a “shanda… Read More

Close your eyes and think of baseball. Read More

Windows fogged, bad shocks rocking, breathing like final breaths on a battlefield, bucket seats belong on kayaks, Danny Kaye got rich and nobody knew what he looked like. Read More

Fluffy and the Alligator Shoes The house I grew up in had many lovely architectural features – a fireplace,  a lovely stairwell,  and a beautiful oval stained glass window that was in my mother’s closet. I loved sitting in that closet.  It was a cozy and private place for a child to play,  and the light… Read More

Never underestimate the fortitude of a passionate, teenage survivor carrying the weight of her brothers and sisters on her narrow shoulders. Read More

"It's a dance. Well, it's a hoedown." Read More

The Great Jane Addams Library Flood 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 Commute  and Educator of the Year:  Remembering Milton) Here’s another story. Because of… Read More

Bobby had the gift of empathy -- the ability to see the world through the eyes of the poor, the unrepresented. Whereas his opponent Eugene McCarthy was brilliant, professorial and cold, Bobby brought warmth, spontaneity and the charisma of a rock star. Read More