Suprise Me

The great river of class, culture and convictions afforded me a way out. Read More

Parkchester, Celebrate Me Home My hometown?  Like many of us I guess I can claim more than one –  born in Charleston, SC but bred in the Bronx with idyllic summers spent at our family-run hotel in the Catskills.  (See My Heart Remembers My Grandmother’s Hotel,  The Troubadour, Hotel Kittens, The Cat and the Forshpeiz, and My Game Mother)… Read More

Piano Man – Remembering Herb My memories of that summer between college and grad school,  when I took a camp job with my friend Liz,  are bittersweet. Liz and I were co-counselors for a bunk of kids,  and I had also signed on as drama counselor.   When we arrived at camp I was introduced to… Read More

Living in Hawaii has provided us with the unique opportunity to control the spread of COVID-19 by limiting the number of people coming into the state – and for a while it was working. Folks were largely staying home, and they behaved safely on the occasions that they went out for groceries or necessary errands.… Read More

Overture.  The Middletown Ct. Police Station—Bartok’s Sonata for two pianos and percussion. Before beginning my job as a substitute teacher, I traveled to the police department for a fingerprint security check.  The officer, a large friendly African American interviewed me. “Where will you be teaching?” “Middletown High School.” “Oh,” he warningly replied. “Do you know… Read More

I'm glad my mother was at home for me. I liked having her there all the time. Read More

They were experiencing a heat wave - it only got down to -30 degrees Celsius. Read More

My time as a Playboy centerfold Read More

I wish I had been able to be with him to tell him I loved him and hold his hand. I will always regret not being there for that final farewell. Read More

I have spent years of my life trying to come to terms with on-call sleep deprivation. Read More