Suprise Me

Then came the part I was dreading. Where do I go to wait for my road test? Read More

Until her death ten years ago, we lived a few blocks away from Patricia Neal in downtown Edgartown, where she had been been a fixture for years. She often sat on her front porch and was pleased to say “good morning” to all who passed by. But the “Martha’s Vineyard way” was to not impose… Read More

As I thought about the Father’s Day prompt, What My Father Told Me, I realized that, to be honest, he hadn’t told me much. My father was very successful in his work, very funny, and a provider both to his immediate family and to the less successful members of his and my mother’s extended families.… Read More

Like many baby boomers, I cast my first vote for president a few months after graduating college. But I never got a chance to vote for the candidate of my choice. I had heard Bobby Kennedy speak on my OU campus, and I was ready to help change the world by voting for him. Sadly,… Read More

I don't remember much from that week, except for Tony ... Every time his eyes connected with mine, my heart gave a squeeze and then a leap. Read More

I tied piles of accumulated newspapers together to form a solid block of newspaper, which I used as a guest stoop. Read More

Sometimes, as in the case of my high school math class, time stopped. Read More

You always see stories and comic strips about teenage boys eating refrigerators. I was a skinny teenage girl, and this is what I ate on any given day: 7 a.m. – Raisin Bran 10 a.m. – Frozen/thawed/reheated bean burrito from the snack shop at school 12 p.m. – Brown bag lunch by Mom: Two (2!)… Read More

With a beginner’s naïveté, I wrote a letter to the producer Danny Dare and told him why he should cast me: “Dear Mr. Dare, I live in West Covina and I’m a talented actor. I can do an excellent English accent and I can sing. You should cast me in Oliver!” Read More

Back in my day, bicycles had two wheels, no chain, no pedals, no brakes and, dammit, I was happy to have one…. Oh wait, that’s not true … But media coverage of pro cycling was just as primitive as that first push-bicycle, known as a “dandy horse,” back in the 19th century. Back before the… Read More