Nostalgia is not my strong suit. Most family rituals, in my experience, long outlive their usefulness… Fortunately, there are exceptions.
The Best Present
My father’s appetite for what he was reading, and, doubtless, for the sound of his own mellifluous, slightly Southern voice, created in me the appetite for words that has provided the meaning of my life.
Christmas Is A-Coming…
The five of us children were persuaded, or if necessary, dragooned, into producing a truncated version of “A Christmas Carol” which I, as the writer in the family, was charged with shortening.
Thank You, Roald Dahl
Thank God for Roald Dahl. Thank God for parents who read aloud to their children. In spite of all the signs to the contrary, we may not have lost books and readers—or the writers that grow out of this blessed combination.
Something Has Gone Wrong
Something has gone wrong with this country, and I don’t know how or exactly when.