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I’m so damn lucky! I have worked with some pretty incredible human beings over the years, Professors from Hunter College, the CWP and the English Department of the University of Houston, and the Bennington Writing Seminars in Vermont. I was given some bad-ass notes on my writing from teachers over the years.  Here’s one that…

I read hundreds of books every year, and therefore my social media analytics are tracking authors of all kinds. Unfortunately, there is one book in particular that would make for a great discussion:  “Why is this memoir a good example of how NOT to write a book?”  I would be afraid to ask, “What do…

A couple of weeks ago we were traveling westward on Highway 70 from Hillsborough to Mebane, North Carolina, when Deep Purple hacked my husband’s Spotify account. Not one bit sorry, my husband kept his eyes on the road, hands firmly grasped on the steering wheel, and I watched a smile come over his face. Seated…

For several seasons when I was a young person I worked as a waitress at a private Jewish country club in Hopkins, Minnesota: https://www.oakridgecountryclub.net/About_Us. Two shifts, sometimes three shifts a day.  On my first day the dining manager told me a member wanted to speak to me and he led me to a separate room,…

I used to teach a theme-based composition course on the farmers’ market and the homemade food Renaissance.  Half of the required booklist is on the food manufacturing crisis; the other half poems and fiction on subjects like vegetables, flowers, nature, Adam and Eve. We watched documentaries on farming. Daily my students heard me rant on…

My husband and I have been preparing children’s clothing, toys, and furniture donations for local charities. Being on the phone with people who do this kind of work reminded me of how important it is to listen.  In his groundbreaking book “Working,” Studs Terkel taught the world a lesson on empathy:   Only when we ask…

I am honored and thrilled that my poem “Pollen: North Carolina” has been accepted for publication and will be included in the 2023 eEdition of http://PoeticaMagazine.com A heartfelt thanks and appreciation to Michal (Mitak) Mahgerefteh and poetry editors at Poetica Magazine. https://www.bennington.edu/mfa-writing/publication-news ☮️ #writingcommunity #poetrycommunity

We live in the South, and it didn’t take long before we noticed how some performed Southern and class as a way to survive. Friends from out-of-state tell me it’s not just in the South anymore. I’m not talking about people from here who see me at political gatherings and cross the room to corner…

Here is the first story I told myself about a purchase I made one day: I must not have been paying attention when my personal shopper called me to inform me the grocery store was out of my preferred brand of white sugar. Could she give me a different brand that is in stock? The…