The simplest definition of “sacred” in the Oxford English Dictionary has always seemed to me to be “set apart,” and that’s probably why I’ve never felt very happy with the word. I’ve never much liked the idea of things being “set apart.” Somehow, in my staunchly Republican family, I acquired a stubborn egalitarianism. But I […]
Vacant Lots: A Butterfly Hunter Considers the Sacred Read More »
“Of course, you’re very conservative” Both sides of my family were lifelong Republicans, and approached their lives conservatively. By that I mean that they valued the contributions of the past to their current happiness, they took care to preserve their tools and other possessions (rather than throwing them out and buying new ones), they paid
The Conscience of a Conservative Read More »
Requiem for Literacy I first noticed that the medium was indeed supplanting the message in 1967. Just back in the world, I was spending a lot of time at demonstrations against the war in Vietnam. We’d march around and hold our fists in the air, with or without the two-digit peace sign, and chant various
Turn Off the Bubble Machine Read More »
“… the pinnacle of hyenic humor, was the hyena, the classic hyena, that hit too far back while running, would circle madly, snapping and tearing at himself, until he pulled his own intestines out, and then stood there, jerking them out and eating them with relish. “‘Fisi,’ M’Cola would say and shake his head in
Dave Barry, Novelist: The M’cola Perspective Read More »
Like Bat Masterson, Robert Parker died at his typewriter, a perfect point of departure for a writer whose every word conveyed the enjoyment felt by a born story-teller, and the pleasure Parker took in the company of his many characters, a pleasure the reader shares. Even if Parker had not been a brilliant, innovative story-teller,
Robert B. Parker’s Spenser: How to Be a Good Man Read More »
You know, that’s what my sockeyetrist told me. “Catherine,” he said, “you’ve got a person in you, another person besides you, and that person is all the time telling you, ‘Catherine, you’re no good, Catherine, you can’t do thus and that.’ And you are trying to become yourself, but that
A Bunch of Felonies Read More »