Tag Malcolm McCollum

The New New Colossus

Since 1903, Emma Lazarus’ poem “The New Colossus” has been displayed inside the Statue of Liberty. My generation was raised to be proud that our country welcomed tired, poor, huddled masses to our shores. We were required to commit the poem to memory, as a kind of summary of what America meant. In case it has slipped your mind, the poem went Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

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The Lost Jessel/Donuts Transcripts

The Unofficial Organ II:1 [Translator’s note: In February of 1933, the Nazi party faced an election which threatened to disappoint their hopes. Shortly before the election, the Reichstag, home of the German Chamber of Deputies, caught fire in twenty places simultaneously. The Nazis instantly blamed the Communists, though it was widely suspected that the Nazis themselves had set the fires. Only recently have the records of the Deputies’ investigation of

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Lawfirm: A Religious Play

Cast Yale Lawfirm, one of the ten leading New York doctors Bruce, a Gordon setter Mrs. Lawfirm, Baby Lawfirm, Baby Lawfirm, friends to Bruce Stanley Dubie, a spackle and grout man One Messenger Another Messenger Kate Smith, once one or another’s mistress Chorus, people waiting for a bus Act One Scene One The set suggests a sewer. It is too dark to tell. Voices are heard. Voices I wish the

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God Wanted Arnulfo to Marry Me

Having a child was the most beautiful experience of my life. But it seems they are never satisfied. For example, Arnulfo. When they found that I was going to have a child, right away they assumed that I would marry the father. “Linda,” they said. “Have you thought how Arnulfo and you can live? What will become of you, both of you so young and still in school?” Actually my

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Attack of the Killer Virus

Written in 2001, this essay may seem dated in some respects. The author believes that its plea for thoughtful consideration of the place of computers in education and in human life remains valid. I - To the Winter Palace “Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things. They are but improved means to unimproved ends. - Henry David Thoreau, Walden “The emergence of

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