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A writer friend of mine who has taught in an MFA program for several years reported that not one of her students had become a “successful” writer by publishing a book. I shared that among students from the two years of my MFA program, only a handful had published books. Of those, most were poets…
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We paid off our mortgage on Tuesday. We asked for a payout balance and had the bank wire the funds. The trick is that we will still be putting the money into the bank to cover insurance and taxes. It feels good even so. As I type, my husband is realizing a long-term goal. He…
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It is not a “victimless crime.” One of our neighbors takes her dog to British Columbia right after Canada Day until after the 4th. Other people drug their pets in order to spare their nerves. My husband and I do that too. We would happily have left the country, but we are afraid to leave…
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FIGHTING HATE // TEACHING TOLERANCE // SEEKING JUSTICE JUNE 30, 2018 Weekend Read // Issue 86 Fred Korematsu was 23 when he defied the order sending him to an internment camp. He was one of 120,000 Japanese immigrants and Americans detained by the federal government under Executive Order 9066. He fought his case all the…
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What to do and how to live. 1. SMILING. As a very young girl I read in one of my mother’s magazines—Redbook?—that smiling was the secret to forming friendships. I was a lonely child, but I learned that lesson that most girls are taught from a magazine. Too many girl and women have been told…
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I lost my temper the other day. I used a couple of bad words in public. I have apologized, but the incident has troubled me since. In the past, I have managed to keep my cool under extremely trying circumstances, and to make reasoned responses to completely unreasonable, even deeply offensive people. Once in…
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I began writing fiction in 1990 when I was hired to teach English at Seaside High School. I believed myself wholly unqualified to teach English (and others have agreed), but I had taught art in an elite prep school for three years, picked up a Social Studies endorsement through exam, and substituted in the Seaside…
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My husband and I were talking about apologies last evening. We had been discussing boorish behavior revealed by the MeToo movement as contrasted by the genuinely criminal behavior of Bill Cosby and Harvey Weinstein. I can forgive the guy who makes a stupid joke or a failed pass. But what about the cases of men…
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IMPERFECT PATIENCE 