Published July 24th, 2013 by

            Every evening before her sons’ bedtime, my mother read to us.  She also read to us while nursing my youngest brother of the moment.  Even after I was…

Published July 22nd, 2013 by

            But for its stellar cast and director, ‘Night Train to Munich’ (1940) would be just another ill-plotted British flag-waver with a couple of very good bits.            The…

Published July 21st, 2013 by

             A new favorite writer offers a respite from our steamy weather:            Now it is snowing, one of the terrific storms that first mute and then obliterate the…

Published July 19th, 2013 by
Published July 15th, 2013 by
Published July 14th, 2013 by
Published July 12th, 2013 by

            Night before last, I slowly made headway through the humidity after stuffing my hold at Annapurna.  As I passed St. John the Evangelist in North Cambridge, my eyes…

Published July 8th, 2013 by
Published July 3rd, 2013 by
Published July 2nd, 2013 by

            How Dickensian was your boarding school?  That this question, hotly debated between ages 13 and 18, persists in my peers’ seventh decade says much about their schools’ capacity…