Literature

Lawton Chiles Story on French TV

Enjoy this new French TV episode on Lawton Chiles’s famous 1,000-mile walk across Florida, now at its 50th anniversary. In February, a French reporter contacted me about covering Chiles for […]

New Poems

Despite the pandemic, I’ve been busy at work. Lots of writing. Recently, I published two poems–“Pandemic on St. Patrick’s Day” and “Madrid Tertulia”–at the Spanish online magazine Zenda. Both poems […]

Dos Passos in The New Yorker

What a splendid way to end the year! Yesterday, The New Yorker published a re-appraisal of John Dos Passos’ U.S.A. trilogy. These “second reads” of his books are rare indeed […]

Remembering Ellen Bromfield Geld

Ellen Bromfield Geld, farmer and writer, has died at age 87. She wrote nine books and had a marvelous, unique style of creative nonfiction. Sending love and light to her […]

Learning from Poet Ted Kooser

What a great manual for writers of all kinds. Just soaking up Ted Kooser’s relaxed, confident voice is a pleasure. After reading the book, I immediately went to work writing […]

Fire and Ice

Last week, I got to thinking about Robert Frost’s poem “Fire and Ice” while I was at work on climate matters. Arctic melting, record high temperatures, Montana blizzard. It’s not […]

Ponta do Sol

The JDP Cultural Center and Villa Dos Passos are in Ponta do Sol, Madeira, a small town. The name of the town means “Point of the Sun,” and the sun […]

Discovering Madeira

My discovery of Madeira taught me something. There are three things that really jump-start self-actualization. Falling in love with a soulmate. Finding a calling or vocation that feeds the soul, […]

Nancy Hanks Lincoln

Working on a poem about Abraham Lincoln mourning his mother’s death. She died when he was a boy of 9. I get the fascination every writer/historian seems to get while […]