More from the archives…these two photos are buried amid others. I had almost despaired of finding them again, and when I was looking for something else, there they were. My father's wife Eva took them one morning at coffee — I think I was 18 or 19 years old. I like them very much, […]
Was I Ever This Young? Read More »
So my maternal grandfather Emmanuel Pierre Menager was something of a coyote trickster — an itinerant artist, a womanizer (an occasional bigamist), but a rather magical person when he showed up at our house. Though I suspect my parents — especially my father was less than pleased (despite the fact that Pierre was
Wily Rascal: My Grandfather, Pierre Menager Read More »
So it's true — every dog has his day. And here's a little celebration of those furry-faced, cold snouts and sweet-eyed dogs that come into our lives and make them better. I have to post this grizzled guy because I have known him now for 11 years and love him. Enjoy your day, Buju
Happy International Dog’s Day. Read More »
(Photos by Peter Zelei/istockphoto and John Robert Shepard) This happened across my internet desk one morning, and I stopped everything to read it. The poet Donald Hall wrote a short story about a journey he took post-WWII with his very young bride, driving from Oxford to Greece by way of Yugoslavia. It is one of
Donald Hall: One Road Read More »
Balafon performance in the streets of Conakry, Guinea. ©1963 Emile Snyder Among the unique documents that have floated my way over the years was a manilla folder full of gorgeous black and white photographs my father took in the Ivory Coast, which was developed there, and some of them might have also been
Putting Together My Father’s Research With The Photos: West Africa 1963-64 Read More »
This is one of my favorite photo's of Eva, bundling the garlic. One can almost smell it coming through the screen. Happy birthday to the Garlic Queen-slash-birthday pig! Hope you guys are able to take time out from farming long enough to eat something decadent and delicious.
This post is for my cousin François, who has been visiting the blog to see what photos of our families are appearing — and happily identifying those I don't know. I love these three photos for how the people are grouped, smiling, and staring back at the photographer. I am not sure who everyone is,
The Mystery of Family Photos Read More »
Moon, come down andcome alone. I have to tell you allabout Akechi’s wife. — Bashō My husband and I will celebrate our 44th wedding anniversary this coming June. I think of all that passion at the beginning, rocking back and forth between joy and fear that it might suddenly prove
Basho’s Reflection On Marriage: Akechi’s Wife Read More »
This is an odd moment. Three book ideas I have been working on lately have suddenly come into clarity as a single cloth — not as a trilogy mind you, for each is different enough from the other — but organically they seem to spring from the same desire to write about early, middle, and
Old Bones, New Tales Read More »
I had one of those remarkable encounters while reading Kate Atkinson's Case Histories, who was describing in almost identical words an idea I had explored years ago in a poem. It is an ambiguous moment in motherhood, knitting power and love in a fierce and consuming way. It's awful really, selfish as it expresses a desire
The Hungry Mother: Kate Atkinson and Baba Yaga Read More »
