On Daily Scrabble
Today I received a letter from a friend in which she made interesting reflections about my comment in my holiday letter that I play Scrabble every night: "That sounds like a worthy practice, like playing the piano, or practicing plies at the barre. Aside from getting better at something and exercising the mind, practice is meditative. When I heard about the plan for daily practice I wondered what I did that was daily. I prepare for my teaching. I used to do yoga everyday, write in my journal, walk in the neighborhood, and now I go to the gym several times a week, and keep lists in my journal. In the summer, plant watering is a daily practice but not so much in the winter. Although watching Jim Lehrer news and Gwen Ifil are on the agenda, I don't watch the news daily. You inspire me to think about practice I can keep daily."
And my friend's letter prompted me to think about practice as "meditative"; a new thought for me. And, so, on this last day of January, do we still play Scrabble every night? Yes, even though, given our schedules, we often don't start until 11 pm. As some of you know, we don't keep score, so our play is companionable, not competitive, and, yes, we are getting better and exercising our minds, and yes, upon reflection, our daily Scrabble is "meditative."
On Women's History
Several weeks ago, I gave a speech at the annual meeting of the Alice Paul Institute about the amazing women in my recent book, Adventurous Women: Eight True Stories About Women Who Made a Difference. In talking about Peggy Hull, the first woman to become an accredited war correspondent, I mentioned that she got her start covering General John Pershing’s pursuit of Pancho Villa into Mexico in 1916. "My great aunt rode with Pershing," a woman in the audience, named Ann Van Hise, said. Wow! I replied, tell me about her.
Recently Ann sent me a package of material about her amazing great aunt, Linda Konover Meirs, including a wonderful biography by Ann's mother, Ruth Holmes Honadle(Linda Meirs' niece). Ann's mother also kept the actual awards and medals earned by her aunt. I'll be writing about Linda Konover Meirs in another blog, but now I want to write about Ann and honor her for cherishing her great aunt's memory and for speaking out about her female relative in a public place. And honor Ruth Holmes Honadle for writing the biography of her aunt and preserving the historical records and objects.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Sunday, January 28, 2007
On Writing
Tomorrow classes start at Queens College, the City University of New York, where I have an appointment as a Distinguished Lecturer. My writing class meets on Mondays and I am starting the class with a discussion of the concept of good writing, or writing that is Clear, Coherent, and Compelling, what I abbreviate as the 3Cs of good writing.
During the class, I am going to read examples of good writing, including Alice Steinbach's introduction to her book, Without Reservation, that includes this sentence: Life's like that, I told myself on a sad plane trip back to Italy: with awesome impersonality it ambushes us, changing our lives and the lives of those we love in an instant. Also this lead from Laurie Lynn Drummond's essay, Girl, Fighting (Creative Nonfiction 22, 2004, p. 30):
The first time I got punched in the face--punched, not slapped or shoved or struck or thumped by a flying elbow gone astray, but punched as in a fist landing squarely on the lower quadrant of my right cheek--it was delivered just after midnight in an apartment parking lot off Airline Highway in south Baton Rouge by a man at least 5 inches taller and a good 70 pounds heavier than I was. I was not his intended target. He intended to hit his wife. She ducked. I didn't. And I'm going to read Michael Winerip's recent essays on parenting in the Sunday New York Times. Also the Author's Note in my book Adventurous Women.
If you are interested in reading interviews with writers, check out http://www.identitytheory.com and click on interviews for Robert Birnbaum's intriguing interviews with authors, including Dorothy Allison, Gretel Ehrlich, Richard Ford, Allan Gurganus, Samantha Power, Howard Zinn, etc.
Nonfiction Book Recommendations
For five days over the New Year holiday, I was in Bermuda. I saw, learned, experienced many interesting things that I will write about in another post. In this one, I want to write about books because that is one of the things I do when I travel-- I buy books, in particular books that are shelved in the local section and unique books for young readers.
In the local section I found: Rogues and Runners; Bermuda and the American Civil War by Catherine Lynch Deichmann published by the Bermuda National Trust that describes how Bermuda became a bustling, brawling commercial centre smuggling aid to beleaguered Confederate rebels in their war with the North.
I bought the following books for young readers. I have not read them to any youngster yet, but I will and post their responses:
Caribbean Alphabet illustrated and written by Frane Lessac. A wonderfully illustrated alphabet book with more than one word on a page, e.g., I is island iguanas inlet and Z is zoo zebra zookeeper zzzz. The book ends with a section with the words for each letter written in sentences. The words are in bold face, e.g., I This little island is inhabited by iguanas which are large lizards with long tails. Fish swim into a tiny inlet. Z The zoo, the wonderful zoo, with zebras and zany animals. The zookeeper is fast asleep. ZZZzzzzzzz
My Bermuda ABC illustrated and written by Dana Cooper, a native Bermudian. Both the upper case and lower case of a letter are shown. Lovely illustrations and interesting text that will prompt readers to do research, e.g., Gg is for Gaff rig, Gates Fort, Government House, Gibbs Hill Lighthouse, the Grace, Goat and Goose Island and Gombeys who come out to dance on special holidays. And Yy is for Yellowtail fish, Yucca plant, the Yellow-wood and Yew trees, York Street, Yellow-Crowned Night heron, Yawning Road and Yachts, which dot the bays and harbours throughout the year.
Sea Turtles Hatching written and illustrated by Katherine Orr. Orr is a marine biologist who has worked to conserve sea turtles. The 32 page book is clearly written and conveys interesting information about sea turtles. I classify it as a hybrid book--nonfiction books that contain made-up material--because it includes two made-up characters: a boy who finds a hatchling and a park ranger.
Black History Month and National Women's History Month
Terrific information and resources are available at:
National Women's History Project www.nwhp.org In addition to useful online resources, check out their terrific catalogue.
Tomorrow classes start at Queens College, the City University of New York, where I have an appointment as a Distinguished Lecturer. My writing class meets on Mondays and I am starting the class with a discussion of the concept of good writing, or writing that is Clear, Coherent, and Compelling, what I abbreviate as the 3Cs of good writing.
During the class, I am going to read examples of good writing, including Alice Steinbach's introduction to her book, Without Reservation, that includes this sentence: Life's like that, I told myself on a sad plane trip back to Italy: with awesome impersonality it ambushes us, changing our lives and the lives of those we love in an instant. Also this lead from Laurie Lynn Drummond's essay, Girl, Fighting (Creative Nonfiction 22, 2004, p. 30):
The first time I got punched in the face--punched, not slapped or shoved or struck or thumped by a flying elbow gone astray, but punched as in a fist landing squarely on the lower quadrant of my right cheek--it was delivered just after midnight in an apartment parking lot off Airline Highway in south Baton Rouge by a man at least 5 inches taller and a good 70 pounds heavier than I was. I was not his intended target. He intended to hit his wife. She ducked. I didn't. And I'm going to read Michael Winerip's recent essays on parenting in the Sunday New York Times. Also the Author's Note in my book Adventurous Women.
If you are interested in reading interviews with writers, check out http://www.identitytheory.com and click on interviews for Robert Birnbaum's intriguing interviews with authors, including Dorothy Allison, Gretel Ehrlich, Richard Ford, Allan Gurganus, Samantha Power, Howard Zinn, etc.
Nonfiction Book Recommendations
For five days over the New Year holiday, I was in Bermuda. I saw, learned, experienced many interesting things that I will write about in another post. In this one, I want to write about books because that is one of the things I do when I travel-- I buy books, in particular books that are shelved in the local section and unique books for young readers.
In the local section I found: Rogues and Runners; Bermuda and the American Civil War by Catherine Lynch Deichmann published by the Bermuda National Trust that describes how Bermuda became a bustling, brawling commercial centre smuggling aid to beleaguered Confederate rebels in their war with the North.
I bought the following books for young readers. I have not read them to any youngster yet, but I will and post their responses:
Caribbean Alphabet illustrated and written by Frane Lessac. A wonderfully illustrated alphabet book with more than one word on a page, e.g., I is island iguanas inlet and Z is zoo zebra zookeeper zzzz. The book ends with a section with the words for each letter written in sentences. The words are in bold face, e.g., I This little island is inhabited by iguanas which are large lizards with long tails. Fish swim into a tiny inlet. Z The zoo, the wonderful zoo, with zebras and zany animals. The zookeeper is fast asleep. ZZZzzzzzzz
My Bermuda ABC illustrated and written by Dana Cooper, a native Bermudian. Both the upper case and lower case of a letter are shown. Lovely illustrations and interesting text that will prompt readers to do research, e.g., Gg is for Gaff rig, Gates Fort, Government House, Gibbs Hill Lighthouse, the Grace, Goat and Goose Island and Gombeys who come out to dance on special holidays. And Yy is for Yellowtail fish, Yucca plant, the Yellow-wood and Yew trees, York Street, Yellow-Crowned Night heron, Yawning Road and Yachts, which dot the bays and harbours throughout the year.
Sea Turtles Hatching written and illustrated by Katherine Orr. Orr is a marine biologist who has worked to conserve sea turtles. The 32 page book is clearly written and conveys interesting information about sea turtles. I classify it as a hybrid book--nonfiction books that contain made-up material--because it includes two made-up characters: a boy who finds a hatchling and a park ranger.
Black History Month and National Women's History Month
Terrific information and resources are available at:
National Women's History Project www.nwhp.org In addition to useful online resources, check out their terrific catalogue.
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