Dear friends of writing and reading – Today is Yom HaShoah, a Jewish holiday that commemorates the Holocaust. A long time ago, before I converted to Judaism I taught college courses on the literature of the Holocaust. It was during this time that I got to know a friend of a friend, the scholar … Continue reading Argue with your mother, recite a poem, experience a moment of grace: Ruth Klueger at Auschwitz
Category: justice
Too real: Bergdorf’s, New York, East Coast private schools and the sexual threat from E. Jean Carroll to Christine Blasey Ford (it really is as bad as it sounds)
Friends -- this is not my usual kind of post, but these are some thoughts I'd like to share nonetheless. This past Friday night, I watched E. Jean Carroll tell Lawrence O’Donnell her story of how Donald Trump raped her in a dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman. That story – like the story of Christine … Continue reading Too real: Bergdorf’s, New York, East Coast private schools and the sexual threat from E. Jean Carroll to Christine Blasey Ford (it really is as bad as it sounds)
Story Time Sunday returns — Ajar
Dear friends -- a while back (a few years ago), I launched a madly ambitious plan to post a new little story every week. I burned out. I liked the idea though, so I'm going to try to post a new little story once a month, on the last Sunday of every month. Well, I … Continue reading Story Time Sunday returns — Ajar
At last! 2nd Visit to Bad Germany, part 2
In my previous post from many months ago, I made my 1985 trip to the German Democratic Republic (aka East Germany, aka "bad" Germany) sound like a good time, didn’t I? It was a good time. But it wasn’t always comfortable. It was not always fun. One of the worst experiences I had on this … Continue reading At last! 2nd Visit to Bad Germany, part 2
2nd visit to bad Germany, part 1
Friends -- I’ve been writing about the German Democratic Republic (aka East Germany, aka "bad" Germany) in the light of discussions about communism, Russians, the cold war, and most recently fascism and the connections to all of these things in this country. Here’s the first installment of my 2nd trip. By 1985, I had received … Continue reading 2nd visit to bad Germany, part 1
TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADER update: Sonnet in Honor of Kamala Harris joins the roster!
Friends -- we have a new sonnet in honor of Kamala Harris created by K. Andrew Turner. We'll add sonnets to the roster as we receive them. the entire group can be viewed here:
Reading the 18th Century, March 12, 2017. Rousseau redux: The Discourse on Inequality continued with some cool info on people who read him
Hi everyone -- welcome back as we take a second look at this seminal piece of writing by Jean Jacques Rousseau. Last time, I talked about Rousseau's theory of humans in the state of nature. Now we'll take a quick look at some of his other ideas. Part 2 of the Discourse starts off … Continue reading Reading the 18th Century, March 12, 2017. Rousseau redux: The Discourse on Inequality continued with some cool info on people who read him
Reading the 18th Century, 12/29/16 — rehearsing the revolution: Friedrich Schiller’s The Robbers
Friends – I talked last time about one of my favorite German Enlightenment writers, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing and his play about religious tolerance, Nathan the Wise. I mentioned that when we talk about German Enlightenment writing we see less of an immediate influence on American thinkers, because – as John Quincy Adams points out – … Continue reading Reading the 18th Century, 12/29/16 — rehearsing the revolution: Friedrich Schiller’s The Robbers
Reading the Enlightenment: Nathan the Wise and imagining religious interconnectedness
Friends – Last week I shared some thoughts about Jonathan Swift’s autobiographical poem and the connection of some its ideas to the attitudes expressed by the Founding Fathers and indeed to one of the sentiments expressed in the Declaration of Independence. This week, I want to share some insights about a play written in 1779, … Continue reading Reading the Enlightenment: Nathan the Wise and imagining religious interconnectedness
Self-deprecation and the gesture towards improvement: Why I love Jonathan Swift’s weird poem about his own death
I have no title to aspire Yet when you sink I seem the higher (Jonathan Swift, “Verses on the Death of Dr. Swift” transcribed from memory). Friends – The above is a quote from my favorite 18th Century poem “Verses on the Death of Dr. Swift,” written by Jonathan Swift himself and published in 1739. … Continue reading Self-deprecation and the gesture towards improvement: Why I love Jonathan Swift’s weird poem about his own death
Stephanie Barbé Hammer Writing (Un) Real 