We have no idea

A couple of decades ago, at a party, I was introduced to a tall thin man with an infectious grin framed by a dark goatee. His hair curled around his collar. His eyes were the sort of blue it’s hard to forget, although apparently I had. “We’ve already met,” he said. “I’m awfully sorry,” I…

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Betrayal of the Inuit

I have just finished reading Melanie McGrath’s excellent book, The Long Exile, and I was so moved by it I thought I’d write about it here. Beautifully written, poignant and engaging, McGrath’s book is at once horrifying and hopeful. Her descriptions of the Inuit relationship to place and their fierce will to survive, first, the…

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Shiny things

A magpie with stolen treasure (illustration by Scott McKowen) The sub-heading of this blog is: “the semi-regular musings of a literary magpie who is easily distracted by bright shiny things.” Perhaps a variation of that ought to be my epitaph. (Much better than “Don’t Try!” which was Charles Bukowski’s.) The truth of it is that…

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Sometimes you have to raise your voice…

A while ago someone said to me that she’s “had it with the whole gay thing.” The woman who said this is one of the nicest people I know, willing to go out of her way to help anyone, anytime, and even when we talk about things about which we disagree, she is ever gentle…

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Love anyway — where I think The Sacred Lives

My Best Beloved and I had dinner on Friday night with Leslie and Chris, (they graciously gave me permission to use their real names.), new friends who exude a wonderfully attractive kindness, integrity and intelligence. We’ve wanted to get to know them better for a while… Beyond all those lovely qualities, there’s something more, however.…

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