Making Peace with the Writer's Mind

A few years ago I suffered a moderate depression. I get them now and then, and certainly I come by them honestly, as anyone who knows me can testify. Usually I go to bed for a few days and then shake it off, but in this case, after a month of lolling on the couch…

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God's Three-Ring Circus

When I was down in Tennessee recently, I attended the Otey Memorial Parish Church, an Episcopalian church in Sewanee, and there I heard a truly wonderful sermon by Rev. Francis X. Walter. To be honest, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect at a church down south. I haven’t been an Episcopalian for all that…

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David Blackwood dreams…. a Newfoundland history

When I was in Newfoundland recently I came upon a book of David Blackwood prints. I’ve been a fan of Blackwood’s work for a long time. His images of whales in black, impossibly deep waters and men in impossibly small dories next to icebergs the size of skyscrapers; veiled mummers and steadfast grandmothers; lost ships,…

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