Category Archives: Read, Read, Read

A Most Remarkable Man

I’m proud to share my tribute to Ashley Bryan, which was just published in the Horn Book Magazine. It would have been Ashely’s 102 birthday on Sunday, July 13.  We need more humans like Ashley in this tumultuous world! https://www.hbook.com/story/a-most-remarkable-maine-man-a-tribute-to-ashley-bryan

Posted in children's books, For Love of History, Mount Desert Island/Maine, Old friends, Read, Read, Read | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Dream Count, A Recommendation

After my children and grandchildren, after hiking in Tucson or on Mt. Desert Island, I love books the most. Since I’m the former owner of OZ Children’s Bookstore (1982-1997), you won’t be surprised to realize that books, nature, my dear … Continue reading

Posted in America WTF?, politics, Read, Read, Read, The inconvenient truth about education, The Rest of the World, travel | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Done with 2024

It’s been a year. But this isn’t a political rant. I no longer understand my country. I thought I did for most of my life. Money, materialism, compassion, empathy, and compromise. And more money. That’s what the mainstream is about … Continue reading

Posted in America WTF?, Bopping Around Tucson, Family Matters, For Love of History, Old friends, politics, Read, Read, Read | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments

Locked In

Once I locked myself in the bathroom, planning to jump out the window, swinging on a tree branch like Tarzan or Jane in old jungle movies. I was young then. Never before had I been locked in the bathroom by … Continue reading

Posted in Fight wimpiness, Managing Minneapolis, Read, Read, Read | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Book-Banning Befuddles Me

In the Sept. 3 New York Times I read”This Summer, I Became the Book-BanningMonster of Iowa” by Bridgette Exman. A former high school English teacher, now the assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction for public schools in Mason City, Iowa, … Continue reading

Posted in America WTF?, Fight wimpiness, For Love of History, politics, Read, Read, Read, The inconvenient truth about education | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Adults can still read what they want, right?

Politicians are clamping down on freedom to learn in schools. Isn’t that why schools exist, or is it to promulgate parents rights bullshit? There’s no systemic racism in the United States, these politicians claim. Slavery taught the oppressed some beneficial … Continue reading

Posted in America WTF?, Fight wimpiness, For Love of History, politics, Read, Read, Read, The inconvenient truth about education | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Banning and Censoring Books is UnAmerican!

I’m so dismayed by the banning and censoring of children’s books I’m going to recommend new titles as often as I have a few minutes: First is The Giver by Lois Lowry, published in 1993. One of my all-time favorites, … Continue reading

Posted in America WTF?, Fight wimpiness, For Love of History, politics, Read, Read, Read | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Small Epiphany on Lone Wolf Loop

Popping wild blueberries into my mouth, gorging on the sweetest tiny raspberries ever, is a thrill for this woods woman, this lover of nature. We’re here for the week with Marc’s family at Northern Air cabins in Ely, Minnesota. A … Continue reading

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Kansas, Oh Kansas!

We’re steeped in Doublespeak. In the late 1970s I gave a talk at the Southwest Harbor Library on George Orwell’s “1984,” a prescient masterpiece that I’ve taught to high school students. Did I ever imagine that historical lies would become … Continue reading

Posted in America WTF?, Fight wimpiness, For Love of History, politics, Read, Read, Read | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Missing Ashley

Forget about Amazon.com! All book lovers, please purchase your books from bookshop.org! Not only will you be helping independent bookstores like my former Oz Books, but I’ll be suggesting book lists for anyone who’s interested. My first list is, of … Continue reading

Posted in America WTF?, Fight wimpiness, Old friends, Read, Read, Read | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment