“Sandinista” is the word they used to use here for people who wanted progress and disagreed with the old President. One could not afford to voice such disagreement but “Sandinistas” could be identified if one looked closely. They would flash covert signs of comprehension. As you will remember, sandinistas were clandestine. I learned from the … More “Sandinista”
That was Shenandoah, whose smiling valley I long to see. Now, as promised, we will talk briefly about this piece, by a valuable person but one more conservative than I. 1/- My general complaint about all columns like this is that people keep explaining how to write and exhorting to move “anywhere,” but evade the … More Shenandoah
Here is a bronze statue of one of my ancestors. I could visit it in Vicksburg. That is one of those places where, when I go through, I can hardly believe I am there. It serves espresso now but Mark Twain would recognize it. Like Natchez it stands on bluffs above the Mississippi, on U.S. … More Vicksburg Blues
Every once in a while I spy on my grandfather’s family. They were the lords of Wye House in Easton, Maryland, est. 1659. This was where Frederick Douglass grew up, back when he was just Fred Baily. He describes my ancestors in his Narrative. Wye House was known for its hospitality, having housed among many … More Frederick Douglass
Everyone in the writing group is getting more done than I am and seems to have a more stable life than I, and is probably putting more rational time into work as well. I know how it feels to have a slightly better situation and I am half envious but mostly ashamed that we are … More Planctus on my twisted ego
That turns out to be one of the types of shoe I am allowed to wear. There is this too, more elegant in person than in the photograph. I tried it on in the store and then ordered it online for $46. I could not get a ticket for Lincoln, although I tried, and New … More Et voilà
I have to go, I am late, but these are the things I want to discuss: – Astrology for academic job seekers. I am not joking. Location matters a great deal, for instance, although not in the ways people claim. There is a great deal else you can learn from your chart about what to … More Being and Place
I always wanted to, always liked the people who had two. Here is a program that may be of interest to you or yours, taught in beautiful places. Astrid Fellner from the University of the Saarland in Saarbrücken, Germany announces that as part of an International Graduate School on “Diversity: Mediating Difference in Transcultural Space” … More Let’s do another Ph.D!
In December or January I may go here. It is a long drive but it is still a modest proposal monetarily, and a major adventure. If the weather turned terrible, I could take refuge in the eccentric towns of Terlingua and Marathon. I would hike in the daytime and write, and read or talk to … More Clear western light
The atmosphere in Jorge Isaacs’ novel María is truly right wing. We know he was a conservative, and that the novel is set on a plantation, but I had not read it since spending some time every week for several years chatting with some well-heeled conservative Christians and beginning to understand the gestalt of their … More María
