Living a Yahtzee life
They say if you want to make money in the writing business you find a niche and go to that place again and again. In other words, if the crowd loved your trumpet solo don’t come back on stage with … Continued
Mother of Rain outstanding
Mother of Rain, about hardscrabble life in the hills of Tennessee in the 1930s and ’40s, is the most intriguing read I’ve experienced in years. Full disclosure: I consider author Karen Zacharias a “writer friend” among whose attributes is an … Continued
Starting a ‘second life’
Editor’s note: Since leaving The Register-Guard Dec. 6, 2013 I’ve had numerous requests from readers who missed my final column. Here it is: Column writing, it’s been said, is a little like running in front of a combine in a … Continued
The spirit of Seneca Falls
SENECA FALLS, N.Y. — Here’s what it’s like to spend a weekend at the Wonderful Life Festival in Seneca Falls, N.Y. You’re waiting for a table at Parker’s Grille and Taphouse when a stranger leans over to you and says: … Continued
Weekend in Bedford Falls
SENECA FALLS, N.Y. — Tonight, in a snow-swept town south of Syracuse, I stepped foot in Bedford Falls for the first time. Sort of. Thoroughly convinced that “It’s a Wonderful Life” director Frank Capra used its little town as the … Continued
Remembering the other Pearl Harbor victims
Shortly before the 50-year anniversary of the death of John F. Kennedy, I interviewed 88-year-old Bill Kunkle, who had driven the future president around Portland while JFK campaigned in 1960. When I asked what they’d talked about, he mentioned Kennedy’s … Continued
Time for my ‘Second Life’
A colleague once told me that column writing is a little like running in front of a combine in a farmer’s field: exhilarating, exhausting and lots of fun — until you trip just once.After 14 years as a columnist, 24 … Continued
Keyboard Kitten
Keyboard Kitten: An Oregon Children’s Story, has been described as an “Oregonized” version of Dr. Seuss. It blends the story of a kitten, an unsuccessful children’s author, and the wonderful state of Oregon, from Tillamook Cheese to Mt. Hood, from … Continued
Going out on a literary limb
When She Who Endures Me is away at the coast or on a quilt retreat, it’s the go-to movie I watch alone: A River Runs Through It, Robert Redford’s masterpiece of the equally masterful book by Norman Maclean about fathers and sons … Continued
Feeding the literary lake
One of my most meaningful evenings as a writer had nothing to do with me and everything to with my friend, workshop partner and fellow writer Jane Kirkpatick. It was 2005 and Willamette Writers, our state’s largest literary organization, presented … Continued