As I was reading The Night Watchman, the novel was announced as the recipient of the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. It is well deserving of the honor. The tale centers around a community’s efforts to halt the proposed displacement and elimination of several Native American tribes in the 1950s. The main character, Thomas Wazhashk,
Author: Barbara
This is a very excellent book written by a real visionary. McGhee has a sharp mind which she uses to combine historical facts with personal anecdotes and stories that she gathered from interviews as she crossed the country from Maine to Mississippi to California. She wanted to discover why it is so common for people to
I was introduced to Joy Harjo through an On Being interview. She is primarily a poet, but she also plays the saxophone both solo and with pulled-together players she often calls the Arrow Dynamics Band. She became the first Native American Poet Laureate in 2019 and will serve through 2021. Crazy Brave is her memoir
I learned about Farley and her newly published book when I attended a zoom book tour. Farley’s well researched reporting on the popularization of eugenics at the turn of the 20th century is eye-opening. Farley’s work shines a light on very disturbing practices that have been legally supported by the Supreme Court (Buck v. Bell,
Margaret Renkl is a weekly columnist for the New York times. She is a gifted writer of prose with a poet’s sensibility. In this very personal memoir comprised of short essays, she weaves together her intimate relationship with nature and her deep ties to her family. On the book jacket, Alan Lightman writes, “Gracefully written
I became interested in Pauli Murray when I heard an interview on Democracy Now with Julie Cohen and Betsy West. While Cohen and West were making their documentary about RBG, they learned about Pauli Murray. Murray’s amazing life story motivated them to produce a documentary on her life, My Name Is Pauli Murray. I was intrigued, but the
I serendipitously found the perfect way to feed my spirit on a rainy afternoon. If you love any of the following–Maria Popova, Brain PIckings, Universe in Verse, Pioneer Works, New York City, unusual music, grand ideas, nature…….I know you will love this event: “With songs, poems, and stories, Maria Popova presides over the ceremonial planting
The Pulitzer Prize winning story of Arthur Less is the tale of a man about to turn fifty. His partner of the past nine years is getting married. He can’t go to the wedding–it would be too awkward. He decides to arrange an author’s trip around the world which he hopes will include a timeout
The local women’s shelter does a fundraising event every year. It is usually at the local downtown theater, but because of COVID, it was available virtually in 2020 and 2021. The fundraiser serves as a platform to show films made by and about women. The shorts are always wonderful. I just finished watching this year’s
I just listened to the uncut version of this interview on OnBeing. The conversation focuses on the pandemic’s impact on the nervous system and how that effects our lives. Christine Runyan is a clinical psychologist and professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. She is
Seasonal Reading 