A debate is underway in the U.S. about education, with ramifications extending to social policy for alleviating poverty, or at least for improving the ability of the next generation to escape from poverty. In some respects it is a variation on the nature vs. nurture debate. Since at least the [...] Continue reading »
How to Live a Cultured Life
How does one lead a good life? What does it mean to be a good person? These are profound questions that any thoughtful person worthy of that adjective regularly explores. Anton Chekhov (1860-1904), in the below letter to his older brother Nikolai, reflected on cultured people and identified eight qualities [...] Continue reading »
Punching Holes toward Peace
During my recent stay in Old Jerusalem I found myself in need of a paper-hole punch to help organize manuscript pages for the play I was working on. (I work on my writing every day, whether on the road or in my Seattle apartment.) It wasn’t critical that I obtain [...] Continue reading »
Bill Murray’s SavvyShack
The New York Times recently published an insightful interview with the actor Bill Murray. Part of the publicity surrounding the release of his latest film, “Hyde Park on Hudson,” the interview ranged far wider. The 62-year-old actor appears blessed (though it can at times also be a curse) with a [...] Continue reading »
Misery Loves Artists
I stumbled upon this list and thought it was terrific. It was posted on the blog of Emma Macleod, a visual artist in Edinburgh, Scotland. This list hangs in her studio as a reminder of toxic activities. Think of them as art’s equivalent of all those tobacco cautions: “WARNING: Cigarettes [...] Continue reading »
Meet Me at the Roulette Wheel
I was a serial entrepreneur for the 30 year-period of 1979 to 2009. For a time in the early 1990s a company I had founded and was leading enjoyed strong growth and profits. I was so brilliant. I had started other companies before that had survived infancy and became modestly [...] Continue reading »
Death Be Not Enervating
I often think about death. Some reasons are my father’s early death, my daily writing work and my agnostic uncertainty about the hereafter. I also suspect that it’s just the warp of my basic personality to keep mortality mounted on a prominent easel. My hunch is that most people view [...] Continue reading »
A Mugging Knocks Characters About
Contingency – the outsized role that chance plays in our lives – is the focus of Penelope Lively’s fine new novel, How It All Began. Lively, one of Britain’s most popular novelists, has long been interested in the subject. Her 2005 anti-memoir Making It Up, which I also enjoyed, imagined [...] Continue reading »
Winning the Lottery
Adaptability is an important human trait. As years go by, our views can change, even the most fundamental ones. Take nature vs. nurture. I began adulthood believing that nurture (family, community, early education, environment) trumped nature (our genetic and neurological hard-wiring) but I’ve since switched their roles so that I [...] Continue reading »
You Are Invited To My Funeral
I will die July 20, 2032. Please note that in your calendar. If you don’t believe this 61-year old author, just visit the U.S. Social Security website and plug a few numbers into a “Life Expectancy Calculator.” And while you’re there you might want to see how much time you have [...] Continue reading »