Change the World… It’s Harriet Tubman for the 20! 20 Apr 20162 Sep 2019 My childhood hero! Why do I love her so much? In second grade, I was a white Yankee girl in Louisiana, bused to a Black school under Supreme Court order. Desegregation,…
Collaboration… Love is simple, unless you have a hero complex 25 May 20132 Sep 2019 Invincible, the musical: Love is simple, unless you have a hero complex Composer Drew Nichols is an amazingly creative and artistically prolific person. (Full disclosure: I brought him into this…
Books… Friday Flick: Advice from a Master Storyteller 4 Jan 20133 Jan 2013 Forget your opposable thumbs. What makes you distinctively human is your storytelling. Even if you couldn't entertain your own family around the dinner table, you tell stories in every moment.…
Incubation… Your Writing is a Horse 20 Apr 201213 Oct 2012 What if your writing were a horse? And what if you didn't have to chase it down and manhandle it? Kafka said if you could only be still--"just learn to…
Caring… Hamlet in Prison 12 Jul 201111 Jul 2011 Jack Hitt's hour-long report for This American Life on Hamlet performed by prisoners, originally broadcast in 2002, has inspired me all week with its deep insights about Hamlet and encouragement for…
Composition… Friday Flick: How to Tell a Story 1 Jul 201110 Jul 2011 A great reporter is a storyteller, and Scott Simon can do that, and even teach it. Here's Scott's storytelling advice:
Books… Rhyme Time 2 Jun 20112 Jun 2011 Children's book editors conventionally whine about rhyme. It's so hard to write tight in rhythm and rhyme, they'd rather not brave it. Then they have children of their own, and…
Baby Boomers… Have you seen this woman? 26 Apr 201126 Apr 2011 Photographer Bruce Davidson took this photo of a teenaged girl holding a kitten 50 years ago. Now as he receives the Outstanding Contribution to Photography award, he would like to…
Courage… Friday Flick: “If I Should Have a Daughter” 25 Mar 201125 Mar 2011 Between sharing two of her own polished pieces, poet Sarah Kay shares her own creative emergence and that of her students. She suggests listing ten things you know to be true.…
Change the World… Tell Your Story, Inspire World Peace 12 Mar 201112 Mar 2011 "Peace comes about when one party recognizes the narrative of an antagonistic party and sees its point. Peace presumes the capacity of one party to enter in some way into…
Change the World… Friday Flick: Decide to Launch 25 Feb 201125 Feb 2011 In my childhood, I saw Neil Armstrong walk on the moon. In my young adulthood, I heard the Challenger explosion by radio. Now I'm raising a rocket scientist. I will…
Advertising… Friday Flick: A Darth Vader Short 4 Feb 20114 Feb 2011 Here's to the power of story! A company couldn't pay me for space on my blog, yet I'll spread this ad for nothing more than the smile it gave me,…
