Into the Forest by Jean Hegland (New York: Bantam, 1998) Many of my friends who know that I have been reading the dystopian novels of Margaret Atwood have expressed surprise that I chose to read another novel about the collapse of civilization. I explained that I was interested in writers living in Sonoma County, and that Jean Hegland’s novel, Into the Forest, was a beautifully written vision of hope and renewal. … Read More »

“Worldview”: The overall perspective from which one sees and interprets the world. Leon Wieseltier, the literary editor of The New Republic, made a provactive statement in a recent interview.* Lamenting that Americans lack a world view, he said, “We live in the most anti-philosophical society in the history of the world.” His comment made me wonder about the worldviews of people who actually are world leaders. Here is my list of … Read More »

My son and I read together at night before he goes to bed. We read aloud to one another. For the past month we have been making our way through the Percy Jackson series, which is based on Greek mythology. Before that it was the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. Reading aloud appeals to my son because he loves to act. He is enrolled at Cinnabar’s musical theater for young … Read More »

The shifting landscape of the publishing world is shaking things up in Sonoma County. Local writers are forming new alliances and groups as the impact of e-publishing redefines the rapidly changing relationship between writers, readers, publishers and book sellers. Like the “grow-and-eat-local” movement led by Michael Pollan and Alice Waters, the “write-and-read-local” movement is blossoming this spring across our beloved Sonoma landscape. Dead-tree books may not entirely disappear; but the … Read More »

THE AMERICAN EMPIRE CROSSED A MORAL THRESHOLD during the first six months of 1945 that put us on the road to global domination but made our eventual decline as a nation inevitable. In January President Franklin Roosevelt (who would die within three months) reversed a long-standing commitment not to intentionally target civilian populations during the Second World War by authorizing the carpet-bombing of German cities, most notably Dresden. In August … Read More »

  “What I would say to writers is to make sure that whatever you write is something that you’re going to want in your life forever.”   CHRISTINE WALKER, an artist and writer living in Sebastopol, is currently teaching a popular writers’ workshop called “Read to Write” at Copperfield’s Books in Petaluma and Sebastopol (http://copperfieldsbooks.com/workshop_ReadToWrite_Pet). She was born in Kansas City and received an MFA from Bennington College. Her book, A Painter’s Garden: Cultivating … Read More »

I Am an Emotional Creature: The Secret Life of Girls Around the World by Eve Ensler (New York: Villard, 2010) In the introduction to her collection of fictional monologues of girls, Eve Ensler writes: “You are one of our greatest resources. You possess a necessary agency and energy that if unleashed could transform, inspire, and heal the world.” After reading the book, I had a better sense of the pain experienced every … Read More »

Last week my mother told me a shocking story about my father. Shortly after they had been married she happened to bring up the subject of politics in a conversation. He slapped her hard across the face. My mother was horrified and went to the police; but it was the 1950s, and they ignored her. For several days I have tried to understand my father’s behavior. How could he have hit … Read More »

This week I had the privilege of interviewing Wayne Street, a teacher at Petaluma High School who has written a book about his 15-year struggle with two potentially deadly diseases. For the first time in my life, I literally could not put down the book once I began reading it. Game, Set, Life: My Match with Crohn’s and Cancer (Mustang, OK: Tate Publishing, 2009) is inspiring, compelling and surprisingly funny. By … Read More »

THE WORST CRITICS pronounce judgment without having any specific knowledge of what they are criticizing. They relish ignorance as the cornerstone of righteousness. Tea baggers come to mind. It’s impossible to have a conversation with someone who knows the answer before they hear the question. Religious leaders are often guilty of premature exclamation. Rev. Pat Robertson said that the Haitian people were to blame for the earthquake that killed hundreds of … Read More »