“Fall’s the perfect time to hunker down and read deeply.”— The New York TimesOct 17, 2022Oct 17, 2022
Just Pee in the CupWhen I began publishing my Writers’ Notes in February of last year, my goal was to tell stories that focused on others — well-known public…May 16, 2022May 16, 2022
REMEMBERING SWEET BABY JAMESI would guess that many of you define “revisionist history” as I do: you’re dead sure that the way you remember events is accurate and that…Apr 6, 2022Apr 6, 2022
Hunting, Fishing and the LawMuch like the opening of Norman Maclean’s A River Runs through It — “In our family, there was no clear line between religion and fly…Feb 27, 2022Feb 27, 2022
Fallen IdolTraditionally, parachuting into hostile territory has been how airborne units enter combat, but, on occasion, the brass finds more creative…Jan 20, 2022Jan 20, 2022
Rejection, Death, and OprahIn the winter of 1998/99, I was in my third residency at the Vermont College of Fine Arts seeking an MFA in Writing. The previous semester…Dec 14, 20212Dec 14, 20212
SearchingHe was born in the crawl space underneath our cellar stairs. I don’t know why his mother, a stumpy chocolate Labrador named Mocha, ignored…Nov 14, 2021Nov 14, 2021
Norman Mailer and the Rope-A-DopeA bellicose Norman Mailer had come to the Writers House to argue the premise of his most recent book, his case against the Bush…Oct 18, 20213Oct 18, 20213
Superman at ThirteenAs we finished our seventh-grade year at Chestnut Hill Academy, Davis Miller was about to become our hero, the boy we all wanted to be. His…Sep 20, 2021Sep 20, 2021
HandcuffedTransporting prisoners wasn’t unfamiliar to me. In 1959, a soldier had gone AWOL from Ft. Bragg, and the police in Philadelphia had…Aug 16, 20215Aug 16, 20215