WHAT KEEPS US TOGETHER 0:00 / 0:00 What Keeps Us Together My granddaughter Campbell is 2 and lives about 6,900 miles from Charlottesville. My grandmother, Benedetta, is 105 and lives in Connecticut, about 600 miles from here. I chat with Campbell by Skype and Facetime. I communicate with Benedetta by snail mail and telephone. Unfortunately, […]
RADIO–What Keeps Us Together Read More »
HOW TO CREATE LIVELY CHARACTERSWRITING TIP Photo Courtesy of Bob Dass I take improv classes at The Big Blue Door. Recently, we learned a game called, Present, Past, Future. The exercise gave me wonderful insight in how to create characters who hop off of the page. Here’s how it’s played. One person starts a scene
TIP: HOW TO CREAT LIVELY CHARACTERS Read More »
SMOKIN’ SCIENCE 0:00 / 0:00 Smokin' Science One day, my seventh grade physical sciences teacher announced mandatory participation in a science fair. Up to the day before the event, I hadn’t prepared. Hadn’t determined a research question. Hadn’t developed a hypothesis and definitely had not come to any conclusions. In my mind, the scientific method
RADIO–Smokin\’ Science Read More »
0:00 / 0:00 Caught in the Jaws of a Claw My exercise essay appeared in The Daily Progress today. See below: CAUGHT IN THE JAWS OF A CLAW Have you ever wanted to be someone you’re not? So, one day I was at the gym exercising on the calf-stretching machine. As you might
Caught in the Jaws of a Claw Read More »
THE SIXTY-FIVE DOLLAR QUESTION 0:00 / 0:00 The Sixty-Five Dollar Question This essay aired on this NPR-member station and appeared in The Washington Post. THE SIXTY-FIVE DOLLAR QUESTION The last time my folks visited, our whole family swapped tales around the dining table. Our topic? Marriage proposals: who proposed to whom and how. My husband, Bruce,
The Sixty-Five Dollar Question Read More »
MAKE A WISH A video has been making the rounds on Face Book. In it, a virtual Santa on a large screen greeted passengers in an airport lobby. As he scanned their tickets, he asked what they wanted for Christmas. People had differing reactions. The little kids stepped right up and boldly made requests. One
MAKE A WISH–Radio Essay Read More »
JIMMY THE RECYCLER 0:00 / 0:00 Gifts from Dad Jimmy the Recycler My 87-year-old father is a yard sale addict. He drives around collecting stuff, then distributes it to family and friends. And, when my father believes you need something, he never takes “no” for an answer. Occasionally, he’ll discover a treasure, like the gilded
NPR-MEMBER STATION CHRISTMAS SPECIAL: GIFTS FROM DEB\’S DAD Read More »
SADDLE UP YOUR PIG Photo Courtesy of Donald Giannatti 0:00 / 0:00 Saddle Up Your Pig What will a mother do for love? To what lengths would she go to make her children happy? My sons expressed one great desire as we planned our summer trip to Montana. They wanted to go horseback riding in
Saddle Up Your Pig Read More »
If you have time, please listen to my three minute essay “Biking Whitetop” which aired this morning on NPR-member station WVTF: Biking Whitetop BIKING WHITETOP I’m the one on the left. 0:00 / 0:00 Biking Whitetop I used to be adventurous. I used to be a risk taker. But, at some point, my everyday life took
Biking Whitetop Radio Essay Read More »
BENEDETTA’S BREAD Photo Courtesy of Charles Chen 0:00 / 0:00 Benedetta's Bread My grandmother, Benedetta Boccaccio, is about to turn 104 this January. For much of her life, she lived in a Cape Cod on White Street in Hartford, Connecticut. In her 100th year, my grandmother had to leave her little house. She took a
RADIO–Benedetta\’s Bread Read More »