Never mess up an
apology with an
excuse
A 12-year- old once told me, “I love big words. They taste delicious.” I couldn’t agree more, but I am not as discerning. I love all words. I love the power of words and the difference just the right one can make in a story. So, let me help you with any writing or editing projects you have. I’ll help you find the most delicious words.
As a child, poet Charles Simic played in the bombed-out buildings of his Belgrade neighborhood. His earliest memories include being thrown out of bed and across the room by the impact of a bomb, and seeing flames and dust and smoke so thick it was like nighttime at noon. Perhaps even more surreal were his experiences as a “displaced person” in France, where his family fled from Hitler’s forces.
Tall, slim, and perky, dressed in a turtleneck, tailored pants and sensible shoes, Betty Burch Mohlenbrock ‘62 ED, EDM ‘64, could be a woman who merely lunches with friends, entertains in her home and dotes on her grandchildren.
The first time Henry T. Sampson Jr., MS ‘65 ENG, PHD ‘67 ENG, lost himself in the microfiche room of the UCLA library, it was to blunt the trauma of his recent divorce. Little did he know that out of that misery would emerge his “passionate obsession,” a decades-long quest that would bring to the world the previously untold history of American blacks in film, television and radio.
It is no secret that Americans work more hours and have fewer paid vacations than any other developed country. For example, while European Union nations have a legally mandated two-week vacation policy and most workers get far more, the United States has no laws requiring paid vacation. Typically, employees have to work at a large U.S. company for 10 years before they get 15 days of paid vacation.
Physics professor Carl Bender embodies that good old Missouri saying, “show me.” His knack for questioning things often taken for granted has led to exciting results.
As a young teacher in the 1960s, all Jonathan Kozol wanted to do was to share his passion for great literature with his students. So he read them poems. He read poems by William Butler Yeats, and he read poems by Robert Frost. The principal applauded him. But then Kozol read Langston Hughes poems to his students and he was fired.
Nothing much surprises Chris Crutcher, author of numerous young adult novels, including Ironman, Whale Talk, Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes, and Stotan!. Having worked extensively as a therapist for those experiencing child abuse and neglect, Crutcher has seen the dark underbelly of life.
In the ancient Chinese philosophy of Taoism, followers strive to bring harmony to the universe through the balance of opposites.
The day I meet her, Ollie Watts Davis MMUS ‘82 FAA, AMUSD’88 FAA, wears an ivory pants suit, rings on four of her fingers, piles of bracelets on each wrist, red nail polish and matching lipstick. There is just no other way to say this: she is gorgeous. She exudes a stunning positive energy as well, accompanied with a smile so bright that, as Frank Sinatra crooned, “she walks by and dims the sunlight’s gleam.”
A mere generation or two ago, a strong back, stamina and loyalty were a guarantee of regular employment. But with the rise of the high-technology sector and the gradual shifting of the economy away from agriculture and manufacturing, brainpower is the name of the game these days.