I’m risking my respiratory health to get out a dusty paper file that dates to the late 1980s or early 1990s. I published my first book (Foreign and Female) in 1986, and we spent much of 1988 in Europe. That included Christmas in a house we rented from a Dutch family in the Algarve section of Portugal, on its southern coast. I noticed then how differently the holiday season is celebrated in various European countries, all of which were ostensibly Christian.  Read More 

I’ve always admired the writing of Morris Kennedy, long associated with Mother Trib. Now that their corporate owners have de-prioritized thoughtful writers as full-time staff members, it is a special treat to read pieces from him and other such reporters. I was especially pleased to see Kennedy’s tribute to the late Dr. John Betz in last Sunday’s Tribune editorial pages.  Read More 

The headlines in our two dailies were notably different. The Times story ran on the front page, proclaiming “No Child’ school policy is history.” The Tribune put it on page 16, and the boring headline was “Education law revision easily clears the House.” The point, though, could be lost in either one: in December, when few people are paying attention, Congress repealed the Bush administration’s educational experiment of “No Child Left Behind.” Like much Republican philosophy, it was a good slogan with pitifully little thought. The politicians who adopted it have repented, but not so openly that you would know.  Read More 

I’m writing this on December 7, Pearl Harbor Day. Arguably I should have written it last week, prior to the anniversary, but the Miami Book Fair was a more timely topic last time. And the past never is past, so it’s okay to get to it late.  Read More 

he Miami International Book Fair always is the weekend prior to Thanksgiving, and this year was its 32nd anniversary. I was very happy to be invited, as it truly is international with relatively few Florida authors. They treated us like royalty, too, with transportation provided between the Biscayne Boulevard Hilton where they put us up and the Wolfson Campus of Miami-Dade College about a mile away. There were hospitality rooms in the hotel and on campus, which made it possible to talk with many colleagues.  Read More