American Mother by Collum McCann is an as-told-to account by Diane Foley of the 2014 death of her son, freelance American journalist James W. Foley. McCann, the author of Apeirogon and Let the Great World Spin, is a master storyteller, tells the first and last chapters of this riveting book in the third person, but …
Continue reading Fanatics and vigilantes: two books with red flags
Our phone has been ringing off the hook; our electronic mailboxes flooded. Friends, even staunch supporters of Joe Biden, have come to accept the idea that he is not well enough to serve another term. Worse, that he didn't have the stamina even to win a second term. The stakes could not be higher. Now, …
Four days in the halcyon setting of the Tanglewood Music Center in Lenox were not enough to insulate us from the political sturm und drang that erupted this past weekend. I joined others in shock and horror at the shooting of Donald Trump, saddened that the violence following upon incendiary political rhetoric may have contributed …
Continue reading Should the Democrats give up? Absolutely not!
Remember when we scoffed at Richard Nixon telling David Frost that the President couldn’t be prosecuted for Watergate because “when the President does it, that means it’s not illegal.” We thought that our Constitution established “a government of laws, and not of men” and that no person, even the President of United States, was above …
Continue reading Remind me, why did we fight our Revolution?
Should we be able to decide the nature of our passing when we are close to the end of our lives? Many people who are terminally ill and suffering want the legal option of self-administered doctor-prescribed medicine for a peaceful passing. Here in Massachusetts, the battle to give individuals who are terminally ill (in the …
Continue reading Support grows for end-of-life medical care option: action needed now
Let's all be grateful that Boston's bids for the Olympics have all failed. In the 1990's, a self-appointed group, originally called The Boston Olympic Organizing Committee, conducted feasibility studies and mounted bids to host the 2000 Olympics, then the 2004 games and finally the 2008 spectacular. At the time my husband was leading an International …
Continue reading Summer Olympics 2024 – be glad we didn’t win
So, now he's said it. President Biden told Howard Stern recently that he'd be willing to debate Donald Trump. With all due respect, I disagree. I just don't think there's anything to be gained. I have always embraced the high-minded goals of candidate debate: well-reasoned,fact-based discussion; values-driven argumentation; clarification, prioritization of positions. Dignified dialogue serves …
Continue reading To debate or not debate: new rules are the question
Judy Kugel’s beloved husband, Peter, suffered from advanced Parkinson’s and the residual effects of a stroke,which led him to the point where he could no longer bear to continue. If he had lived in Vermont or Oregon or one of several other states, he could have, while still mentally competent, requested medication that would have …
An Unfinished Love Affair: a Personal History of the 1960’s by historian and biographer Doris Kearns Goodwin is the book I have been waiting for, and it doesn’t disappoint. It is an intimately told, stunningly impactful history of the 1960’s told through the eyes of her husband, presidential speech writer and himself a shaper of …
Continue reading Book Retells our Lives with Love, Loss and Hope
If you think today’s headlines are bad, you’re right. We’re dogged by the apparent philosophy of those in my lifelong profession: bad news is good news, and good news is no news at all. Just consider a few of the all-too-real headlines in my morning email on April Fool’s Day: World Central Kitchen suspends aid …
Continue reading Turning down the news and looking elsewhere
Marjorie Arons-Barron 