An exploration of how reading enriched my life in grades one through seven.
Monthly Archives: October 2025
History That Refuses to Die
Until we face up to America’s dark history, it will be like the corpse in Poe’s “Premature Burial,” scratching to get out.
“Kavanaugh Stops” and Catch-22
Racial profiling–the so-called “Kavanaugh Stop”–catches its victims in a Catch-22.
Morrison’s Healthy Response to Trauma
Stephen King (IT) and Toni Morrison (Beloved) show how we can live in thrall to our fears but also how we can move past them.
Stephen King Understands MAGA
Stephen King is the most banned author in America at the moment. It may be because he depicts America’s dark side so vividly.
The Miracle of Mustard Seed Faith
Levertov’s poem about Jesus’s mustard seed parable focuses more on the seed than on the tree.
Old Wisdom from Jane Goodall (R.I.P.)
The wisdom of the late Jane Goodall, as expressed in one of her poems.
MAGA Seeks to Erase Scourged Backs
Trump and MAGA want to erase America’s slave past, including the image “Scourged Back.” Morrison’s “Beloved,” another art work featuring a scourged back, is also under attack.

