Every morning I walk the dog. Regardless of the cold, snow, sleet, ice – and it’s been all that this winter. Indeed, I am more faithful than the letter carriers around here. Buddy’s gotta go so I gotta go. After living in this climate — with a dog — for over 30 years, I have…

Like everyone else on the planet, I use snail mail less and less. Email, like online banking and shopping, take care of most of what I once sent through the United States Postal Service. Even so, there are a few vestigial matters that either require a hard copy or that I just prefer to handle old-school. These include: •…

This is my lyric to a melody composed by Bert Seager. We think of it as an alternative to Auld Lang Syne. Wishing you health, happiness and peace in the coming year New Acquaintance Let us raise up a glass, the cup of kindness, Now, as the time draws near We are gathered in hope, we…

December 25, the newspaper delivery is late. I don’t begrudge the delivery man a later morning,and in fact today I should thank him for it. I was between books and knocking around the house looking for something to read with my coffee and picked up Finishing the Hat: Collected Lyrics (1954-1981) the new book by Stephen Sondheim that I gave…

Join me on Thursday, December 16 at Club Café, 209 Columbus Ave in Boston, for performances of tunes by Bert Seager with  lyrics by me. Thanks to cabaret master, Dane Vannater, six of our songs will be performed, including a world premiere of “New Acquaintance,” a song for the New Year.  The music begins at 8 pm…

The Thing Is   to love life, to love it even when you have no stomach for it and everything you’ve held dear crumbles like burnt paper in your hands, your throat filled with the silt of it. When grief sits with you, its tropical heat thickening the air, heavy as water more fit for…

This fall, I’ve been doing a New England “mini-tour” on behalf of the paperback release of Day After Night, my latest novel. I’m not sure why, but the publicist booked me into independent bookstores only: Gibson’s in Concord, New Hampshire, Northshire in Manchester, Vermont, RJ Julia in Madison, Connecticut, Newtonville Books in Newtonville, Massachusetts, and…

It’s awfully hard to start over. It must be. How else to explain the annual orgy of Jewish “ready-set-go” holidays? Rosh Hashanah, the “head” of the year, is merely the starting bell. (And I’m leaving out the whole month of Elul with those shofar blasts telling you to get ready, and Slichot services to loosen…

So this really pretty, interesting-looking woman comes into the car rental office, which is tiny so there’s no way I can avoid overhearing her phone conversation. And then she identifies herself to the less-than-helpful service rep on the other end.  “Jonatha Brooke.” Jim and I turned around to face her. “THE Jonatha Brooke? we gush. (She asked who…