Posts by Anita Diamant
The Morning After
I am sitting in Terminal E at Logan Airport waiting for my flight to Toronto, trying to think about how to explain or describe or understand. The election has knocked me down and broken my heart. I will survive this. America will survive and someday, make amends. I know this is a historic swing. Nativism…
Read MoreIt is forbidden to despair
“It is forbidden to despair,” said Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav, a 19th century Hasidic teacher who suffered from depression. I imagine him pounding his fist on a table in a dimly lit room, shouting those words to his demons. Fifty years ago, TV screens flickered with images of policemen unleashing dogs on peaceful civil rights…
Read MoreI (Heart) Public Art
The disappearance of the mural on the John Hancock Tower is bumming me out. The first time I saw the vinyl “pasting,” I was driving and had a hard time keeping my eyes on the road. As weeks passed, the image became a welcome surprise every time I was driving east on the Mass Pike…
Read MoreGifts from readers
I recently cleaned out my attic and in the process found letters from readers dating back to the 1970s, when I started writing for newspapers and magazines. Each one had felt like an unexpected gift so I never threw away any of them, not even the occasional furious screed. Once email became a way of…
Read MoreMy Buddy, R.I.P.
I am dogless. Again. Buddy was the third dog love of my life. A miniature Schnauzer of regal bearing (he walked on his toes) and a mellow soul, he accompanied me and mine for the past 13 years. I have been down this sad and lonely road twice before: first with Bartholemew the Beagle, who…
Read MoreReal estate trust
A story I wrote for The Boston Globe November 22, 2015
Read MoreThe Boston Girl, between you and me
The thrill of having a book published never gets old. The Boston Girl is my twelfth and I felt just as excited and nervous as when my first came out; that was The New Jewish Wedding in 1985. The “nervous” is because I only know whether I’ve hit the mark when I hear from readers.…
Read MoreDinner party of my dreams: The Jewish Book Council asked me who, among Jewish authors (living or dead), I would invite to a dinner party.
Anita Diamant: 30 Days, 30 Authors in celebration of Jewish Bo…To commemorate 90 years of celebrating Jewish books, Jewish Book Council invited 30 leading Jewish authors to answer a few questions on reading, writing, and living Jewish literature. Today, Anita Diamant, author of THE BOSTON GIRL and THE RED TENT, and nine other books! Go…
Read MoreNo Olympics for Boston … my ambivalence
There are a lot of reasons I am relieved that the Olympics aren’t coming to Boston. One big bonus will be the end (eventually) to the loud and circular arguments about whether it would be a boon or a disaster. I’m even happier that no more money will be spent selling and fighting the idea. I do…
Read MoreIn spring a woman’s fancy turns to —
I am somewhat obsessed with clothes. I recently packed away my winter woolies and discovered that my warm-weather wardrobe was down to three dresses, three wearable pairs of capris and a mess of t-shirts, where mess = stained and pilled. (I must have done a thorough edit last fall.) So I started shopping, looking to have my fancy struck. But in the process…
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