Love the movies? Love debating all things God? Sign up for the online class I’m teaching this summer. June 10-28. Open to all! For more info, visit SUNY Purchase.
Search
-
Blog Archive
Subscribe to Blog
Right Here, Right Now
Lights, Camera God: Religion in the Movies
Published: March 2nd, 2013
One Today
Published: January 21st, 2013
Watching the inauguration, remembering that freezing, heart-warming day four years ago when my sons and I were together on the National Mall watching Obama make history. Here is a double portrait of inaugural poet Richard Blanco with Walt Whitman, my hero and, undoubtedly, given his cataloguing of life’s daily wonders, Blanco’s too.
One Today
One sun rose on us today, kindled over our shores,
peeking over the Smokies, greeting the faces
of the Great Lakes, spreading a simple truth
across the Great Plains, then charging across the Rockies.
One light, waking up rooftops, under each one, a story
told by our silent gestures moving behind windows. Read More
Stories Publication Party!
Published: January 1st, 2013
I am so proud of my Stories’ writers! Over the course of four months, they wrote, illustrated, edited and published eight books, which represent the accumulated wisdom of more than 600 years!
Stories From My Life: An Illustrated Book Workshop culminated with author readings and a publication party on December 15th. Everyone read beautifully and chose excerpts that reflected the essence of their stories. I felt so very proud of them and all the hard work and love they put into writing and illustrating their books. Read More
Stories From My Life
Published: November 26th, 2012
Artist Erica Stoller, director of ESTO Photographics and daughter of photographer Ezra Stoller, visited my Stories From My Life class at the Mamaroneck Public Library and shared an amazing collection of one-of-a-kind photographic albums. She gave the senior citizens who are taking the class advice on how to care for their photos and discussed the tools of the photo archiving trade – photo albums, notebooks, print-outs of digital archives, archival glue sticks (good) rubber cement and tape (bad!).
Stories From My Life: Week 2
Published: September 26th, 2012
Our writing table this week was crammed with photographs: tiny sepia photos released from crumbling albums, formal studio portraits, modern-day digital shots in glossy color—all with stories to tell.
Addressing the trepidation of some writers at the thought of narrowing down their photo choices, workshop leader Judith Dupré recounted Anne Lamott’s story of her ten-year-old brother’s struggle to finish a report on birds he’d been agonizing over for months. Her father calmed him with this advice: “Just take it bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.” Read More
Stories From My Life: An Illustrated Book Workshop
Published: September 20th, 2012
I’m delighted to introduce guest blogger Holly Posner, who is assisting me with the Stories workshop. Holly has taught writing at NYU, Hunter College and the New School, and holds an MFA in Poetry from Sarah Lawrence. She’s also a crackerjack self-publisher. Welcome, Holly!
Last Tuesday, under roiling skies and the threat of a tornado, we made our way to the relative calm of the newly expanded Mamaroneck Library for Stories From My Life, a workshop taught by Judith Dupré. Judith, a best-selling author and teacher, introduced me (your faithful scribe) and Mamaroneck High School intern and photographer Grace Rafferty, who will help with scanning and take in-class photos. I will act as blogger, assistant and point person for the books’ layout and production.
Sixteen of us, 55 to 87 years young, gathered around a big table to write and, eventually, publish illustrated books. We are parents, grandparents, authors, teachers, arts lovers, a former Mamaroneck Village trustee and even a local poet laureate—each of us united by our desire for a written legacy. Read More
Woven From Light
Published: August 30th, 2012
Compared with the skyscrapers in downtown Oakland, the Cathedral of Christ the Light is modest in height. Ephemeral and reflective of every passing cloud, its seeming lack of structural solidity is startling. Unlike many ecclesiastical fortresses, this cathedral exudes a sense of permeability, appearing to allow in as much as it keeps out. Since its dedication in 2008, it has been compared to a nest, a tent, a basket and other forms that are rooted in the natural world and vulnerable to its forces.
The architect Craig Hartman of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, a firm known for large commercial structures, intended to design an inspiring space made from light and humble materials. In all important ways, he has succeeded. Read More
Stories From My Life
Published: August 15th, 2012
Stories From My Life is a visual storytelling workshop for senior citizens that I’ll be teaching this fall at the Mamaroneck Public Library. Beginning on September 18th, we’ll meet on Tuesdays from 2-4 for 8 sessions and celebrate at a publishing party on December 15th. Read More
His truth is marching on
Published: January 16th, 2012
While in Atlanta to research Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthplace for Monuments, I photographed two little girls playing in a fountain in Olympic Park, capturing a moment that seemed to sum up Dr. King’s dream.