JFK: Remembering the Man not the Assassination
(The author, shown above, in the months after JFK’s assassination.) By Bruce Farrell Rosen, The recently passed date of November 22 marked the 60th anniversary of the assassination of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy. For many of us of a certain age, the memory of hearing that news is etched into our brains like grooves in […]
The End of Days
By Rowan Keller Smith, The End Days kicked off like any other, with a walk to work. Headphones in, NPR on. The story of a dying toddler, and her mother and her father and her brother. One after another their lungs gave out. A silent prayer for all of them, the thought “God, that’s awful.” […]
Want to Publish an Op-Ed? Here’s How!
Scott Colby, the op-ed editor at The Toronto Star and the author of “That’s What You Think: A Practical Guide to Writing Op-Eds and Short Memoirs.” In this interview we talk about what makes a compelling op-ed, how to pitch and what to do if you get rejected. Listen in!
In Yorktown, Her Name Is Sharon
By Brian Mosher, There are things you expect when you step inside a whorehouse or a brothel. Or, as Helene liked to call her place, a House of Entertainment. You expect women, obviously. Whisky and gin. You expect to leave with less money than you came in with. And, of course, you expect to have […]
An Unwelcome Guest
By Jonathan Papernick, (NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: I wrote the short story “An Unwelcome Guest,” exactly 25 years ago in October 1998, during my first semester of graduate school. It was my attempt to encapsulate the entire Israeli-Palestinian conflict and its horrifying spiral of violence in one short story. I had spent a year in […]
Comedy Act: A Ghost Story
By Meg Pokrass My father has never believed in ghosts, at least in the houses of others. “But here in our house, we do have a legitimate ghost,” he concedes, shaking his head like there’s something lodged inside his ear canals. “Ssssss,” Ghost Mom says. “Now, Martha, let it go…” “Ffffff…” Mom says. These days, […]
Boo!
By Janie Gabbett, In the cool, expansive health club I joined this year, the recumbent bikes have TV screens to distract you from the tedium of pedalling. Flipping channels, I come upon Bonanza on an oldies TV station. OK, for those of you not quite as old as I am, Bonanza was a Western series […]
Cat or Crow?
By Jordan Nishkian, Rena missed the quiet of the morning—before Charmaine’s uninterrupted stream of consciousness steeped through the kitchen like the sun through the apartment’s east-facing window. “I had the most stressful dream. You wouldn’t believe it,” her voice ricocheted against the goldenrod-colored walls. Moments before Charmaine had traipsed in, Rena shared a breath with […]
Fredericksburg
By Andrew Clark The Hyatt Place hotel in Fredericksburg is a five-minute drive from the Virginia field where 12,500 Union soldiers were killed or wounded in the month of December 1863. The Hyatt Place Fredericksburg has ninety-three well-appointed rooms and is right next to Mary Washington Hospital. It has a pool and each booking comes […]
What’s a Manuel Ferreira? Book Excerpt from The Prison Lady
Phyllis Taylor is the author of The Prison Lady, a memoir of her journey alongside prisoners. The following is an excerpt from her book. By 45, Manny, a great-looking Portuguese career criminal, had spent two dimes (ten year sentences) in the Kingston Pen. He was fond of boasting that he knew the most infamous […]