Last night I was listening to Leonard Cohen’s “Going Home.” In that song he’s his usual lugubrious, hypnotic, philosophical, mystical self. The lyric could only have been written by a writer who’s no longer young. You may think the song … Continue reading →
Ah, I see that Pete Seeger, troubadour of my youth, has died. My feelings about Seeger are mixed, to say the least. First, the bad: he was an activist Communist, and even a Stalinist back in the day. Let’s not … Continue reading →
…is beginning to resemble Marlene Dietrich in her later years. Well, Dietrich did wear suits, including white ones: Here Dietrich (who was apparently bisexual) is again in a suit, older this time: But for the Madonna comparison, I’m thinking that, … Continue reading →
The following passage is from the book Robert Frost: A Living Voice, edited by Reginald L. Cook. It’s from a talk Frost gave at Bread Loaf in July 27, 1960, when he was in his 80s. He starts by describing … Continue reading →
The proliferation of TV programs that feature amateur singing competitions has brought out a swarm of child singers. Some of them even sing opera with remarkable maturity, something that usually is reserved for the grownups among us, and a select … Continue reading →
…I think it should be this one by Jay Parini. I’ve read quite a few, and Jay Parini’s is the only one that seems to capture the Frost I sense from Frost’s poetry and his other writings. Plus, Parini’s book … Continue reading →
A cardboard box of money isn’t always what it seems: People are amazing, aren’t they?
Continue reading →…in the Bronx.* And it’s still standing, although it’s been relocated a few hundred feet, and a little park built around it. At the time Poe moved there, the Bronx was not a city. His young wife was dying of … Continue reading →
No, the poet Robert Frost didn’t write anything about the believers versus the deniers of anthropogenic global warming. After all, he died in 1963. When I started this blog (lo about nine long years ago!), I had some idea of … Continue reading →
If you want to take a look back—and I mean way back—at the lives and times of the Everly Brothers, this is an in-depth documentary. I hadn’t realized they were part of a family act in their early teens. Fascinating … Continue reading →
I loved the Everly Brothers. Their sound was so perfectly blended, with wistful heartache that was nevertheless upbeat rather than gloomy. How did they do it? Being brothers helped; siblings have a special harmony. They fought at one point and … Continue reading →
When I was young I came across this book of courtroom speeches by Clarence Darrow. Although I was only about eleven years old it enthralled me, and I think it was one of the reasons I ended up going to … Continue reading →