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The Conversation
The year was 1983. That September I met my kindred spirit. In recognition of our engagement, I wanted to buy her a present. One long-lasting and with meaning. In the early 1980s, two of the most distinctive visual voices of their generation—American graphic designer Milton Glaser and Belgian artist Jean-Michel Folon—created a book unlike anything… Read more
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Decline and Fall
Back in June and July, to mark the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, I posted about two great Americans, one a Nobel prize-winning author: and the other, a legendary composer: That was one bookend; here is the second. Several months earlier, I was listening to David Frum of The Atlantic interviewing Stephen Richer,… Read more
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A Washington Memory
Regular readers will know the main focus of these posts is on books, illustrators and literature in general. But every now and then I stray into personal asides and recollections. In such cases, a lot of ideas for posts are generated by media stories, especially The New York Times (NYT), to which I have a… Read more
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A World of Animals (Updated)
It’s the last weekend in August, still summer in the northern hemisphere. Time for one last repeat post from 2020 before we’re back to to work and the regular (Fall) schedule. Thanks for reading. & & & My godparents, Joan and James Lindsay, lived in the County of Sutherland, the most northerly part of Scotland… Read more
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Stories About Animals
We’re in the dog days of summer now. Hope everyone’s enjoying some real R&R: at the beach, backwoods cabin, mountain retreat, what have you. Here’s another repeat post from 2020. & & & Regular readers of these posts will find that I often make recourse to the works of Bruce Handy, the author of a… Read more
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The Fantasy Writer (2)
It’s summertime. In fact, it’s now the dead centre of summer and let’s not beat around the bush: the living is still easy. So, here’s another repeat post from 2020. & & & The Fellowship, The Literary Lives of the Inklings by Philip Zaleski and Carol Zaleski, (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 2015) provides… Read more
