Archive for September 2023

A couple of weeks ago, while playing golf with Gus, he told me: “Tell those teachers to ignore the nonsense in the news. The crazy gets the attention, but for every crazy person, there are tens of thousands of good people who don’t want you dead and think you’re doing a great job,” It turns…

When I was young and waiting for my parents to finish their shopping, I had little to occupy my time unless I remembered to bring a book. Back in San Fransisco, as Charlie and I waited for Elysha to try on some clothing, we created photos to make it appear that he was being beamed…

I maintain a list of future projects that I intend to complete someday. Many items are ideas for novels, characters, and plot lines. Also included in this list are ideas for future businesses, ways to surprise Elysha, new hobbies that I want to try, and much more. I think of it as an expansion list.…

It’s a challenging time to be a teacher. Coming off three years of teaching in a pandemic, children have enormous social, emotional, and academic needs. Many are struggling with trauma, the effects of prolonged isolation, and grief. Teachers, too. For many of us, while our friends have been working remotely or in highly mitigated environments,…

Our neighbor, Pat Beckius, passed away last week at the age of 80. When Elysha and I moved onto our street 15 years ago, Pat and her husband, Ken, welcomed us with open arms, and they have been kind to our family ever since. Pat would often ask me about my publishing and teaching career,…

Warren Bennis famously wrote in his book “On Becoming a Leader” that: “A manager does things right, and leaders do the right thing.” Boy, do I like this. Managers do things right. Leaders do the right thing. I have worked with managers, and I have worked for leaders. Give me a leader every damn day.

The Clarence Thomas corruption scandal grows. Lavish vacations on multimillion-dollar yachts Private jet travel A home for his mother Private school for his son Entrance into the most rarefied venues in America Membership in a prestigious club named after rags-to-riches author Horatio Alger He also brought members of the Horatio Alger club into the Supreme Court…

During our 11-day trip to the West Coast last month, we visited a total of six bookstores, including three in one day in San Fransisco. Upon returning to Connecticut, we promptly visited two more. Yesterday we visited another. One of the booksellers, in listening to my kids talk about books, said, “You’re like a fictional…

Pirate’s Booty is a puffed corn and rice snack that my children and students eat often. One of my favorite questions to ask these kids while eating this snack is this: “Do you think the booty in Pirate Booty refers to the pirate’s treasure or the pirate’s butt?” Children insist it’s the pirate’s treasure, but…

Every month I report the progress of my yearly goals in order to monitor progress (or the lack thereof) and hold myself accountable.   The following are the results from August 2023. PERSONAL FITNESS 1. Don’t die. I managed to contract COVID-19 in August – probably while traveling back from the West Coast, but I…