(fifth in an occasional series on BOOKS THAT MATTER & THE PEOPLE WHO LOVE THEM) Lorita Foster and I met late August 2003, when she interviewed for a position in my district’s English department. It had been a chaotic summer. Our principal was out on an indefinite, health-related leave and my six-member department had been …
(fourth in an occasional series on BOOKS THAT MATTER & THE PEOPLE WHO LOVE THEM) Forecasters had called for up to three inches of snow and high winds the mid-February day I spoke with Abigail Greenwood. A cozy fire flickered against one wall of her virtual background, while through the windows of another, a cheerful …
(third in an occasional series on BOOKS THAT MATTER & THE PEOPLE WHO LOVE THEM) Leslie Stack speaks in tongues. Not like that. Like this: While listening to audiobooks, Leslie has a subconscious tendency to assume their voices, mimicking them with convincing accuracy. Once, when her two sons were boys, they drove to Washington DC …
(Second in an occasional series on BOOKS THAT MATTER AND THE PEOPLE WHO LOVE THEM) So what IS a book that matters? And who gets to choose? When I spoke with my friend Lorita Foster for this series, she confessed to being initially annoyed with my questions. “They’re not fair,” she said, thinking I wanted …
I remember meeting with my guidance counselor in seventh grade and, while I can’t recall their name or gender, I can recall knowing the answer to their VERY SERIOUS QUESTION but not whether it was the right answer. Which, when you are a somewhat bookish kid and also a pleaser, yanks your innards in a …
My Name was Supposed to be Elizabeth Ann 