Here is a perfectly splendid 19th century bad boy who, perversely, was probably the nicest one you could ever hope to meet. He’s also someone whose image you might well have seen before, without realizing his identity. And so, may … Continue reading
There’s been a New Year’s Day tradition in my family ever since I was a little girl. We’d gather around the TV on January 1 to watch the Vienna Philharmonic give the Neujahrskonzert, the New Year Concert, a joyous thing … Continue reading
In my own particular mental map of the modern novel’s river, the watershed is Jane Austen. Her books were romantic, but she was not writing romance as it later came to be understood. Romance in the early sense could be … Continue reading
Robin Hood’s Merry Men: Robin Hood To wind up this romp through Sherwood Forest, I’m giving you a sketch of Robin Hood himself, the heart and soul of legend, ballads, poetry, folklore, and modern media. Robert Locksley, displaced Earl of … Continue reading
These days there has been a lot of talk about daring narrative voices and experimental playing with fiction and truth (as in real life experience, to skirt around the gigantic elephant of what constitutes “truth”), and it’s great that more … Continue reading
ROBIN HOOD AND HIS MERRY MEN: Maid Marian Strong women who are ready to defend themselves and their loved ones with mannish weapons are often called Amazons. Or a virago. In modern literature we call them kick-ass heroines. Enter Maid … Continue reading
Oh, the burdens of living in an area that’s been inhabited since the Neolithic. All the good citizens of Saintes, a small city near the Atlantic coast of France, dreamed of was a nice golf course. A suitable site was … Continue reading
ROBIN HOOD’S MERRY MEN: Alan a Dale Here we go again with the multiple spellings of character names. Alan is the current favorite, but Allen, Alen, Allin and others also appear. In my book, the sequel to Walk the Wild … Continue reading
ROBIN HOOD AND HIS MERRY MEN” Muche the Miller’s Son This is probably one of the hardest essays for me to write because until very recently I had never heard of Muche, or Midge, the Miller’s Son in connection to … Continue reading
On Veterans Day, as we honor all who have served in the military, let’s look at the seldom-mentioned contributions of nurse cadets during WWII. Because of a crisis shortage of qualified nurses during the World War II, a new program … Continue reading
