A high school classmate, enthused about Tutti’s Promise, introduced me to a current teacher at our former school, Eric LaForest. Eric is the Director of the Norton Center for the Common Good at Loomis Chaffee School and he invited me to spend a day teaching. We spoke on the phone, exchanged emails, and came up … Continue reading The Student Becomes the Teacher
Right now, in a small forgotten corner of The Netherlands, people are gathering and reading the names of the 102,000 people who were deported from Holland and murdered at the hands of the Nazis. Please spend a few minutes on the live stream and listen. You don't have to understand Dutch to appreciate the enormity … Continue reading Reading of the 102,000 Names
While I was visiting my parents recently I took a few minutes to look at the bookshelf in their living room. There is a section on sailing for dad and The Complete Works of Shakespeare. There are atlases and dictionaries and several art books of the great masters. And then there is The Holocaust shelf. … Continue reading Under My Nose the Whole Time
How do I turn a vague memory into a well-written moment in my book? My mother remembers that her father’s car (before the war reached the Netherlands in 1940) was light blue and had a rumble seat. Her parents rode in the front and when the weather was nice, she got to sit in the … Continue reading The Devil Really is in the Details
Sending thoughts of love and compassion to my friends, followers and all the citizens in The Netherlands who have lost so many this week.
I printed off a copy of my manuscript and sent it to my mom. She has spent the better part of yesterday and today reading it, interrupting herself occasionally to call me with a question or email with a comment. A few minutes ago, this is what she sent: You are able to put yourself … Continue reading The Most Important Critic – One Year Later
Like many writers, I have hit a spot where I am stuck. This isn't writer's block. It isn't due to a lack of imagination or time or effort. I am stuck because I can't quite fit together the pieces of history that I have unearthed. I have my mother's memories and the stories she has … Continue reading Stuck
January 17, 2014 we gathered at the church in Tilburg again. Coffee, tea and cookies were available along with the usual friendly atmosphere that the Dutch seem to delight in. Once everyone had gathered, about 50 people, we all put on our coats and wandered over to Bobby and Tineke's old house. I noticed that … Continue reading Laying the Stumbling Stones
On the evening of January 16, 2014 I arrived in Tilburg. This small city in the southern province of Noord-Brabant in the Netherlands is home to a little over 206,000 people, more than 60% of whom are Roman Catholic. The next largest "religious" group are the atheists who make up about 20% of the population. … Continue reading Why Bobby?
The Day of Judaism (January 17) is a day dedicated to Christian-Jewish reflection. The Roman Catholic Church in Italy started this day in 1990. I am not entirely sure of the history, but I believe it is intended to be a way for Christians to better understand the Jewish roots of their faith. In 1997 … Continue reading Stolperstein and The Day of Judiasm
