Rememberist

In Those Years, a poem by Adrienne Rich

I'm thinking of Adrienne Rich more than I usually do.

Rain Light W. S. Merwin All day the stars watch from long ago my mother said I am going now when you are alone you will be all right whether or not you know you will know look at the old house in the dawn rain all the flowers are forms of water the sun reminds them through a white cloud touches the patchwork spread on the hill the washed colors of the afterlife that lived there long before you were born see how they wake without a question even though the whole world is burning

Rain Light ~ W. S. Merwin

A mustachioed Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert in a publicity still for their show Sneak Previews.

One of the perks of being a kid in Chicago: these two had a show on the local PBS station. It was clear they didn't like each other and I thought that was hilarious.

Fascinating (and long) piece on John Cheever and the art of the New Yorker short story

It was a tiny college. Some Saturdays, the professor would call and ask if I could help her run Henry. I would drive her pick-up truck through the woods while the prof had Henry on a lead. He was a fast boy.

Remembering my brilliant philosophy professor. She had a dog, Henry, who was half-wolf. She reminded me of Kafka, if Kafka had been a neurotic Italian-American outta Boston.

Women & the Art of Revolution
Knowledge of the Sacred
Women and Power
Loves Sacred and Profane
Philosophy of the Irrational

I'm now entering my tenth year of fielding questions about him from French people. I can't really explain his rise because when I left New York, that man was just a walking, talking bad joke. Everyone knew of his ignorance and greed. The dissociation is pretty fierce.

Dearest you, I tried to tag you in my post about your wonderful gift. Couldn't do it because yours is an "Invalid Handle."

Berkeley Books of Paris, an old anarchist bookshop, depicted in LEGO. Art and photo credit Jena Pham Selle.

The actual old bookshop in Paris, which inspired Jena Pham Selle to design a LEGO set. It was great fun rebuilding the bookshop on a small scale.

When I left Paris for the countryside, a brilliant artist told me she regretted not spending more time in my bookshop. To console herself and give me a parting gift, Jena Pham Selle designed a LEGO set. For #InternationalLegoDay here's my old bookshop in bricks. That's me in the stripey shirt.

Today is #InternationalLegoDay so here's Robert Leighton as Lego minifigure, & smallest book in Dunblane's historic Leighton Library beside #Lego minifigure - book is "De imitatione Christi" by Thomas a Kempis. Robert Leighton made many notes in this book - in tiny handwriting

LEGO Batmobile set with tiny Batman figurine and a display card.

LEGO Millennium Falcon set #75105 with figurines set upon a wooden table

Hi you! I would, but I couldn't find the build instructions, so I'm reluctant to take it apart. I consoled myself by building few other sets. Do you still take commissions? I'm on a Lego roll here in the peaceful countryside. Oh, and I send you about 6 retroactive Happy Birthdays. xo

Count Basie at the bandshell in Grant Park when I was a tiny tot in Chicago. My mom took me there because she was impossibly cool.

I think it's great that you're bringing more Hanff back into print.

Eagle Valor, Chicken Mind, a poem by Robinson Jeffers

From The Oxford Book of American Verse, edited by F. O. Matthiessen

A collage of black and white vintage photos with the words: Book friends: I want to expand my market in the new year Know a bookstore that stocks zines? Or work at one that might be interested?

📚 drop a comment if you do👇🏻

We got here because white supremacy and misogyny are not tied to age. Fascism has never been something that would die out by ignoring it. It's the political equivalent of ivy, mint, and kudzu. Only less useful. It spreads endlessly, working on expanding every crack in every wall. We must uproot it

The antidote to both apathy and despair is action. Doing anything is better than nothing. You’ve got this.

Cover of "Moondrop to Gascony" by Anne Marie Walters. The cover illustration is a woman dragging her parachute to the ground.

#OnThisDay, 4 Jan 1944, Anne-Marie Walters parachutes into France as a British Special Operations Executive agent. SOE supported the French Resistance to Nazi occupation.

In Aug 1944 she escapes over the Pyrenees. She writes a book about her work.

#WorldWar2 #WomenInHistory #WomensHistory 🗃️

I said something like "two very charming women." She said, "I'd like you to meet my friend, Fay Wray." Then they both giggled and waved goodbye, and off went the cab into the snowstorm.

Eventually, one of them asked me if I would brave the weather and hail a cab for them in front of the theater. Of course I did, and escorted them one by one down the front steps and into the taxi. Just before I closed the cab door, one of the ladies asked, "Do you know who you've been joking with?"

A few nights later, after the performance, I was hanging out in the lobby watching a snowstorm through those big windows. A couple of elderly ladies came over and started to chat. They were hilarious, and within moments, we were like a 3-person comedy team. We laughed and laughed.

At the Public we were young, full of beans, and accustomed to seeing stars. So much so, a week later JFK Jr. came to see that same play. He asked me where his seat was and I said to the left. He went right. I said, "Your other left, joker."

In the early 90s I was a house manager at the Public Theater in NYC. During the intermission of a play, Jackie O approached me in the lobby and asked for directions to the ladies' room.

Yes, and no matter what city I'm in, once I get on the metro/underground/subway I feel right at home. I was a kid who rode the L in Chicago for fun.

Here in France it's called l'université du temps libre (the university of free time).

That's some exciting news. I'm looking forward to reading what you have to say.

Massive pots of food provided by a local chef to farmers who are out protesting on Christmas eve.

They've completely blocked the center of town and a chef is feeding everyone.

Do you listen to Lost Ladies of Lit? I've added quite a few titles to my book hoard thanks to them.

Candles in front of a cathedral placed there by angry farmers in memory of 3500 culled cattle.

They are definitely not messing about. They've blocked roads, roundabouts, and access to highways all over the place. They're protesting the culling of cattle herds, and have lit candles *in memory of the cows* at the cathedral.

French motocross champ Arnaud Zoldos, dressed as Santa, jumping over tractors during a farmers' protest.

When French farmers protest, there are cookouts, bonfires, plenty of vin chaud, and neat stunts like this motocross champion jumping over tractors. There's joy in this resistance.