My First Time, Revisited
Sean MurphyJuly, 2015: It was my great pleasure to guest-post at The Quivering Pen, a fantastic site for writers (and readers) curated by David Abrams (himself an excellent reader and writer:…
Appreciating Ursula K. Le Guin and Cultivating the Right Kind of Rebellion
Sometimes, if you're lucky, you find the right books at the right time; more rarely and therefore more miraculous, the right books find you. After first experiencing (not reading, experiencing)…
Nat Hentoff: Great American Hero (Revisited)
Spiderman, I suppose, came first. Six or seven, comic book in hand, convinced there was no one cooler, no one more righteous, no one else I’d rather be. After a…
The Fall Classic: 29 Years Ago
I don’t believe what I just saw! No one else in the room could believe it, either. Kirk Gibson had, before our eyes and on television, done something so improbable,…
Please Talk about Me When I’m Gone: First Reading, Revisited
Four years ago today. Thanks again to the Jasmine Café (RIP). Kudos to Reston legend Robert E. Simon (RIP) for showing up. Love to all my friends and family who came…
Every Day is Mother’s Day
I’m fortunate, in a sense, to be the type of person that gets more sentimental about the times I read a certain book or heard a particular album than I…
“On This Day” or, Take My Life, Please
The author, en fuego in '09 Remember when Facebook was still new? The novelty of being able to keep tabs on everyone, like e-mail on amphetamines, with pictures (and now,…
Nat Hentoff: Great American Hero
Spiderman, I suppose, came first. Six or seven, comic book in hand, convinced there was no one cooler, no one more righteous, no one else I’d rather be. After a…
Sanctuary
I visited my mother’s grave the first several years for the same reason I used to attend church: it was expected, it was meant to make me feel better, it…
For My Mother on Her Birthday
I’m scared, I said. “It’s okay,” she said. “You know I’ll never leave you, right? I would never leave this place without you.” How many times did she tell me…