JosieHolford 
Anna Dillon posted a tweet in tribute and thanks to the BBC on its 100th anniversary. My thank-you list would be a little different but it too would begin with Listen With Mother. It was my first radio program and was a part of a cherished time. To be accurate, I would have to rename … Read more
Gloomy drizzly start for today so time to remember some recent sunshine and shadows. Covid-19 testing tents are all up and down Broadway with a whole cluster close to Columbia University. This one left – is at 113th Street. Photos here of Wave Hill in the Bronx, the Metropolitan Museum Cloisters in Manhattan, Untermeyer Gardens … Read more
There’s a lovely exhibit currently on show at the Morgan Library. It’s the work of artist-illustrator Ashley Bryan (see below for the Morgan’s description.) Many of the pieces are collages in the vibrant colors of the kind of elementary school construction paper. I could imagine school group trips and the response to the words and … Read more
Are you all sitty comftybold two-square on your botty? Then I’ll begin. If you’re a Brit of a certain vintage then you will be familiar with the delights of “Professor” Stanley Unwin. Unwin was an expert in Unwinese – a personal mangled language worthy of James Joyce and Finnegan’s Wake. He was also a comic … Read more
Last week saw a short foray into Connecticut. This included a day at Hammonasset Beach State Park, a dip in the sea (Long Island Sound), and a visit to the Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme. The weather cooperated, the days were sunny and the rain confined itself to overnight and early morning. The beach … Read more
Poetry is critical to a complete understanding of the First World War because in the years leading up to and including the war, poetry played a central role in public and private life. Constance Ruzich, in the introduction to the anthology. It was Paul Fussell who showed us that the young British officer class that … Read more
It’s all a long time ago now but I spent the summer of 1969 playing. With a shiny new degree in Eng.Lit and headed to London University in September to qualify as a teacher. I saw this notice in the college student handout. I went up to London for the weekend, met Rhaune Laslett, spent … Read more
Summer in the City Hot town, summer in the city Back of my neck getting dirty and gritty Been down, isn’t it a pity? Doesn’t seem to be a shadow in the city All around, people looking half dead Walking on the sidewalk, hotter than a match head … Read more
I once shared the idea that ‘cellar door’ was considered by some to be the most beautiful sounding phrase in the English language. The sixth grade thought this was ridiculous and soon put me right. I remember “holy macaroni” being one of their top contenders. Language changes and feelings about words change. Even the most … Read more
Together with half of the known universe, I added Wordle to my daily routine. I was first aware of it when I saw those funny-looking grids appear on Twitter as folks announced their score for the day. Wordle – in case you don’t know is a five-letter word game where you discover the word with … Read more
My heart sinks down when I behold A rainbow in the street. With the end of June, in sight, I’m hoping for a break from the corporate waterboarding of the rainbow flag and its ever-morphing journey toward meaninglessness and cultural oblivion. With all this “pride”, eleven months of shame might be a relief. I realize … Read more
“I like to show the beauty of things that no one looks at twice.” — Eliot Hodgkin In a letter written … Read more
This tweet about toasting marshmallows on a fire stoked with Harry Potters brought to mind an odd incident from my childhood. To the amusement of the world, my home town decided to ban a classic of medieval Italian literature as obscene and pornographic. The year was 1954 and book was Boccaccio’s Decameron. Until that point … Read more
Now that the odious Matt Walsh has given us the answer to “What is a Woman?” we must now turn to the male of the species and ask: What is a man? According to Walsh, by the way, a woman is someone who needs a man to open a pickle jar. This information comes right … Read more
With so many books and so little time, it helps to have a little guidance. It also helps when two or even three books can be read simultaneously – thus saving the reader valuable time for even more books. Here then is my current recommended reading list. Something for everyone here. Old Favorites Rediscovered Steppenwolf … Read more