Monthly Archives: February 2010

Lucille Clifton, American Poet. 1936 – 2010

Posted on February 28, 2010 by kara

Lucille Clifton, a distinguished and prolific American poet and children’s book author, died on February 17th in Baltimore at 73. Clifton’s work was notable for it’s grace and it’s affirmation through her personal exploration of the experience of being black … Continue reading →

Posted in Authors | Tagged , | Comments Off on Lucille Clifton, American Poet. 1936 – 2010

Mary Titcomb: Librarian. Pioneer. Superstar.

Posted on February 27, 2010 by kara

A gold medal in the Librarian Olympics goes to Mary Titcomb. Born in Framingham NH in 1857, Mary Titcomb was an originator in Library and Information Science and a tireless and inspired advocate of library outreach. As the first librarian … Continue reading →

Posted in Libraries and Librarians | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Mary Titcomb: Librarian. Pioneer. Superstar.

Celebrating Black History Month, Old Skool Style

Posted on February 25, 2010 by kara

Originally published in 1974 at the height of the Black Arts Movement, The Black Book is a dizzying anthology of hundreds of archival documents, photographs, eyewitness accounts and observations compiled by folk historians and scholars to preserve and publicize profound … Continue reading →

Posted in Authors | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Celebrating Black History Month, Old Skool Style

The Chick Lit of Horror is Alive and Kicking

Posted on February 25, 2010 by kara

It may have taken a Young Adult genre explosion called Twilight – for which legions of grown women lined up to buy – to draw attention to a staggering surge in a sub genre to the science fiction/fantasy/romance world called … Continue reading →

Posted in Authors | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on The Chick Lit of Horror is Alive and Kicking

Master of the Swedish Moors

Posted on February 21, 2010 by kara

Nicholas Wroe and Henning Mankell discuss the depressed detective, and why Mankell and Ingmar Bergman are called the “Swedish Brothers of Gloom”. http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/feb/20/henning-mankell-interview

Posted in Authors | Comments Off on Master of the Swedish Moors

New Guilty Pleasure Book Alert!

Posted on February 21, 2010 by kara

After closing the cover of Melissa Gilbert’s page turning memoir Prairie Tale last summer, my first question was “When the hell is Alison Arngrim going to dish her dirt? Confessions of a Prairie Bitch: How I Survived Nellie Oleson and … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on New Guilty Pleasure Book Alert!

The House Where Poe Didn’t Write The Raven

Posted on February 16, 2010 by kara

“For the most wild, yet most homely narrative which I am about to pen, I neither expect nor solicit belief”. Wrote Edgar Alan Poe, in The Black Cat , which he penned while living in this odious row house. My … Continue reading →

Posted in Authors, Literary Journeys | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on The House Where Poe Didn’t Write The Raven

The Cellar of The House Where Poe Didn’t Write The Raven

Posted on February 16, 2010 by kara

In The Black Cat, the psychotic narrator slaughters his wife with an axe after she stops him from killing the phantasm of a cat he feels is tormenting him. He conceals her body in a brick wall in the cellar. … Continue reading →

Posted in Authors, Literary Journeys | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on The Cellar of The House Where Poe Didn’t Write The Raven

The Bar Where Booze Wrote The Gift of The Magi

Posted on February 16, 2010 by kara

Established in 1864, Pete’s Tavern claims to be the oldest, continuously operating bar in NYC (during prohibition, Pete’s was disguised as a flower shop!). Pete’s also boasts being the pub where O. Henry (the pen name of William Sydney Porter), … Continue reading →

Posted in Authors, Literary Journeys | Tagged , , | Comments Off on The Bar Where Booze Wrote The Gift of The Magi

The House of Lanny Budd

Posted on February 16, 2010 by kara

I happened upon this Spanish Colonial Revival home in the Los Angeles suburb of Monrovia, a few miles from my neighborhood in Eagle Rock. It was the home to Upton Sinclair between the years of 1942 and 1966, and is … Continue reading →

Posted in Authors, Literary Journeys | Tagged , , | Comments Off on The House of Lanny Budd