The New Yorker, 2/22/2021: Tom Stoppard’s Charmed and Haunted Life

A new biography enables us to see beneath the intellectual dazzle of the playwright’s work. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/03/01/tom-stoppards-charmed-and-haunted-life

WSJ, 2/19/21: ‘Tom Stoppard’ Review: A Playwright in Arcadia

Tragedy marked the writer’s early life, but his career has been a celebration of the gifts of intellect and freedom. https://www.wsj.com/articles/tom-stoppard-review-a-playwright-in-arcadia-11613751450

Shine On, You Crazy Diamond

https://youtu.be/5uiVpxDuAhc The short story is that we survived the winter storm. Arkansas didn't have it as bad as Texas, as you probably know. I have kin in Texas and it was pretty bad there. My brother and my aunt live in what Texans call the Metroplex, the area between and around Dallas and Fort Worth. …

The Atlantic: Tom Stoppard’s Double Life

A review of Hermione Lee's new biography GB. ENGLAND. Buckinghamshire. British playwright Tom STOPPARD. 1977. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/03/tom-stoppard-hermione-lee/617799/

Homeward Bound

Home, where my music's playing... https://youtu.be/HAnj2fyjxRw I usually start these emails to you with a pretty good idea of what I'm going to cover and how I'm going to cover it. I have a cache of notes I organize and re-organize into a letter, embed links, illustrate it, and then it ships. This week, I'm …

With a circus mind that’s running round

Covers that might be better than the original https://youtu.be/An4uDegHB8s Well she's walking, through the cloudsWith a circus mind that's running roundButterflies and zebrasAnd moonbeamsAnd-a, fairytalesThat's all she ever thinks aboutRiding with the wind What Was I Doing? It started out as a quiet week for Mom and me, before the insurrection in Washington DC took …

The Little Feat Edition: Just Give Me One Clear Moment

https://youtu.be/ibEasyrrjH4 Give Me Just One Clear Moment, I Will Turn Your Head Around. Today is Wednesday, I think. Let me check my cellphone. Living as I do, with only one major obligation, taking care of my mother, the days tend to blur and I get to be as bad as my mother is keeping track …

The Home Ownership Edition.

https://youtu.be/HoRkntoHkIE Oh, the joys of home ownership, the American dream. A million years, ago, when my first daughter was born, we lived in a co-op in White Plains, NY. From there we moved to a rental in Lafayette, Calif. where we had our second daughter, and then, from there, into a house in Dublin, Calif. …

The “Our House” Edition

https://youtu.be/tKYjUn-SBcg No Cats. No Flowers. Ok. We don't have two cats in the yard and we rarely have flowers in a vase, but Mom and I muddle through somehow. This past week was eventful for the household and unexpectedly expensive. On Wednesday, I noticed a puddle of water on the kitchen counter where we keep …

The Homeward Bound Edition

https://youtu.be/m0oJ8_VTu3c Homeward Bound. September 1981. I had been in NYC for a couple of months. Found a cool job. Found an apartment (Astoria). Simon and Garfunkel play a concert on the Great Lawn at Central Park. Life is good. There turns out to be a light rain near the end of the concert but the …