We continue our book club discussion of Difficult Conversations with an exploration of the Feelings Conversation— accompanied by a humorous and thoughtful look at Claire Trévien’s “Whales.”
Difficult Conversations Book Club: Let’s First Hear from Aunt Bertha
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Difficult Conversations Pod Club: On Being’s “The Art of Peace” with John Paul Lederach
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Introvert Paradise: To Find the Imperial Friend, Part II
Richard Maxson concludes his reflection on growing up and finding the confidence to live as himself, this time in the engine of a white ’64 GTO.
Introvert Paradise Pod Club: How Do Introverts Share Ideas
Environments that allow both extroverts and introverts to thrive are key to flourishing creativity. We’re discussing Susan Cain’s The Power of Introverts.
Introvert Paradise: A Scheduled Meeting to Read Sacredly
Introverts can find paradise by reading a text sacredly in a scheduled meeting with a friend. Especially if it’s Harry Potter.
Introvert Paradise: To Find the Imperial Friend
Richard Maxson understands the respite an introvert finds in the space of his own head in this tender piece about coming of age on an exotic international journey.
Texas Stories: The Invisibility of Seasons
Moving to a warmer climate meant living with a sense of being in a season of no seasons and a recalibration to find the more subtle markers of time, like the blooming of crepe myrtle.
Introvert Paradise: What Our Arguments Reveal
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Great Friendship Tales: Shakespeare and ‘Exit, Pursued by a Bear’
Great friendship tales, like that of Hermione and Paulina from Shakespeare’s ‘The Winter’s Tale,’ live again in ‘Exit, Pursued by a Bear’ by E.K. Johnston.
Memoir Notebook: Three Summers, Part 2: Bucking Hay
Richard Maxson continues his boyhood farming tale, reflecting on the harvest of transcendent memories cultivated in an alfalfa field.
Great Friendship Tales: Provence, 1970—More Than Just Different
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Great Friendship Tales: Through Thick and Thin
Some of the stories we first love have friendship at the core, teaching us something about being a good friend and pursuing a good life.
Great Friendship Tales: Provence, 1970 Book Club—The Writing Question
One of the most complex and tender questions a writer occasionally faces is “What next?” Join us, along with Julia Child and M.F.K. Fisher, for an exploration of how friendships sometimes give us surprising answers.
Great Friendship Tales: The Power of Sam and Frodo Starts With Tolkien
Some of the most enduring tales ever told rely on great friends, like Sam and Frodo in The Lord of the Rings. Where did Tolkien find inspiration for these characters? You might discover the answers starting with his own life.
Memoir Notebook: Three Summers, Part One: The Seed
A city boy goes to spend the summer on a farm in rural Ohio, and the experience stays with him into his golden years, still surprising him with the way it reveals plain and not-so-plain truths.
Great Friendship Tales: Provence, 1970 Book Club—Friends With Edges
We begin our book club discussion of Luke Barr’s Provence, 1970, with a look at the arrival of the iconic chefs and writers to the south of France in 1970.
TSP #1: Luci Shaw Talks Friendship, Freedom, and Love in a Golden Box
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How to Start a Revolution in a Reading Notebook
How can you start a revolution, one little step at a time? It might just begin by keeping a reading notebook. Discover how.
Writer Friends: Helping Each Other Get Published (From Olympic Gold to MTV)
From interviewing an MTV cast to passing along a potential Jim Carrey feature, these friends have worked the writing scene together—to their mutual benefit over time. Learn the secrets of how they’ve done it.