For nearly two months, I've neglected to post anything here. Various events, some new opportunities, and some personal difficulties took away my desire. For anyone who still comes here, I'll try to do better. Thank you for bearing with me. 

Here are three pieces for this cold, dark night just before Thanksgiving. 

The first looks at a number of authors who used prison time for writing. The list is much longer than the one here.

The second has to do with literature for adolescents. 

The third examines a book about the antebellum South and literature. I am looking at several books right now about American literature during that period and am amazed at what I am finding. Upcoming will be a review of "The Columbian Oratory" and a piece on the Yadkin Valley Institute, which was founded at the end of the nineteenth century. 

Enjoy.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/stone-walls-iron-bars-paper-and-pens-a-look-at-writers-and-prisons_3142011.html

https://www.intellectualtakeout.org/article/lost-innocence-lets-give-children-childhood

https://smokymountainnews.com/aae/item/28031-passionate-about-print-a-review-of-a-literate-south

The article below appeared this past week at intellectualtakeout.org. Please read it, if you are taking prescription drugs, and please look at the links. When I mentioned this to a friend this very evening, she told me that her elderly mother, now deceased,  was taking more than 20 pills a day. 

Pop. Pop. Pop.

That’s a common occurrence in households throughout America.

I’m not talking about gunfire or Orville Redenbacher’s corn. I’m talking about popping pills. 

Most of us are aware of the opioid crisis. As the National Institute on Drug Abuse reported in January 2019, more than 130 Americans die every day from “the misuse of and addiction to opioids – including prescription pain relievers, heroin, and synthetic opioids such as fentanyl.” 
But our pill popping goes far beyond opioids.
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https://www.intellectualtakeout.org/article/winning-lottery-every-day
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It’s mid-September, and I am privileged to spend five nights at a beach house on the Outer Banks of North Carolina at the invitation of a long-time friend, John. Two of John’s other friends, Susan and Franklin, are also here.

The weather so far has brought ocean breezes, blue skies, and moderate temperatures. The house is two blocks from the water’s edge, surrounded by live oak trees and the usual collection of smaller, scruffy plants found near the ocean in this area. The interior sports all the modern amenities – an icemaker in the refrigerator, a microwave, a gas fireplace, and more – and is decorated with seashells, paintings, and unusual furniture. The owners’ wine bottles, for example, sit on a rack in a painted canoe, cut in half and standing erect. The shower in my bathroom measures five feet by five feet and sports two showerheads. Behind the house is a swimming pool replete with palm trees and a covered porch.

​Lap of luxury doesn’t begin to describe this home, which opens its arms to visitors, embraces them, and encourages them to cast aside their worries.

Not so many years ago, I once altered Walt Whitman's line "I hear America singing" to "I hear America whining." Ah, the good old days. Now I would write "I hear America screaming." 

I prefer singing to whining and screaming, which brings to mind a day-care center just before working parents arrive to pick up their children. In a Hemingway short story, "Hills Like White Elephants," a woman asks a man, "Would you please please please please please please please  stop talking?" 

Words of wisdom. Please--such a nice word--copy and paste  the article below, if you wish to read a column.

https://www.intellectualtakeout.org/article/america-bananas-republic

If you are coming to Asheville, you need to see the Biltmore Estate. It's beautiful, loaded with artwork, was designed by some of America's great architects and landscape planners, and has a fascinating history.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/biltmore-estate-the-jewel-of-the-mountains_3039340.html

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To any readers I still have left here: That desert is how my blog has looked lately, excepting the beauty. 

Empty. 

July and August brought some extra obligations. I have a good many writing assignments with different outlets, mostly online, which is all to the good. My daughter and her family have moved, leaving me to care for the house, which is good and bad. (Lots more time to write and read book for review, but I miss the noise and commotion of my grandchildren, and talking to Kaylie and Mike.)

At any rate, I have a backlog of posts to put up here. Here are a few. I'll try to get back in the loop of posting. Please cut and past below. Hope you who are left will enjoy them!

https://www.intellectualtakeout.org/article/retooling-pronouns-lets-bring-back-royal-we

https://smokymountainnews.com/aae/item/27544-any-other-place-provides-lessons-in-living

https://www.theepochtimes.com/feeling-all-alone-youre-not_3027798.html

Best to all of you!

Some thoughts on guns and why some of us want them.

https://www.intellectualtakeout.org/article/lets-stop-blaming-law-abiding-gun-owners

A review from the Smoky Mountain News. Please copy and paste.

https://smokymountainnews.com/aae/item/27376-a-fine-first-novel-exploring-loneliness
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The article below appeared at Intellectual Takeout last week. It pays homage to a fine woman--wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother--whose life has lessons for us, especially for the young. 

Rest in peace, Dorothy. 

​https://www.intellectualtakeout.org/article/living-dream-one-way-financial-happiness