A Writer’s Road: 2021 Reading List

The difficult year of 2021 kept up its angry stance until the bitter end, so I am two months late with my annual reading list. Mea culpa! But better late than never, and careful readers of this decade-long tradition may note that this year’s list is quite...

A Writer’s Road: A Great Teacher is a Gift

That’s me lying on the floor in 1979, playing everyone who died in The Aeneid. I was the TA for my thesis advisor’s course on epic poetry in translation. (That befuddled person on the right went on to become my husband.) On the left, is Professor Kenneth...

A Writer’s Road: Gauging Progress

This week saw the beginning steps towards my second surgery. If anything should be a sign of progress for me, it’s that. Or so I would have thought. But instead of rejoicing at this new clarity around the next big date in my cancer journey, I became wobbly....

A Writer’s Road: Cancer and Perceptions of Time

We all know the old joke: What is it about time? It flies. Every day we experience this difference in perspective between the reality of time’s speed, and our own personal perception of it. There are many theories about this, but theory seems unimportant when...

A Writer’s Road: Dealing with Good News

This is a difficult post to write. Earlier this week I met with my surgeons to discuss the final pathology reports, of all which came back clear. The result of the surgery was as good as anyone could have hoped. My doctors are justifiably proud of themselves, and for...