Visible Ink
When I was diagnosed with cancer eight years ago, here’s how I described getting the news: This, by the way, is how you find out: You make an appointment at a prestigious teaching hospital in a major East Coast city. …
Author: Margie Smith Holt
The Met Breuer Opens
Being an artist is about “collaborating, and listening, and building things together,” says Vijay Iyer, the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s performing artist-in-residence. “I think of myself as a professional listener. Even as a musician, I think of what I do …
Yes, Virginia, Santa Claus Lives in Coral Bay
Originally published in the St. John Sun Times In the December issue of Caribbean Travel & Life there is an ad for the magazine depicting a barefoot Santa Claus in shades, sack full of gifts on his back, stepping off a …
That Season of Beginning
Aprils have never meant much to me, autumns seem that season of beginning, spring… –Truman Capote Breakfast at Tiffany’s
America, My Home Sweet Home
While the storm clouds gather far across the sea, Let us swear allegiance to a land that’s free. Let us all be grateful for a land so fair, As we raise our voices in a solemn prayer: God bless …
Tagged with: songwriting
God Bless Irving Berlin
Happy Birthday to Irving Berlin, born on May 11, 1888. The “nation’s songwriter” was 101 when he died in 1989, having written some 1,500 songs. “Cheek to Cheek,” “God Bless America,” “How Deep is the Ocean,” “White Christmas,” “Sisters,” “Easter …
Tagged with: songwriting
The Old Men and the Sea
Originally published in the Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta program book “When does a man quit the sea?” asked E.B. White in his essay “The Sea and the Wind that Blows.” For the answer, consider the captain and crew of Ruffian, …
The Greatest Story Ever Told
Just in time for Easter, we had the privilege of hearing—and seeing—the Philadelphia Orchestra’s powerful and moving version of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion. The semi-staged work for double orchestra and choir was conducted by Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin with stage …
Tagged with: The Philadelphia Orchestra
Ode to Joy (Again)
It’s hard to believe it was less than a year ago that we posted a 60 Minutes piece called “Joy in the Congo”–produced by our friend Clem Taylor, who died last spring. In a rebroadcast of the Peabody Award-winning story, …
Giving It All (A New Year’s Resolution)
Asked recently to share a favorite piece of advice about writing, this was my pick, from Annie Dillard: One of the few things I know about writing is this: spend it all, shoot it, play it, lose it, all, right …