The Dirtiest Word

Fear not, Gentle Reader.  The word you are about to hear may be said in the presence of small children and eminent divines. It will not cause a single eyebrow to be raised when dropped at the dinner table or inserted into august deliberations.  Most people would deem...

Dog Days

Yes, these are the dog-days, Fortunatus: The heather lies limp and dead On the mountain, the baltering torrent Shrunk to a soodling thread. -from “Under Sirius” by W.H. Auden   A few years ago, I interviewed Alex Katz at his summer place in Lincolnville, Maine....

Michelangelo, Taxi Driver

Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, And waste its sweetness on the desert air. -Thomas Gray Years ago, I read an interview with the actor Bruno Kirby (Godfather II, City Slickers) who spoke in passing of the role that luck and connections had played in his...