Literal Nazis and the Retro-transing of History

2 years ago

 Researching Marienbad and the Savoy led me to Erika Mann and all the gossip, scandal, politics, and drama of her…

The Aspirational Dottiness of Old Age

2 years ago

Here's a treat for those who relish fiction with off-the-wall cognitive mayhem - The Hearing Trumpet Suddenly it seemed as…

Our Flag Stays Red – Communists and Snore Detectives at the Savoy

2 years ago

In Our Flag Stays Red (1948) Phil Piratin - the Communist Party MP for Mile End - wrote an account…

Water and Light Part Two: C19th Danish Art

2 years ago

The third destination of our Met Museum art extravaganza was Beyond the Light - Identity and Place in Nineteenth-Century Danish…

Water and Light

2 years ago

A wander crosstown to the Met with a destination. Or rather three. The first - Water Memories - explores water’s significance…

Reasons To Be Cheerful

2 years ago

So much gloom, doom, and disaster that it's important to find counterbalances. Here are a few recent bright spots. Glasgow…

Murder? Can you prove it?

2 years ago

I do remember the trial of Dr. Bodkin Adams. My family took The Daily Herald back in 1957 and I…

January, The Election, and A White Cat

2 years ago

Poems by Charles Simic (1938-2023) January Children’s fingerprints On a frozen window Of a small schoolhouse. An empire, I read…

Ronald Blythe, Akenfield, and The Age of Illusion

2 years ago

I follow the art historian Richard Morris on Twitter and his tweets are a daily delight - each one providing…

Marienbad

2 years ago

Every Christmas growing up my family received a greeting card from the Stingl family.  I knew that my grandmother, mother,…