Posts Tagged ‘News’

RIP: Frank McCourt

{ July 19, 2009 @ 6:11 pm } · { Non Poetry Ramblings }
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I read Frank McCourt’s Angela’s Ashes  way before it was popular to do so, and yes, I read the controversies surrounding his memoir (as memoirs, by their very nature, are sure to spark controversies).  Still, I loved the way that McCourt balanced humor with grief and pain, how he showed that class issues intersect with culture and religion.  And afterall, we can’t really blame him for the onslaught of memoirs (very few of them worth reading)  that came after the publication of Angela’s Ashes, can we?

RIP  Frank McCourt

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And That’s the Way It Is…

{ July 17, 2009 @ 10:24 pm } · { Uncategorized }
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The very first time that I realized I was part of a world that was bigger than my little town in Western Pennsylvania was when the Three Mile Island Accident happened outside of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.  We lived only a few hours from this national event, and while so many other events of the 70’s seemed so far away, this accident, born out of a type of power that was supposed to be good for our country, was right in my own backyard.

So I remember penny candy and trying to wear my hair like Princess Leia did in the first Star Wars movie.  And I remember Disco steps, or at least trying to do Disco steps.  And I remember my parents being tense and worried, much like other parents were during this time period when the Rust Belt was born.

But most of all, I remember Walter Cronkite, calm and cool and reflective and almost grandfatherly-like on our little black and white television.  It was as if everything would be okay, no matter what,  if he was on the screen.

RIP Walter Cronkite