In the stories of my two old friends, both equally dear to me, I see a reflection of the problems of our country.
Blog Posts about My Family
The Grip of the Past
I’ve just received word that my new short story, “What I Learned From Fat Annie” has won the Thomas Wolfe Fiction Prize for 2023.
Ash Wednesday
Over my long writing career, I’ve kind of resigned myself to being a Cassandra: the voice in the wilderness that speaks, or writes, about things most people would rather ignore and forget.
Margaret Erskine: “Taken by Indians”
I started writing Margaret’s story, based on a brief memoir she dictated to her nephew many years after her taking…
Giving Thanks
I will be giving a special thanks for those who read these thoughts, and whose mysterious presence in my life keeps me going.
Digging Out The Roots
Times change. Time passes. A younger generation stands to inherit. One of its members challenged her ancient relative, the present owner, with what she feels is his guilt because of slavery.
What Dresses Meant and Mean to Us
My first party dresses were sewn by hand—not machine—by my adored grandmother, Helena Lefroy Caperton, my mother’s mother, of Richmond, Virginia.
Finding Hope
As I come to the completion of this draft of The Eyes of Addicts, I work hard not be overwhelmed with sadness… yet there is always light in the darkness.
Better Late Than…
One of the most interesting facets of my biography of Doris Duke was the question of her inheritance.
Graduation Day in Snow, Colorado Springs, Colorado
The great benefit of an education in the humanities, now becoming a rarity, is its introduction via the Greek and Elizabethan playwrights to what they called “The tears in things.”