Latest posts
Just enough to keep us going: Diana Athill
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Excerpt from the memoir “Stet: An Editor’s Life” by Diana Athill (Granta Publications, 2000): Years ago, in a pub near Baker Street, I heard a man say that humankind is seventy percent brutish, thirty per cent intelligent, and thoug...
SPECK ‘N U (29): The Cuckoo Song
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* Speck is paraphrasing the first two lines of an anonymous thirteenth century poem, “The Cuckoo Song.” The poem is written in Middle English, so the spellings are odd and the meanings are obscure at times, compared to present day English...
Have orchids, will travel: International Orchid Exhibition
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Though these are the days of clouds and rain in Italy, on Sunday the organizers of the International Orchid Exhibition in the village of Monte Porzio Catone, near Rome, were granted lots of sunshine and fair temperatures for their annual celebration...
Commentary by Emily Dickinson
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I started Early – Took my Dog – And visited the Sea – The Mermaids in the Basement Came out to look at me – Emily Dickinson...
Two men fishing in rough sea at Ostia Lido, Rome yesterday
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Turbulent waves and high spray yesterday at Ostia Lido, the city of Rome’s Mediterranean seafront, didn’t deter two fishermen from tending to rod and reel. (Photo by Rebecca Helm-Ropelato)...
SPECK ‘N U (28): European Space Agency maps Big Bang
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Speck is citing a Guardian newspaper article, “Planck telescope maps light of the big bang scattered across the universe” (March 21, 2013). To see more Speck cartoons, click here.
SPECK ‘N U (27): White Heat by Brenda Wineapple
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Speck is paraphrasing a quote from “White Heat” (2008) by Brenda Wineapple, a literary biography about the friendship between the poet Emily Dickinson and Thomas Wentworth Higginson. The full quote is: “No man can measure what a sin...
SPECK ‘N U (26): Soul work
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Speck ‘N U is a cartoon series that I do. It is often about books. To see more Speck cartoons, click here.
Surveying genius: “Charles Dickens A Life” by Claire Tomalin
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Cover of “Charles Dickens A Life” by Claire Tomalin (Penguin Books) Just finished reading Claire Tomalin‘s lengthy biography “Charles Dickens A Life” (2011). Much recommended for anyone interested in learning more about...
Here, there and everywhere
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I saw a thing of beauty this morning. And it was neither one of Italy’s gazillion art treasures or antiquities, nor something exclusive to this country. It can easily be found in many other places. A piece of a branch from one of the syc...
Walking Rome’s old Appian Way on a rainy day
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We’re having a gray and rainy day here. Reminds me of a beautiful walk we took last year in similar weather along a section of Rome’s old Appian Way. I posted an audio slide show of the walk back then, narrating what we saw as we passed a...
SPECK ‘N U: (25) Under the Metaphor
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Speck ‘N U is a cartoon series largely about books. To see more Speck cartoons, click here.
A son’s tribute to poet-Mother: The Egyptian Cycle by Sheila Alexander
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The poet-writer In thinking about a recent publication of a book of poems by Sheila Alexander (1918-1984), I can’t stop wondering what this remarkable poet and writer would wish to have said about her. It strikes me as a question Alexand...
One of Rome’s best kept secrets: Ostia Lido off-season
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Fall days don’t come much more beautiful than the one we had in Rome yesterday. A gently warm temperature and perfect sunshine created irresistible weather for spending time outdoors. We headed off for a waterfront lunch and a leisurely meander...
Bragging rights: How to Live in Italy
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Notwithstanding the disgruntlement of my beloved Speck (above), I am happy to announce the publication of my new book, “How to Live in Italy: Essays on the charms and complications of living in paradise.” The book is a collection o...
What’s a writer to do when publishers say no? Bradley Abruzzi
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If you have 70 or so minutes to spare and you are interested in the heated, at times hysterical, debate now underway about traditional publishing versus self-publishing, here’s a link to a video I highly recommend. The speaker is Bradley Abruzz...
Rescuing the childhood home of Francesco Petrarch
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View from childhood home of medieval poet Francesco Petrarch in Incisa, Tuscany The medieval poet-theologian Francesco Petrarch is grandly known as the “Father of Humanism” and creator of the Petrarchan sonnet. For ordinary mortals, however, it...
SPECK ‘N U: (24) Suddenly things seem so much brighter
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Speck’N U is a cartoon series mostly about books by Rebecca Helm-Ropelato. To see more Speck cartoons, click here. ...
Project Europe is Angela Merkel’s to save, the writer says
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As she was in the beginning (Angela Merkel) What is the nitty gritty of what precisely is happening with the European Union — the Europe project — in these days? An answer to that puzzle is set out clearly, shortly and sweetly by Irishm...
Seeking insight into the “Greek crisis”
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A few days ago in an email conversation with my daughter I mentioned that the political and economic turmoil in Europe had intensified this past two weeks. Writing back, she asked me to send her a few links to news stories that could give her some in...
