“Ich war ein schwarzer Leichnam unter Lebenden” “I was a corpse among the living” I was mesmerized in the balcony as my eyes followed the suspended Sputnik chandeliers’ dreamlike ascent toward the ceiling, passing right in front of my face as their lamps gradually extinguished and the house settled in anxious darkness. I had a… Continue reading Elektra
Category: People
Martha Graham
The city’s black steel and concrete-gray buildings sparkled in the rain, their dark hues vibrant; even the dirt and trash-filled gutters glistened as if wrapped in a high-gloss clear coating. Nearly blinded by this dazzling display, I thought I heard an angel speak, her voice cutting through the light. I couldn’t make her out as… Continue reading Martha Graham
Venom and Velocity
My mother moved in mysterious ways… My mother had a thing for snakes and tornados. Somewhat similar in shape, one horizontally inclined, and the other displaying vertical superiority dropping from clouds above. My mother knew snakes, the garden variety which lived tucked away in the stone fence of our rural Massachusetts’ home. Tornadoes, on the… Continue reading Venom and Velocity
Remembering Desmond Tutu, 1931-2021
As a high school principal, I often sought out smaller alternative gatherings and workshops that dealt with building meaningful communities, whether in neighborhoods, schools or corporations, rather than attending the larger conferences and conventions for educators and school leaders. At one such event offered by the Bali Institute for Global Renewal in 2006, one hundred… Continue reading Remembering Desmond Tutu, 1931-2021
Stephen Cysewski
In 2013 while doing research for Hardship Alaska, my upcoming memoir about serving as a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War, I came across a website featuring hundreds of photographs of Alaska. Of primary interest to me were those from the 1970s capturing life in Anchorage, the state’s largest city, and Point Hope, a small… Continue reading Stephen Cysewski