In my prior post I featured the late photographer Stephen Cysewski and the influence his images of Alaska in the 1970s had on my writing. His photo of the Open Door Klinic at the top of this post became the memory trigger for this excerpt from Hardship Alaska. Here I’m recalling the second of two incidents… Continue reading Open Door Klinic
Blog
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
Touch Hands
Sometimes words, whether a poem, a lyric or a piece of prose, can touch us immediately upon hearing them and stay with us forever. This happened to me during a Christmas Eve service at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Monmouth County in Lincroft, NJ in 1983. I was serving as the church’s music director, so… Continue reading Touch Hands
Thanksgiving
My upcoming memoir from Epicenter Press, Hardship Alaska, chronicles the events, people and places immediately leading up to and during my time serving as a Vietnam War era conscientious objector. The heart of the story focuses on my two years of alternative civilian service working in and around Anchorage Alaska. My assigned duty initially had… Continue reading Thanksgiving
I’m Not Karl!
Here’s a sneak peak at a chapter, one that’s a bit eerie and quirky, from Hardship Alaska, my memoir coming soon from Epicenter Press about serving out my alternative service as a conscientious objector in the wilds of Alaska during the Vietnam War. I somehow fell into the company of an odd group of men.… Continue reading I’m Not Karl!
To a Hijacker Who Left this Morning
When I lived in Alaska we would often roam the main concourse at Anchorage International Airport at night. You didn’t need a ticket for a flight or a reason to be there. We went because it was a place that you could walk around in in the dead of winter in your shirt sleeves. We… Continue reading To a Hijacker Who Left this Morning
Timed Writing
But out of sight is out of mind
and brings a carefree
separation
from what could have been
the weather’s fickle pilgrimage.
Ubud Dogs
I happened to be in Bali many years ago during Galungan, the celebration when spirits of deceased family members return to visit their earthly homes. I appreciated how the daily offerings in small palm leaf baskets, Canang Sari, were placed everywhere, on sidewalks and on top walls, on steps and in doorways, up high and… Continue reading Ubud Dogs
Ditched
On a flight from PHL to PWM, a bright March afternoon illuminates the view of the Jersey Shore through my private portal. I can pick out Lakehurst Naval Air Station, the large hangers once used for blimps and the site of Hindenburg’s fateful landing; Toms River, where I first felt at home as a music… Continue reading Ditched