Category Archives: Travel

Greece: A Memoir; Part 4: Delphi (1976)

Back in Athens I stayed just one night and then was on the move again.  This time I hitchhiked through the hills to the northwest to Delphi, site of the ancient oracle.  It was a long, hot trip, and I … Continue reading

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Greece: A Memoir; Part 3: Athens and the Islands (1976)

(This is an excerpt of a memoir-in-progress of my life in Greece.) In Athens I found a cheap hostel in the Plaka, a cluster of old buildings and narrow streets at the foot of the Acropolis.  I shared a hot, … Continue reading

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Greece: A Memoir; Part 2: First Contact

(This is an excerpt of a memoir-in-progress of my life in Greece.) I first entered Greece in the summer of 1976.  It was the culmination of a grand hitchhiking arc I had made through Belgium, Holland, Germany, Austria, and Yugoslavia.  … Continue reading

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Book Review: Inventing Paradise: The Greek Journey 1937-47 by Edmund Keeley

Just before World War 2 a number of writers and poets came together in friendship in Greece and formed a group which included Henry Miller, Lawrence Durrell, George Seferis, George Katsimbalis, and other Greek literary figures.  Henry Miller writes about … Continue reading

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Staying Put

Since I just wrote a post about the importance of a writer getting out and seeing and experiencing life, I figured I had better balance it out with the imperative of a writer returning to the desk, planting butt in … Continue reading

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Getting Out There

Writing about the brilliant novel “Matterhorn” a few days ago put me in mind of another book on war, this one nonfiction, “The Forever War” by Dexter Filkins.  I read it last year, I think in spring, but some of … Continue reading

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A Slap in the Face

Something slapped me in the face a few days ago, and it took me a while to figure out what it was – no, I am still figuring it out.  Maybe writing down my thoughts will help. Well, one obvious … Continue reading

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Book Review: Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945 by Tony Judt

It is a measure of the worth of this book that I begin writing the review before I have even finished it.  It is also a measure of the length.  It is over 850 pages of small print.  When I … Continue reading

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Stranded

Sunday, December 19th, was one of the most stressful days my wife and I have had in a long time.  As any parent knows, there is no paucity of anxiety when you are raising kids, but this situation was extreme … Continue reading

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