Stories of Suspense with a Sense of Humor
The first person who suggested I might become a writer was my eighth grade English teacher, Mrs. Recht (pronounced wrecked). The irony was that she wasn’t trying to encourage me; she was humiliating another student. She’d given us a book report assignment — read a book, then write something about it. No big deal. I … Read more
When my father died, he had seven boats. No, he wasn’t an international shipping mogul. He merely liked to fish. But… But, at some point, his interest in boats superseded the interest in fishing. When you drive past someone on a bridge with a line in the water, you know that person likes to fish. … Read more
The 4th of July is this week. For those of you outside of America, it’s one of the big six holidays here, meaning the trash collection is delayed a day because even the trash collectors get to take July 4th as a holiday. The big six are New Year’s, Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day, … Read more
Thirty-seven years ago, I was driving east through the mountains of Pennsylvania along Interstate 80. It was winter but I’d caught a break in the weather: it was smooth sailing, as I like to say. Certainly no reason to think something bad would happen. My car was a 1978 Ford LTD Coupe. It was huge, … Read more
Back in fifth grade, I started having panic attacks over being late to school. That was the year my older brothers had moved on to high school, leaving me to walk by myself. It was an odd combination of growing social awareness, self-image, and basically being a baby about things. I could have walked with … Read more