Electronic Music’s First Century and the Theremin
The theremin kicked off the first century of electronic music. The story twists from radio engineers in World War I Russia to Jazz Age New York and the stage of Carnegie Hall.
New York
Uncovering the Secret History of a Brooklyn Businessman
My essay on Literary Hub explores how writing about families can lead you down twisting paths.
Aboard the Doomed Macedonian Again
Last weekend marked the anniversary of one of the first encounters in the War of 1812, the battle between the U.S.S. United States and H.M.S.… Read More »Aboard the Doomed Macedonian Again
Ralph Ellison and Telling Stories of Invisibility
This month we marked the Ralph Ellison centennial, celebrating the author of Invisible Man, which won the National Book Award in 1953. Although he became… Read More »Ralph Ellison and Telling Stories of Invisibility
Tall Ships and Summer Sails
Pride of Baltimore at sea, a photo by Pride of Baltimore II on Flickr. For the book , which commemorates a handful of the people… Read More »Tall Ships and Summer Sails
Young People, Passions, and a WGA Screenplay Reading
In the 1930s young people with little experience, like Margaret Walker, Nelson Algren and Richard Wright, got on their feet with jobs as WPA writers.… Read More »Young People, Passions, and a WGA Screenplay Reading
When America Faced the Sea
Thanks to Ken Ackerman, the brains behind Viral History, for letting me post about another era of national crisis, and a new group portrait of… Read More »When America Faced the Sea
Powerful Woman from East Side: Anzia Yezierska
Anzia Yezierska paved the way for great storytellers like Grace Paley, who read Yezierska’s stories and novels of Jewish immigrant life as a young woman.… Read More »Powerful Woman from East Side: Anzia Yezierska
Richard Wright, 50 Years On
Fifty years ago today, Richard Wright died in Paris, just over 50 years old. From a poor sharecropping family in Mississippi, he grew up in… Read More »Richard Wright, 50 Years On
Decoding Mad Men with Cheever
With Ossining, New York as the locale of Don Draper’s broken home in the TV series Mad Men, notes the New York Times, “If ‘Mad… Read More »Decoding Mad Men with Cheever