What a fine, albeit too short, summer! Close friends and family came to visit; two middle-aged, female miniature Sicilian donkeys, Molly and Tuxedo, came to stay; an indoor bathroom became a reality; and I did a lot of writing.
Since April, I’ve been working on a memoir exploring the life and death of our daughter, Kirsten Shoshana. It’s been an emotionally wrenching project but one that I hope will make a small contribution to the personal literature of chronic illness and its impact on family dynamics. My plan is to finish the first draft by the end of the year and then to rewrite. With a good tailwind, I should have it off to a publisher by this time next year.
With the end of summer, comes the start of renewed activity for my first compilation of short fiction, Gone to Ground. Judy Rosales, who continues to manage the book’s promotion, has arranged for it to be featured at the Sonoma County Book Festival on Saturday, September 19. If you are in the neighborhood of the Old Courthouse in Santa Rosa between 10:00 and 4:00, please stop by!
The next afternoon (Sunday, September 20), a full-length play that I’ve worked on for several years will be afforded a public reading by the Pegasus Theatre Company in Guerneville. In Defense of Beauty tells the story of my second cousin, M. Jean Herman’s, principled, but eccentric, battle to remain in her tiny, rent-controlled apartment across from Bloomingdale's on Manhattan’s East Side. The largest real-estate development corporation in the United States needs Jean to move so they can knock down her building and construct a high-rise office tower. Jean holds out and stays, but pays an enormous price for victory.
The play will be read by actors Lois Pearlman and John Rowan. The reading will take place at 4:00 PM at the River Lane Resort in Guerneville, CA. There is no admission fee and the public is invited.
Finally (and a while off), I'll be reading from Gone to Ground and signing books at the Petaluma Branch of the Sonoma County Public Library. The date is October 8th from 7:00 to 9:00 PM. Mark your calendar!
Enjoy the rest of summer!
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