~Words Matter~

This Fourth of July a memory came to me that made me newly grateful for the freedom writers in our country take as an inalienable right.

Only a few years after the fall of the Berlin Wall I spent a week in the former East Germany as the guest of a West German publisher who was there trying to bring their newspaper up to western standards. It was slow slogging, as the local staff was wary of even expressing an opinion, accustomed as they were to being told what to think and say under the Communist regime.

During that week I met a writer, probably in his thirties, who had not been allowed to publish his novel. Not only had his work been confiscated and suppressed, but from then on he had been harassed by the powerful Stasi state police. The defeat on his face haunts me still.

'Lest we forget.

God bless America.

Comments (1)     

The response to Hero's Welcome has been more than gratifying. What I've found especially interesting is the way readers refer to different scenes that affected them. It would seem that some part of the story strikes a personal chord or summons a memory, causing a uniquely individual reaction. 

I am reminded of the artist who said his painting is never finished. His theory was that everyone who views it brings to it a particular history and background that 'colors' that person's response.

What a blessing to be part of that exchange.

Comments (0)     

"When opportunity knocks, open the door even if you're in your bathrobe."  Heather Zschack

Comments (0)     

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes." Marcel Proust

"Keep some room in your heart for the unimagineable." Mary Oliver

Comments (0)     

A question writers are asked is: "Where do you get your ideas?" Answer: For the most part, they simply occur.

In the way of my hopscotch brain, I got to to pondering one day on the number of movie titles with Biblical origins. PILLARS OF FIRE, INHERIT THE WIND, THE LITTLE FOXES, THE VOICE OF THE TURTLE, IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, THE SEVENTH DAY and LILIES OF THE FIELD are some that came to mind.

I could have saved myself the trouble. Leave it to Google. Someone had already compiled a list and made a matching game of it. What would we do without Google?

Comments (0)