Authors

Rose Madeline Mula: If You Can’t Stand the Heat

Rose Madeline Mula Writes: “It was with considerable trepidation, therefore, that I entered the kitchen of my hostess, the legendary actress, Joan Fontaine, one long-ago Thanksgiving morning, to offer my assistance. Acting was not Miss Fontaine’s only talent. Not by a long shot. She was also a hole-in-one golfer, a prize-winning fisherwoman, a hot air…
An Undocumented Childhood by Rose Madeline Mula

Rose Mula Writes: Some people never leave home without their American Express card; I never leave home without a camera. Digitized pictures of the twenty-five countries and forty-plus states of America that I’ve visited since my first tour of exotic New Hampshire constantly flash on my computer monitors and digital frames throughout my home, helping…
Julia Sneden Wrote: Love Your Library

Julia Sneden Wrote: My mind’s eye can still see the face of the Children’s Librarian, although I have long since forgotten her name. We will be wise to continue to back up our knowledge of history and literature and art and science with hard copy. She kept up with my reading level, suggesting writers and…
Julia Sneden Wrote: If The Shoe Fits … You Can Bet It’s Not Fashionable

Julia Sneden Wrote: My mother was a mini Imelda Marcos. She kept upwards of 40 pairs of shoes well into her 80’s, and was crushed when she had to give up high heels following a heart attack at the age of 89. Her sole criterion in buying shoes was style, not comfort, and she was…
Joan L.Cannon Wrote: A Family Inheritance: More Than ‘Things’ … Emblems of Our Lives

Joan Cannon wrote: As one advances in years, one accumulates possessions the way a caddis fly larva accumulates grit. The glue that makes us carry it all along with us is in a way self-secreted as well. However, it’s psychic rather than physical — emotional rather than material. Perhaps the most obvious example is a…
Julia Sneden Wrote: Old Dogs, New Tricks

Julia Sneden wrote: At the age of 37, I started a new career as a kindergarten teacher. My first day on the job, the lead teacher, who was in her 70’s and scared me every bit as much as she scared the children, watched me writing a note. “You’ll have to change the way you…
Joan Cannon Writes: Finding the Right Excuse; Committing Words to Paper Because …

Joan Cannon Writes: Think of the poets and novelists and playwrights whose words sink into the consciousness of thousands and even millions and remain there, as emblems, guides, beacons of hope or warnings of disasters, and the excuse (as if one is needed) presents itself. Maybe there’s information or a revelation for some unknown viewer…
Joan Cannon Asked: What is a Book Club? An Old-Fashioned Book Report? A Program Given By an Author? What Is the Accepted Practice?

Joan L. Cannnon wrote: A year or so ago, I was invited to attend a tea given by the combined membership of all the book clubs in the town where I now live. A presentation was scheduled for the proprietor of the much-loved local independent book store cum gift shop. She is a legend in…
Spirits by Deborah Masters at the Museum of Arts and Sciences in Macon

Deborah Masters’ Spirits, whose heads measure up to five feet in height, are clothed in white, robe-like garments, and wear talismans signifying their identities. Suspended from the ceiling by chains, they stare out at us impassively, silently dwelling in their own consciousness. The Little Spirits, both human and animal, have a quirky individuality and engaging…
GAO: A Comprehensive Re-evaluation Needed to Better Promote Future Retirement Security

Congress generally has sought to address retirement-related issues in an incremental fashion. Also, no one agency is responsible for overseeing the US retirement system in its entirety, so there is no obvious federal agency to lead a comprehensive reform effort. It has been nearly 40 years since a federal commission has conducted a comprehensive evaluation…
Are Border Walls Necessary? What the Research Says About Them

Here in the US, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has erected more than 650 miles of fence and other types of barrier along the almost 2,000-mile US-Mexico border. Even before President Donald Trump took office, federal law required the barrier to be expanded by another almost 50 miles. In December, DHS announced that it…
Congressional Action: Violence Against Women, Abortion, Wage Discrimination, Human Trafficking, Veterans Child Care Assistance

Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE)/read for the first time (1/31/19) —A bill to prohibit a health care practitioner from failing to exercise the proper degree of care in the case of a child who survives an abortion or attempted abortion; Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV)/Judiciary (1/29/19)—A bill to establish the Interdiction for the Protection of Child…
Memories of Seventies Dublin: As the Decade Moved On, the City Changed and We Were Changing With It; Not All Changes Were Welcome

Jane Shortall writes: A Dubliner, a girl in her twenties, envies me for living in that city through the seventies. She and many of her friends do not snigger at those years described as ‘the decade that style forgot.’ They love how things were back then, citing everything from our apparent carefree life, lots of…
Popular Healthcare Questions Answered: Medicare’s New ‘What’s Covered’ App and eMedicare

In our mailbox today from Medicare: “Not sure if Medicare will cover your medical test or service? Medicare’s free “What’s covered” app delivers accurate cost and coverage information right on your smartphone. Now you can quickly see whether Medicare covers your service in the doctor’s office, the hospital, or anywhere else you use your phone……
GAO Reports: Health Insurance Exchanges & College Students and Food Assistance

Claims costs generally grew from 2014 to 2017, but selected issuers sometimes experienced wide swings in costs from year to year. Most issuers attributed the volatility in costs, in part, to large changes in the number and health of enrollees each year. Average monthly claims costs varied significantly across issuers in the same state. For…
My Delilah and A New Law Restricting Pet Stores To the Sale Only of Dogs, Cats and Rabbits From Animal Shelters & Non-profit Rescue Operations

Sonya Zalubowski writes: Her name was Delilah, intriguing, especially for a dog that didn’t even weigh six pounds. Was she named after the Biblical tale of Samson and Delilah, the temptress that helped lead to the strongman’s downfall? Besides my own pop culture ignorance — I’d never heard of the song — I had no…
Another Powerful Woman and First to Lead Either Party In Charge of House Appropriations Committee, Rep. Nita Lowey

Congresswoman Nita M. Lowey is currently serving her fifteenth term in Congress, representing parts of Westchester and Rockland Counties. Lowey is a strong advocate for women, children, and families. She has been a champion of education throughout her career, fighting for school modernization, teacher development, and literacy programs. Under Lowey’s leadership, federal funding for after-school…
The ‘You Have a Right to Know’ Rule: Transparent Hospital Pricing Exposes Wild Fluctuation, Even Within Miles

Editor’s Note: Whether you will be able to determine the best prices when you have a need for a hospital is another question. KHN senior correspondent Julie Appleby and California Healthline’s Barbara Feder Ostrov recently wrote about this new rule and found price lists befuddling to most anyone without an advanced medical degree.Even though the…