Jo Freeman

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…
Cameras and Software Track Our Shopping Behavior

“Basically, what VideoMining does is use software along with cameras mounted on the ceiling of stores to track shoppers as they move around the store and create data that helps us understand how shoppers are shopping”
Tax Supporters Turn To The Ballot Box

As it becomes more difficult to get state legislatures to pass tax increases, people who think cash-strapped states have cut budgets too much are taking their case straight to voters.
Protecting Women from Unlawful Mortgage Lending Practices

“We knew that treating pregnant women and parents differently when issuing a mortgage could be a violation of the federal Fair Housing Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender or family status, amongst other categories”
Patients at Small, Isolated, Rural Hospitals More Likely to Receive Lower Quality of Care

In the first national study to examine care at critical access hospitals (CAHs) in rural areas of the US, Harvard School of Public Health researchers found that CAHs have fewer clinical capabilities, lower quality of care, and worse patient outcomes compared with other hospitals.
Stateline: The Aging States of America

Older states, such as Maine, Vermont, West Virginia and New Hampshire, may have less time than others to prepare for challenges such as providing long-term care for a growing elderly population
An Apology for Demon Rum

Drink can be a great tool for assessing character. I hope my granddaughters can see that you can tell a lot about a man by the way he handles the way his date drinks — or doesn’t — as much as by how he handles his own drink.
Lillies, Lanterns and Sunshine: The Chrysler Museum’s Collections

A New York Times art critic called Chrysler the most underrated American collector of his time. He was known for buying against fashion, as he had confidence that the special qualities he saw in various pieces would gain acceptance later.
Women Were the Foundation of the Civil Rights Movement

Women were the secret weapon of the civil rights movement. For the most part, the men made the speeches and did the press interviews, and the women did the work. If they hadn’t, all those great plans would not have gotten past the talking stage.
Shop for a 50s Dress, Rocking Chair and Unraveling Knitted Calendars and a Persistence of Vision Toy

Consider the 1950s ‘Rose & Bow’ Dress, a design adopted developed from an original day dress in the V&A’s archives. Fitted waist and boice, free hips, 100 % cotton. The dress is worn over a “Superwhoosh”1950s petticoat for additional volume
Dr. King Was Only One of Many Martyrs

Almost 700 miles from the Washington MLK memorial is another civil rights memorial, with the names of 40 who were killed between the May 17, 1954 Brown decision and Dr. King’s assassination on April 4,1968. Most were black men; six were female; seven were children; eight were white.