Liz Flaherty

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…
Eco Chic: Towards Sustainable Swedish Fashion

Ethical fashion looks no different from conventionally produced clothing; it can be exciting and it is possible to construct high fashion garments with sustainable and ecological practices.
Elena Kagan’s Nomination at the Senate Judiciary Committee Website

“And a number of you, who go into business or other endeavors, will deal with law mostly from the vantage point of a client. But in each of your spheres of life, and at every level of responsibility, you will face choices that have much in common with the choices that I’ve related to you today. You will…
A Trip Through Henry James’s Italian Hours

Beauty of surface, of tone, of detail, of things near enough to touch and kneel upon and lean against — it is from this the effect proceeds. In this sort of beauty the place is incredibly rich, and you may go there every day and find afresh some lurking pictorial nook. It is a treasury…
Downsized by Corporate America; Frustrations of a Recipe Cook

It’s not that I use a recipe for every meal these days, nor do I shop all at once on a Saturday: I’m no longer that hidebound. But when I do cook from a recipe, I expect it to work, and when corporate America downsizes a standard canned or bottled or boxed product without calling…
Twitter Settles Charges that it Failed to Protect Consumers’ Personal Information

Company Will Establish Independently Audited Information Security Program Social networking service Twitter has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it deceived consumers and put their privacy at risk by failing to safeguard their personal information.
Daring Pairings: A Master Sommelier Matches Distinctive Wines with Recipes from His Favorite Chefs

Goldstein focuses on foods that complement the grapes and foods to avoid with them. The book covers what he calls the keys to understanding wine — acidity, sweetness, tannin, oak and alcohol — and the keys to understanding food — ingredients, cooking methods, sauces and condiments.
Pew Reports, More Women Without Children

Among all women ages 40-44, the proportion that has never given birth, 18% in 2008, has grown by 80% since 1976, when it was 10%. There were 1.9 million childless women ages 40-44 in 2008, compared with nearly 580,000 in 1976. Nearly one-in-five American women ends her childbearing years without having borne a child, compared…
Lighter Than Air: Gauze Robes from China

Although the Manchu rulers of Qing dynasty China (1644-1911) loved beautiful things, they were not blind to practicality. In summer, they traded their heavy satin robes for lighter garments made of semi-sheer silk gauze. The open weave of these robes provided not only ventilation, but also the perfect foundation for embroidery carried out in colored…
Grandparenting and Camp Counseling: Architecture Things to Do

For a third summer, we’re assembling a camp experience for our grandchildren with grandparents as camp counselors. We happened upon these activities, based on architecture, at the Victoria and Albert site. We’re adding them to our Camp Gray folder.
Did Labor Lose When Lincoln Won? Not Exactly

Organized Labor is the 800-pound gorilla in the Democratic Party, but current party leaders haven’t been paying much attention to Labor’s needs. The gorilla wants to be fed. Labor went after a Democrat who had voted against the union position too often, and who also looked vulnerable.