Sharon Kapnick
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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1940 Census Questions: If unmarried, are you a virgin? Are you a blonde or brunette? Do you own a Bible?
The 1940 Census is a unique Census in our history — the first to include questions that were asked only of a subset of the population, chosen through a near-random scheme. In addition to the questions on age, sex, race, and relationship to the householder were questions about the value of the home, living on…
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The Perilous Paradox: Women, Retirement, and the Extra-Long Life
The study examines the thinking and practices of mature women, ages 50 to 70, in the context of the “extra” challenges they may experience in retirement. Women expect to live until age 85, some until age 90, and are more concerned than men about affording health care, long-term care and outliving their assets.
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Birdsongs Keep Pace with City Life; Whistling the same tune and turning up the volume
Michele McDonald writes: “We’ve created this artificial world, although one could say it’s the real world now, with all this noise — traffic, leaf blowers, air conditioners,” David Luther says. “A lot of birds are living in these areas, and what, if anything, is this doing to their songs?”
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Consumers Have a Right to Know What is in Their Products: House Panel Focuses on Cosmetics Industry Regulation
“Cosmetics firms are responsible for substantiating the safety of their products and ingredients before marketing. However, they are not required to submit safety substantiation data to the agency, nor make it available to the agency.”
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House Committee Passes Interstate Abortion Bill
The Judiciary Committee defeated amendments to the Act that would: Exempt from the prohibition situations where the minor becomes pregnant as a result of incest or rape; where the minor received an abortion to protect her health; waive the parental notification requirement if informing the parent of the pregnancy or abortion would endanger the safety…
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New Deal Numerology: A Bad Prognosis
10 million … is a pushy number. That’s how many people the ACA would add to Medicaid rolls, with the federal government covering most of the costs. But opponents claim offering all that money, even as a gift, would be “coercive” — unless it went to a Super PAC, which would make it a triumph…
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“While These Visions Did Appear”: Shakespeare on Canvas
A campus-wide, term-long series of exhibitions, plays, concerts, film, and lectures will celebrate the university’s wealth of resources for the study and enjoyment of the works of William Shakespeare
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The Gender Gap; Three Decades Old, as Wide as Ever
There are several clusters of issues on which men and women divide, including views of government and its role. Yet gender differences do not follow a predictable pattern. On social issues, for instance, there is a wide gender gap in views of gay marriage, but not abortion
