Day: July 10, 2018

I can’t tell you precisely what I love about these three books, as I just got them today haven’t read them yet. I’m excited about all of them. Anne Tyler is one of my all-time favorite fiction writers, “Clock Dance” is her newest book, and every book she writes is pure joy to read. Her characters are wonderfully drawn, eccentric and immensely appealing.

She is a wonderful writer.

“The Cost Of Living” by Claudia  Levy, is described as a brilliant memoir of a woman bravely seeking the new feminism,  and “The Poisoned City,” by Anna Clark, which I read one chapter of online, is the harrowing story of how government failed so spectacularly and permitted the lead poisoning of the water of Flint Michigan, a poor city in decline.

I am sure this story would not have occurred in a suburb of Boston.

Three women writers, writing three very different kinds of books, each compelling in its own way,  something I just noticed looking at this photo.

I will be up late all this week reading these books.

Sometimes, it’s good to have an I phone handy. Maria’s emotions are  many and intense, and mostly close to the surface. She was musing about something on Sunday and I had the phone with me, and I liked this shot of her, it captured one of her many lovely moods – this time, thoughtfulness.

The sale here of some of Ed Gulley’s sketches and glass acrylic paintings brought in $1,000 this week, and I’m bringing the money over to Carola and Ed Gulley this afternoon. Thank you so much. All of the original sketches and glass works are sold out.

I might get some more today, depending on how Ed is doing and feeling. Thanks so much. This will affirm Ed’s sense of himself as an artist, which is so important to him, and will help pay some  expenses as well. I’m bring a check for $650 for all the money that came to me, the rest  are checks made out to Ed or  Carol Gulley.

Ed, as you know, has terminal brain cancer. He is still catching, but he may have trouble moving his fingers properly now, or seeing the work clearly.

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P.S. The refugee/Mansion Fund is low, just below $1,000, lower than I like to keep it. If you can and are so inclined, please consider contributing to this work, you can send payments – large or small – to The Gus Fund, c/o Jon Katz, P.O.  Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816, or via Paypal, [email protected].

I like to keep it close to $3,000. I’m going to Albany later this week to meet a new refugee in some need and support Lisa and her two sons. Thanks again. Large numbers of people sending small amounts is the idea here, so far it is working beautifully.

I am happy to report that Flo, one of our two barn cats,  is better, she is outside, flirting with me as usual. The anti-biotics worked and she is  eating and her usual regal self. When she was feeling so badly, she jumped into my lap and we sat together for a long time.

I think it helped both of us. Yesterday, I didn’t think she was going to make it. So nice to have a dose of life. It was not here time.