Searching for Brah

Searching for Brah

It was a good night for a barbecue. John and Ingrid were visiting us in Nevis from Boston and we had a large salmon to cook for dinner that night. Our grill was nothing more than an old propane tank sliced in half lengthwise and mounted on a metal stand. But we’d...
Mr. Lonely Hearts

Mr. Lonely Hearts

We wake up every morning to a rhythmic drumming on our metal roof. This is a new phenomenon, most likely brought on by the installation of our bird feeders that swing suspended from our third floor balcony. Our most loyal visitors from the very start have been the...
The Cruise

The Cruise

It was what we call at our house “a first world problem.” The day before my brother and his family were to visit us in our tropical home on the island of Nevis, the dishwasher broke. It had been fading for the last year or so. First the buttons controlling the cycles...
Greatest Hits of the 1970s

Greatest Hits of the 1970s

James Taylor almost sang at my wedding. During the waning days of winter in 1970, we were living in Cambridge with some Harvard Law students. Our friend Lou – a dropout from the Law School – had just gifted us a record album. On the cover was a skinny guy in a...
East Side West Side

East Side West Side

“Well, they began it.”  the Jets “Well, they began it.” the Sharks “And we’re the ones to stop it once and for all…tonight.” the Jets and the Sharks I was just thirteen when I encountered the troubling reality that two people could share a singular experience and come...