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Category Archives: social criticism
Tom Robbins and I
No, Tom Robbins, who died a year ago come February 9th, was not a friend. Or even a casual acquaintance. Though for a few years it seems like our paths crossed obliquely in the picture-perfect town of La Conner, Washington. … Continue reading
Posted in farming, history, marriage, rural life, social criticism, Tom Robbins, Kurt Vonnegut Jr., La Conner. Skagit Delta, Swinomish Slough, Rainbow Bridge, bookstores,, Washington State Ferries, writing
Tagged creative-writing, La Conner WA, Seaport Bookstore, Tom Robbins, writers, writing, writing fiction
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The Humble Spike Maul
As a day to celebrate, Saint Patrick’s Day is filled with images that are simultaneously hackneyed and cherished. The leprechaun, the green top hat, the harp–and then there’s the shamrock. Here on the west side of the Atlantic, most of … Continue reading
Posted in history, Ireland, labor, nostalgia, railroad construction, railroading, social criticism, writing
Tagged gandy-dancers, hand tools, track work
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Make a Living at Writing?
There’s money to be made in writing fiction. But not necessarily by those doing the actual writing. As the number of books being churned out in this age of self-publishing has increased astronomically, the odds of making a living wage … Continue reading
Posted in Amazon KDP, Christmas, farming, nostalgia, self-publishing, social criticism, Tom Robbins, Kurt Vonnegut Jr., La Conner. Skagit Delta, Swinomish Slough, Rainbow Bridge, bookstores,, Washington State Ferries, writing
Tagged book marketing, editorial services, hybrid publishers, KDP, legacy publishers, literary agents, Maxwell Perkins, word processing
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A Valley’s Loss of Innocence
When my wife and two young daughters and I moved into valley of the South Fork of the Nooksack River in the early 80s, we thought we’d bought into a little slice of heaven. This was rural Western Washington state … Continue reading
Nothing Sacred?
It’s summer, down the shore, in 1948, which would make me three years old. If there’s an east wind, aka sea breeze, you can hear the ocean murmuring half a block away, through the back screen door. It’s morning, … Continue reading
Posted in history, nostalgia, social criticism, writing
Tagged Amazon, Boeing, grocery delivery, hot cereal, Jersey Shore, Merck, Rahway N.J., Regina Corporation, robots, shopping, Wheatena
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Wallace Stegner and Joe Hill–Was He Guilty?
On November 19th, 104 years ago, Joe Hill was executed by the State of Utah. The young itinerant laborer was born Joel Emmanuel Hagglund in 1879. After emigrating from Sweden to the United States he took the name Joseph Hillstrom, … Continue reading
Ivan Doig (1939-2015)–I Miss Your World
Back about 1980, I was introduced to a town I’d never seen, reading a description by a newly acclaimed 40-year-old writer. And it stayed with me–a mid-1940s scene of a very young boy being happily dragged around by his ranch-hand, … Continue reading
Posted in history, labor, love, Montana, nostalgia, social criticism, writing
Tagged Ivan Doig, Montana, Rocky Mountains, sheep ranching, Village Books, Wallace Stegner, White Sulfur Springs
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Trains (large and small) and Christmas
First Posted December 20th, 2013 Our regional shopping mall here in Bellingham, Washington, dating from the late 1980s, recently had a grand re-opening showing off its multi-hundred thousand dollar face lift. I didn’t attend. I’ve got nothing against shopping malls. … Continue reading
Posted in history, nostalgia, railroading, social criticism, writing
Tagged Penn Station, toy trains
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Did William Faulkner Really Say This?
In writing, you must kill all your darlings. Not according to John Crowley, writer of fantasy, science fiction and mainstream fiction. I was happy to read in Crowley’s “Easy Chair” column, in the November 2014 issue of Harper’magazine, that the … Continue reading
Posted in history, self-publishing, social criticism, writing
Tagged book editing, creative writing groups, Earnest Hemingway, Gustave Flaubert, Harper's Magazine, James Joyce, John Crowley, Mark Twain, Maxwell Perkins, Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, The Easy Chair, Thomas Wolfe, Wallace Stegner, William Faulkner, word processing, writing style
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Paddle, Paddle, George E. Starr
Twice I’ve made the approximately 600-mile trip up the inside passage from Puget Sound to Southeast Alaska in a salmon troller–and one return trip. Averaging 5 to 6 knots, anchoring or tying up each night, seven to ten days from … Continue reading
J.P. Kenna 