On this website, for your reading pleasure, are more than 20 Works of Fiction and 80 Memoirs

Introduction to my writings

Thank you for your interest in my writings.  The most recent writings, memoirs, and fiction are available on this website. You are most welcome to read, ponder, reflect, and above all, enjoy the material.  

The complete list of writings, dating back to 1966, can be reviewed by clicking on "Publications" in the drop-down menu.

My writing began with brief memoirs for my children in the late 1980s.  My mother needed to go into an assisted living facility, and the one she chose asked for her biography so they would know what she was like before she became debilitated. Retrieving her story at that point was difficult because the details of her life were beginning to slip away. I thought it would be good to get my memories down on paper before they, too, began to disappear. I wanted my children to know who I am, not just the snippets they gathered through their interactions with me. 

My initial memoirs were all written in prose. But I love the sounds of good poems and how they can awaken lost memories and forgotten emotions. Accordingly, some of my memoirs are structured as poems. I consider all of my memoirs to be essentially, but not totally, true. Memory fades, and gaps must be filled. A rendition of "facts" can be boring, and some need embellishment. And, after all, a memoir needs to be a good story that will grab and maintain the reader's interest. So, many of my memoirs contain material I hadn’t remembered. When there are gaps in my memory related to a memoir I’m writing, I might ask someone for help, or I might search the web. If neither of those works, I make it up. The selected memoirs, written in both poetry and prose, can be accessed by clicking in the drop-down menu on  "Memoirs." 

Most of the fictional pieces on this website are entirely fabricated, but some are also based on real-life experiences, including my own and those of family and friends.  However, they differ from those events in very fanciful ways.  Most stories written in prose are very short, each typically a thousand words or less, and are generally referred to as flash fiction. To access these writings, click on "Fiction."