Skip to main content

Celebrating and Missing Our Mothers This Week

I have been so moved by so many responses to What My Mother Gave Me, from radio broadcasters to this email from the director of a senior center in Connecticut: 

 "This morning over coffee, I was sitting with a few members talking about your book, What My Mother Gave Me, and the reactions were priceless. The conversation was difficult for some, joyful for others and appreciated by all. Especially for our older seniors, talking about their own  mothers is now a  relative rarity.  Our book discussion group has added the collection to their list for this summer."

 Wednesday, May 8, contributor Cecilia Muñoz and I talk to NPR's Michel Martin, on her show "Tell Me More," during the last third of the hour. Please check here to find out what time the show airs on your local NPR station. 

 Among the many new reviews are this one from Ladies Home Journal, which recommends giving a box of tissues with the book. And these words from FIRST for Women, May 20th issue, print only: 

 "'It may sound corny, but my mom really is my best friend,' shares FIRST assistant editor Cassandra Zink. 'So when I saw this collection, I couldn't resist picking it up... My favorite essay was by Rev. Lillian Daniel, who shared how she learned to see the beauty in broken things... It made me think of all the wonderful things my mother had given me."

 Tonight, May 7, a group of us will talk and read at the New York Society Library at 6.30, 53 E. 79th St. Join Margo Jefferson, Martha McPhee, and Roxana Robinson. 

 Thursday, May 9, we'll be in Brooklyn, at Greenlight Books, with Mary Morris, Maud Newton, Elissa Schappell, and Emma Straub, at 7.30. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Our Mothers' Gifts in Quarantine

In honor of Mother's Day this year, I invited the contributors to my anthology, What My Mother Gave Me: 31 Women on the Gifts That Mattered Most, which came out in 2013, to think about any gifts from their mothers that are helping them get through the COVID-19 pandemic. It's a time when, for the most part, people cannot visit with their families, and when those of us whose mothers are gone may be missing them more acutely because of how unsettled the world is. Four contributors to the anthology have contributed thoughts. I'm honored to present them here. For myself, I think about my mother's incredible kindness, her generosity of spirit and love of people. I try to practice the first two and feel comforted by the last and try to comfort others as we all stumble through this terrible time. To purchase the book, please visit the Algonquin/Workman website before May 25th for a 20% discount. At check-out, enter the code MOTHERSDAY20 -- and voilà.
Post a Comment
Read more

Ingrid Nilsen raves about Me, My Hair and I

Beauty and fashion guru Ingrid Nilsen raves in her NOVEMBER FAVORITES video about Me, My Hair and I.   Take a look at minute 10! Thanks, Ingrid! Want to buy the book - an original paperback, published by Algonquin? Try Amazon or your favorite indie. Some of mine are Porter Square Books and Politics and Prose . 
1 comment
Read more

"Let it Be" by Cordelia Manning

I'm delighted to post this piece on "going gray" in response to a public invitation to readers of Me, My Hair and I: Twenty-seven Women Untangle an Obsession. Reader Cordelia Manning sent in this lovely piece and titled it "Let It Be." It's more evidence that our hair is a deeply personal public/private matter that has the power to make us reflect on our entire lives. The wonder is that Cordelia Manning has done it so succinctly here. Thank you! "I was a much adored child: first grandchild on both sides; first child of my parents; first niece of all my aunts and uncles. I was the one they had all waited for and I was showered with love and attention. Even later, after my siblings and cousins arrived, I was the first and eldest, the special one. "I like to think all that attention was wonderful, nurturing, but in fact they were all always fussing over me. My hair was too long, short, or thick, my skin was too fair and freckled, my eyebrows too h
2 comments
Read more