Not Your Mother's Storytime

It’s “Winesburg, Ohio” again this week. The next 3 stories are “Respectability” “The Thinker” and “Tandy”. Some believe that Anderson took stories and characters from Clyde, Ohio, where he lived from 8-19 years old. He says "the hint for almost every character was taken from my fellow lodgers in a large rooming house..." These lodgers were the "...young musicians, young writers, painters, actors.....

This week we bring you the next 3 stories from “Winesburg, Ohio” – Godliness Part IV, A Man of Ideas, and Adventure. We continue wading further into the many characters of the town. In these 3 stories I feel the innocence of the characters, sometimes sad and tragic, sometimes fanciful and fun. I hope you are enjoying this series as much as I am!

This week we bring you the next two stories from “Winesburg, Ohio” by Sherwood Anderson: “Godliness, A Tale in Four Parts” Part II, also concerning Jess Bentley and Part III: Surrender, concerning Louise Bentley. In these two stories we get to know Jesse a little more and we learn about his daughter, Louise. Louise is a bit of a tragic figure. She never really had a chance – with no mother and a f...

This week we continue our journey to Winesburg, Ohio with the next 3 stories in the book: “The Philosopher”, “Nobody Knows” and “Godliness, A Tale in Four Parts, Part 1”. It is said “the stories of  Winesburg, Ohio  can be challenging. They have a rambling, episodic quality. There is less focus on plot and more exploration of human nature and the problems of these characters.” As we get further in...

This week we are embarking on a journey through “Winesburg, Ohio: A Group of Tales of Ohio Small-Town Life” By Sherwood Anderson. I will read 3 or 4 stories each week. There are 22 stories in all, so this will be over several weeks. Each of the stories shares a specific character's past and present struggle to overcome the loneliness and isolation that seem to permeate the town. Stylistically, bec...

In my mind, Lawrence can write relationships like no one can. His characters are so well defined and the interactions they have are so real to life. Perhaps it’s because he lived his life “free from the shackles of civilization.” As one of his friends said, “…he did nothing that he did not really want to do, and all that he most wanted to do he did. He went all over the world, he owned a ranch, he...

White was a keen observer of the beauties of nature and human nature yet could render them in a plain-spoken style. He wrote Westerns, camping journals, and outdoor adventure fiction that incorporated historical details about the California gold rush, fur trading, and pioneers who passed through or settled in rugged country. He was most known for his Daniel Boone stories. Our first story, “The Gir...

Anderson was considered a “writer’s writer”. His style was Naturalism. Anderson invites the reader into his process as a writer, in which he unfolds the meticulously developed characters' views of the world. He influenced writes such as Willa Cather, Henry James and William Faulkner. Anderson and Ernest Hemingway became great friends until Hemingway felt the need to sabotage the relationship. He w...

This week we bring you “Big Two-Hearted River” Parts I & II by Ernest Hemingway. The story explores the healing and regenerative powers of nature. In this past year, more people went camping, or hiking, than any other year. We all have been seeking the healing powers of nature during this trying time. When this story was published, critics praised Hemingway's sparse writing. He used his Iceber...

Wiggin is most known for her novel “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm” – standard reading for girls of my generation. She was a dedicated educator; she and her sister created a training school for kindergarten teachers in the 1880s. Although she devoted so much of her adult life to the welfare of children, she had no children herself. This story is about the creation of a rag rug, a old tradition of maki...

HC Bunner was part of the “Local Color” movement in writing. Around 1870 writers began to offer delightful vignettes of various sections of American People. Bunner wrote about real life New Yorkers. In time, practically every corner of the country had been portrayed in “Local Color” fiction. The avowed aim of some of these writers, was to realistically portray the lives of various sections and thu...

For our last story honoring #BlackHistoryMonth we bring you “The Brothers” by Louisa May Alcott. I learned another term this week. Contraband. Well, I know this word, but I didn’t know it was used in this way: Contraband was a term commonly used in the United States military during the American Civil War to describe a new status for certain escaped slaves or those who affiliated with Union forces....

This week we bring you two more stories in honor of #BlackHistoryMonth Kate Chopin is not African American. But I feel this particular story is appropriate here, because this week we reflect on “mixed-race”, as is Chesnutt. Charles W. Chesnutt was born of parents who were free persons-of-color and his grandfather was a slave owner. He was considered a “quadroon” - 25% black. A “mulatto” was unders...

This week we continue our tribute to Black History Month. Paul Dunbar was the husband of last week’s author Alice Dunbar Nelson until he died is 1906 of TB.  Born to former slaves in Dayton, Ohio, where he was boyhood friends with the Wright Brothers, Paul Laurence Dunbar is best remembered for lines from Sympathy that became the title of Maya Angelou’s famous autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bi...

It's February, and all month long, we bring you African American authors in honor of Black History month. Our first author is Alice Dunbar Nelson, born Alice Ruth Moore. Moore was the daughter of an African American seamstress and former slave, and a white seaman. Her parents were middle-class people of color and part of the traditional multiracial Creole community in New Orleans. She recalls the...

Norris was a native of San Francisco. I enjoy reading her stories; She always references places I am very familiar with, living in the Bay Area myself. Norris started her writing career in the newspaper industry and eventually, became the highest paid women writer of her time. Enjoy!

This week we bring you “Adjustment Team” by Philip K. Dick.  Dick is a modern writer, however, upon his death in 1982 he released a handful of his stories to the public domain. Thank you, Mr. Dick!  Dick reflected: "In my writing I even question the universe; I wonder out loud if it is real, and I wonder out loud if all of us are real." And this story explores exactly that. Enjoy!

This week we bring you “God’s Fool” by Mary Roberts Rinehart. Over the decades (centuries, really!) the evolution of terminology for the intellectually challenged in our society has been interesting to say the least, ranging from cruel to compassionate. Every generation has taken a step or two towards accepting, even cherishing these wholly innocent, completely loving individuals. I know of which...

Harte moved to California in 1853 and spent part of his life in a mining camp near Humboldt Bay (the current town of Arcata), a setting which provided material for some of his works. Although he was an American author and poet, who worked in a number of different professional capacities including miner, teacher, messenger and journalist, he was appointed as United States Consul in Krefeld, Germany...

The following story was published on December 25, 1983, in the Eureka Times-Standard newspaper—where the author, Karen Luttrell-Langdon, was a reporter. She has been my dear friend for almost 20 years. I am honored to read her story. Despite the original newsprint now being yellowed with age, the spirit of the story remains unchanged. Only minor edits have been made to aid the transition from writ...

This week is my 100 th EPISODE!  And it is a special one. I’ve gathered a collection of Christmas Classics for your holiday enjoyment: “The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry, “The Little Match Girl” by Hans Christian Anderson, “Twas the Night Before Christmas” by Clement Moore as well as stories by Tolsoy, SAKI and more! Some you may know, some you may not. But they are all sweet, bittersweet, fun and...

This week we bring you two Christmas stories by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman. “The Christmas Ghost” and “The Christmas Masquerade”.  She wrote several stories about Christmas. It was hard to choose which ones to read for you. Might have to add an extra episode for the season. Staying safe and cozy in your homes this year might be difficult. I hope these charming stories will make it a little easier.  E...

This story is a lovely tribute to 'old maids'. Page was a lawyer and writer from one of the foremost plantation families of Virginia that lost most of its wealth and prominence after the American Civil War. Page studied and practiced law, but became disillusioned with the Southern legal system and gave up his practice. In his writing, Page popularized the Southern tradition of the plantation genre...

Glaspell co-founded the first modern American theater company, the Provincetown Players, and was a Pulitzer prize-winning playwright, actress, novelist, and journalist. Though her theater company was a critical success, it didn’t earn enough to pay the bills and Glaspell continued to write and sell her short stories to make ends meet. She is most known for famous play, “Trifles”, adapted from her...

Here's something light and fun after the dark October mood. FSF was born in St. Paul and raised in an Irish middle class family. He was named after his famous second cousin, Francis Scott Key, who penned The Star Spangled Banner. Fitzgerald was considered one of the best authors of the twentieth century, a leading voice for the "Lost Generation" of the 20s and the Jazz Age. Enjoy!