The book I thought I was writing last year was a handbook for writers. But when I submitted it to publishers, one editor responded by saying, “Why aren’t you writing a book about interviewing? You…
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She is the worldwide symbol of selfless service, so when I was given the chance to attend the ceremonies regarding her canonization in Rome, I went for it. No one does pageantry like the Vatican….
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Here’s how a comment can change a life. I was 19, home from college one summer, and volunteering at a youth camp for a week. The camp director put me in charge of entertainment…
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This past spring we had Nikki Giovanni, the poet who helped usher in the Black Arts movement in the 1960s, at our Writer’s Symposium By The Sea. She read some of her poems, then talked…
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In 2007 I interviewed Eugene Peterson at our annual Writer’s Symposium By The Sea, and I needled him a little about his not meeting with rock legend Bono because Peterson was on deadline for his…
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This essay of mine appeared recently on Donald Miller’s Storyline blog. The discussion was clearly resonating with the group. Or at least most of it. It was a Sunday School class I teach, and…
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My Nov. 22 2015 New York Times story about the Literary Scene in Iceland made the national news in that country, and was on the front page of the national broadcasting service website. You can…
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This story of mine originally appeared in the New York Times Nov. 22, 2015 Standing in the dark outside the Reykjavik public Library in the relentless damp chill that comes with a light rain…
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This essay of mine first appeared on Donald Miller’s Storyline blog. If you’re traveling this summer, there is a chance you’ll be going through an airport or two. Would you mind if I offered…
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This essay of mine first appeared on Donald Miller’s Storylineblog on June 4, 2015. When one has a literature degree and no plans for graduate school or a career in teaching, and no real sense…
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