Author Archives: Kathy

A Movie out of Time

Posted on March 1, 2015 by Kathy

I leapt outside my comfort zone today and saw Blade Runner, Ridley Scott’s 1982 cult film, at my husband’s venue, the Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque. Normally this would be an easy call: I don’t see Blade Runner. I’ve never seen … Continue reading →

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The Project of Human Freedom

Posted on January 4, 2015 by Kathy

    This evening on our drive to the airport with our 82-year-old visitor, the writer and feminist activist Alix Kates Shulman, the conversation centered on Apple computers, social media, and Spotify. Self-described as “indefatigable,” Ms. Shulman had had a busy … Continue reading →

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Incunabulum

Posted on December 17, 2014 by Kathy

Tonight we’re addressing Christmas cards. After thirty-plus years, we have the routine down. John does his people, and I do mine and I can’t tell you exactly how we know whose names are whose. I rely on my old, water-stained … Continue reading →

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On Rape, Date Rape, and What Sensible, Well-Mannered Girls Do

Posted on December 15, 2014 by Kathy

  In about 1995, I was writing a profile of the education writer Jonathan Kozol (Death at an Early Age, Savage Inequalities) for the alternative weekly Cleveland Edition. I was and am a big fan. I had read all his … Continue reading →

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Comments on Cosby

Posted on November 29, 2014 by Kathy

  Don’t read the comments. This is an important rule of modern media life. The comments following online articles, reviews, and even YouTube videos can be so hateful, so downright moronic as to obliterate not only your faith in humanity but … Continue reading →

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Bill Cosby: Lost, Stolen, or Strayed

Posted on November 23, 2014 by Kathy

A couple of months ago, my sisters and I cleaned out the attic of my mom’s old house, unearthing precious mementos amidst the junk. My treasures included my old Bill Cosby records, which I had thought lost. There they were, invaluable … Continue reading →

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“Pride” in Noble Acts

Posted on October 14, 2014 by Kathy

  The new movie Pride is what my husband calls, with a hint of irony, a crowd-pleaser. A crowd-pleaser usually contrives not to challenge or surprise the audience but to make them smile and even pander to their world view. … Continue reading →

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R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Posted on July 29, 2014 by Kathy

An avid reader, my dad was a thoughtful, liberal sort. He opposed the war in Vietnam before I did, and he supported the Civil Rights Movement ahead of most white people I knew. Despite his enlightened ways, though, he was … Continue reading →

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Animal + Music Book Titles

Posted on June 9, 2014 by Kathy

Awhile ago, I reviewed a book for the Plain Dealer called Frog Music* and soon after read a book with a similar title. My reactions to the two were very different, however. Emma Donoghue, an Irish writer who lives in … Continue reading →

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Connecting

Posted on April 30, 2014 by Kathy

I’ve written here before about my dad’s experiences at the Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine in New York City. Brush-Moore Newspapers, the company that owned the Canton Repository, where my dad worked, sent him to the Institute a number of … Continue reading →

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