Fall in Chicago, and Paul Konerko.

Back in 2010 I wrote a blog post about a visit to Fairview Elementary School in a Chicago suburb called Mt. Prospect. A first-grader there asked one of my all-time favorite questions: “How do you know if you picked a four-leaf clover?” That little girl must be in fifth grade now, and I’m hoping she […]

I get exhausted by NFL coverage in any normal season–it’s everywhere, and though I watch the Bears when they’re on, I generally don’t have an affection for football. So, I am especially exhausted by all the recent hype about Ray Rice, Roger Goodell, etc., etc., etc., as the King of Siam would say. Also troubled. […]

Yesterday Whitney and I enjoyed a magical morning in a classroom in one of the most impoverished neighborhoods of Chicago’s South Side: the Auburn-Gresham neighborhood. Fourth, fifth and sixth graders in a Montessori program at Oglesby Elementary are writing essays for a book they’ll publish in November, and their teacher asked me to come talk about memoir-writing. […]

A recollection of a first visit to San Francisco.