A pair of writers from the memoir-writing classes I lead for The Village Chicago appeared on the national NBC Nightly News broadcast last weekend. Bruce and Anne Hunt started taking memoir-writing classes with me years ago, and now they’re taking singing lessons, too. My friend Colleen and I went to their choir’s holiday concert in December, […]

My Seeing Eye dog Whitney and I spent yesterday afternoon answering questions from third-graders who attend Goudy Elementary, a Public school in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood. The third graders are part of a Friday “reading buddies” program at Admiral At the Lake, a retirement community where I lead weekly memoir-writing classes. Goudy is so close to […]

This post I wrote was published at the Easterseals National blog earlier this week (I work part-time moderating that blog). It occurred to me later that some of you Safe & Sound blog followers might find it worth a read, too, so here it is. When sidewalks are covered in snow and ice, walking to […]

I don’t give the memoir writers in my classes assignments over the break. Many of them write on their own during time off, though, and when they do, I encourage them to bring their new essays to read aloud in class when we reconvene. All five of my classes are back in session after winter […]

I am pleased to introduce Iliana Genkova as a guest blogger today. Born and raised in Bulgaria, Iliana completed a degree in the sciences there and came to America to work with weather satellites. From there she went on to live and work around the world — UK, the Netherlands, Australia— before settling in Chicago, […]