Safe & Sound blog readers have been asking me lately if the memoir-writing classes I lead are starting up again now, and, if so, “Will you start publishing essays by your students on your blog again, too? I always like those.” My answers? Yes, and yes! Today is the first of October, I’ll be leading […]

The last assignment I gave my memoir-writing classes before we took our spring break was to choose one of the movies nominated for an Oscar for best picture this year an have its title be the title of their essay. “You don’t have to see the movie,” I assured them. “Just use one of the […]

I am pleased to feature Karen Fontaine as our Senior Class guest blogger today. A Professor emeritus in the College of Nursing and Psychiatric Nursing at Purdue University Northwest, Karen has retired after a long successful career as a nurse, scholar, therapist, author, lecturer and educator. She maintains her private practice in counseling, and somehow […]

With baseball season coming to a close, I asked writers in the class I lead via Zoom to choose a baseball term to use as a title for (and the subject of) an essay. A retired school teacher who was active in her union chose “Strike,” a writer who shoplifted as a kid chose “Caught […]

I am pleased to Welcome Bill Gordon back as a guest blogger today. Born and raised in Kansas, Bill lived all over the country during his nearly 50-year career in library and association management. When he retired in 2002, he was the Executive Director of The American Library Association, located here in Chicago, and has called […]