Selling Mick to Pay Con Ed

“Some girls give me brown sugar, I never get my fill. Some girls sell my love letters To pay their electric bill. ” My parody of Mick Jagger’s much criticized put-down song, “Some Girls,” refers to his one-time lover (and reputedly the inspiration for the song “Brown Sugar”) Marsha Hunt. On this date in 2012, … Read more

The Gift of Anne Frank: Writing Till the Stoney End

Anne Frank, the Jewish teen diarist who documented her experiences hiding from the Nazis during World War II, would have turned 87 today. She has long been an inspiration to me. I believe I first learned of her story as a kid after watching the movie The Diary of Anne Frank, which starred Millie Perkins. … Read more

Thanks to You, Mary Tyler Moore, I’m Gonna Make it After All

I was 13 years old, gawky, zitty, unpopular, and academically mediocre. Unlike many of the girls in my class, I didn’t have a boyfriend. Mary Richards was 30-ish, beautiful, accomplished, and smart. And unlike many of the female characters on TV at that time, she didn’t have a boyfriend. And that made me feel SO … Read more