Sam (is a dog) and I live on the outskirts of nowhere, with no year-round neighbors within shouting distance, so any bumps in the night we hear are, by their very nature, of interest.  I mean, in the city we explained these sounds as the nighttime wanderings of the insomniac, the turning off and on … Continue reading Some Sounds Aren’t Heard Because They Are Not There

Sally Piper was born in January, 1932, in Medford, MA.  Sally (Piper) (Newell) Hughes died May 3, 1965, in Lowell, MA, at the age of 33.  Sally Piper had diabetes mellitus and coronary thrombosis at her death.  Sally Piper had been graduated from an expensive private girls’ school and was very proud of a photograph … Continue reading Words, Words, Words:  A Brief Sketch of Sally Piper, a Woman I Never Knew

I was discharged from the Army in 1980, having entered in 1976 at 17. I graduated from college in 1982, but only attended the University of New Hampshire for a semester and a half.  Without wanting to turn this into a math word puzzle, how can this be?  How did I apparently earn two-and-a-half years … Continue reading Why Was Picasso So Sad?

In Manchester last week, I had a few meals with readers.  I mean, I assume everyone I ate with can read, but these are people who’ve read a novel I wrote.  One nice thing about these people is they want to buy me lunch. One awful thing about meals with these people is they want … Continue reading Literacy, I Like. Literary Insights? Not so Much

It’s good to be back in the Great North Woods, where life makes sense. Sam (is a dog) and I got back to the Tiny White Box mid-afternoon Friday, both of us still a little full from Thanksgiving in the city.  Sam (is a dog) was a little bit less full, since he’d eaten one … Continue reading A Damned Fine Lock

It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these, and I apologize.  While I should be hoarding the questions that come in until I’ve got enough for a column, I’ve been frittering them away by answering each questioning email I get at keithhoward@gmail.com.  I’ve gone back through those emails, and extracted those questions below.  … Continue reading Readers’ Questions Volume VI

If television has taught me anything, it’s that family members are assigned roles and learn to do their best within them.  For instance, there’s the gruff but lovable grandfather, the mystical grandmother, the aunt who used to be wild, the aunt who still can’t be tamed, the cousin who only makes three or four appearances, … Continue reading Proving Television Wrong

I began my professional life as a journalist.  I’ll never be one again.  It’s not that I won’t write, but I could never “report.”  If I ever did. (This won’t be a column.  Or communique.  Or barely a blog post.  Call it notes from the southland.) Just finished meeting with a newspaper reporter for about … Continue reading A Chance to Dance on Fitzgerald’s Grave

Earlier this week, I posted the speech I wouldn’t give at Thursday’s Turkish Cultural Center’s Friendship Dinner.  A number of folks made me promise I’d give a report on what I actually did say, once I’d said it.  Before I do, though, I have to say how gratified I was by the reception I received.  … Continue reading What I Did (sort of) Say at the Friendship Dinner