7.05.2003

Can't Get Enough
Barry White died yesterday. He was 58.

Liberty and Truth
CSMonitor had an excellent story this week about the truth about our founding fathers and slavery. Too often we gravitate toward a simple, easy version of our history. And we're told it's unpatriotic to think otherwise. That's lazy thinking and a disservice to our public history. And for me, that makes all our contemporary patriotic moments hard to swallow. I love being an American and I know that it has never been the kind of all-welcoming place we're taught it was from the beginning. It still isn't.

Book Anticipation
E. Lynn Harris's own invisible life will be revealed this week when his memoir, What Becomes of the Brokenhearted, hits shelves. I've read all his novels and often wondered how much of the tales are based on his own life. Now I can't wait to find out. I'm also curious about his style in the memoir and whether it will be as readable as the novels. They are very much popcorn reading - fun and light and easy to turn one page after another.