by Toni McNaron | May 12, 2016 | Toni's Blog
In 1770 Oliver Goldsmith published “The Deserted Village,” a lamentation over the loss of an agrarian ethos in England. In April, 2016, I found myself back in Birmingham, AL, my birthplace. I’d made the trip to help my college roommate mark...
by Toni McNaron | Mar 30, 2016 | Toni's Blog
The recent publication and popularity of Stacy Schiff’s biography of Cleopatra has brought back memories of productions I’ve seen of this moving play about adult heterosexual love experienced in a Roman world unconducive to playfulness and passion. When I was in my...
by Toni McNaron | Mar 21, 2016 | Toni's Blog
Marilynne Robinson is producing serious fiction about major questions confronting us today. Now that her trilogy about a seemingly sleepy Iowa town is complete, we can begin to assess her contribution to 20th and early 21st century literature. When her first work,...
by Toni McNaron | Jan 13, 2016 | Toni's Blog
In the tanakh section of the Hebrew Bible, we meet the great prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and others. They share an ability to consider the past, look squarely at the present, and predict or imagine a future. Listening to or reading these men’s words stirs...
by Toni McNaron | Dec 21, 2015 | Toni's Blog
On December 6th, Pope Francis opened the massive door at the Vatican, officially beginning the Year of Mercy (2016). This is a Jubilee year in the church’s calendar, so historically the sitting pope has opened this giant portal as part of the celebration in Rome....
by Toni McNaron | Dec 8, 2015 | Toni's Blog
After 21 years with my beloved companion cat, Sophie, I knew I wanted to wait before visiting my local humane society to see if a kitten might want to go home with me. A couple of months went by and I began to feel the emptiness of my big old house—I knew I needed...
