A father’s harrowing memoir
Columbia resident Morey Kogul’s recently published book is about an immigrant who illegally makes a border crossing to escape almost-certain death, and who then, after incredible hardships and adventures, is able to settle in a free country and raise a loving family. But while the story seems pulled from today’s headlines, the protagonist of this hair-raising non-fiction story is... READ MORE
A little emergency room etiquette lesson
My friend Tom is an emergency room physician. As he so often says, he has seen everything and has fixed everything. Tom never worries about the quirks of his patients. That’s not his job. He’s there to mend, stitch, rescue and console. He leaves social trend analysis to politicians (or, Heaven help us, to columnists). But when I broke bread with Tom the other day, he was as... READ MORE
A healing rite of passage through pain
In 2013, filmmaker Werner Herzog released a short film, From One Second to the Next, which dealt with tragedies born of texting while driving. One of the stories told in the film is that of Chandler Gerber. In 2012, while sending a text to his wife, he plowed his car into a horse-drawn Amish buggy, killing three children. As Amish culture emphasizes the importance of forgiveness, the... READ MORE
Acts of Faith theater festival now on stage
Over the next couple of months, Richmond theaters will offer a variety of performances as part of the 15th Annual Acts of Faith Festival. It is the largest festival of its kind in the country. Jeff Gallagher and Daniel Moor, members of the Second Presbyterian Church, and Bruce Miller, founding producer of the Virginia Repertory Theater, first developed the festival to bring people in... READ MORE
She defies her bipolar diagnosis
Charita Cole Brown remembers being “weepy and clingy” as a child, but she didn’t experience her first significant bout of depression until high school. She rebounded from that and went on to college at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, where she majored in English. But during her first semester, she suffered another round of depression and withdrew from school for a ... READ MORE
Houseplants to love for Valentine’s Day
It’s a familiar story. Boy meets girl. Boy sends girl a dozen red roses. Roses wilt within a week. For less money, why not buy a houseplant this February with gorgeous blossoms or leaves to brighten Valentine’s Day and to enjoy for a little longer? Heart-shaped leaves Cyclamen is the perfect indoor plant for your sweetheart. It has dark green heart-shaped leaves. With flowers in... READ MORE
Mature authors share their wisdom with us
The Bibliophile Septuagenarian and octogenarian authors predictably pen autobiographies. Others write about their fields of expertise. Enjoy the wisdom and wit that comes with age in the pages of these books. Live Long and…What I Learned Along the Way, by William Shatner with David Fisher, 224 pages, Thomas Dunne Books hardcover, 2018 Actor William Shatner, now 87, has written an... READ MORE
Seriocomedy shines light on hypocrisy
The white, upper-middle-class, liberal family in Joshua Harmon’s latest seriocomic play, Admissions, takes a disconcerting, yet very funny spin into hypocrisy as its members argue about how to ease racial inequality without endangering their privileged lives. The family’s delving into competing truths — and self-serving lies — are spouted with such wit and LOL punch lines that... READ MORE
Scary stories earn author young readers
“You could say I never grew up. I’m still trying to rewrite my childhood, making it more interesting and exciting, even mysterious,” said 81-year-old Mary Downing Hahn, of Columbia. She is the author of 35 published children’s books — more than 20 of them novels and many of them prize winners. Among her accolades is the prestigious Edgar Award, given yearly by the Mystery... READ MORE
For Julia Roberts, things improve with age
Julia Roberts is sitting on a couch in a Soho hotel when Lucas Hedges bursts in and begins frantically searching for his phone, sending pillows flying. “This is what I say to Finn,” Roberts says, referencing one of her three children as she instructs her 21-year-old co-star. “Where did you go from here, honey?” Roberts’ motherly instincts play a big part of her latest film,... READ MORE
