In Plain Engel-ish

You may remember that I began these twice-monthly essays in March of last year when the pandemic brought an immediate end to my lecture travels. Quite simply, I didn’t want you to forget me. Even though I could no longer speak to you in person, I realized that I could still write to you regularly and keep my strange and, I hope, unique voice in your eyes if not in your ears. I so appreciate those of you who often write Darian your responses to these mini-compositions. Those of you who do email her know that I personally answer all of...

Many of us think of summer as the ideal season to catch up on our reading and, when hearing the word beach, immediately think of the best umbrella-shaded ocean spot to bask in paperback fiction. And so it is depressing to discover what Hollywood considers to be the best ingredients for summer movies — violence and sensationalism. But before we bookworms cast aspersions on the lowbrow mentality of popular entertainment today, we need to remember the original source of violent movies. Surprisingly, that source was Victorian England.   In 1886, the earliest films were being shown in London auditoriums—yes, that’s “auditoria” for all...

As an undergraduate, I remember an English professor telling our class how important the setting is to any story: “A setting always affects the tone of the tale and adds layers of depth to characterization. Wuthering Heights might have been just another soap opera without those Yorkshire moors.” I came to appreciate this insight when I travelled to hundreds of schools (from 1983 until I retired last year in 2020) to present literary assemblies for tens of thousands of students on Dickens, Poe, Shakespeare or Twain. I never knew what kind of setting would be provided for me. I performed in every environment...

Although my academic inclinations have always been with the liberal arts, I’ve been impressed since elementary school by how much more specific and quantifiable the fields of math and science are. There is something so appealing about only one right answer to a math problem and only one correct way to balance a chemical equation. Even the most nebulous concepts in science seem safe from the usual Doubting Thomases. As Albert Einstein cleverly noted: “Tell a man there are three billion stars and he’ll automatically believe you. But put a ‘wet paint’ sign on a park bench and he’ll have...

Growing up, I loved comic books, but I let others revere Superman or Batman as their super-hero. My hero was anything but super yet so much more human and hilarious: the blustery, flustery, ever-outraged Donald Duck. I couldn’t get enough of him and girlfriend Daisy — and those nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie. For some reason, though, I especially loved his rich Uncle Scrooge McDuck.  Maybe it was because I had a rich uncle, too. That was my Uncle Max. Actually, he was my mom’s first cousin by marriage, but I’m guessing many of you also had cousins who were a generation older...