Back in the l930's, Christopher Isherwood published a fascinating quasi-memoir about his years at university called Lions and Shadows. Isherwood was a brilliant student, but — surprise, surprise — an outsider. With a fellow student named Chalmers he formed a sort of secret literary society opposed to what they called "the poshocracy." Isherwood and ChalmersContinue reading “Harry Potter: the early Isherwood version”
Author Archives: Kit Stolz
Americans increasingly doubt global warming: Harris Poll
A Harris poll on disasters released yesterday shows that fewer Americans than ever believe in global warming: just 44%, down from 75% ten years ago. Harris tries to see the positive in this, pointing out that: These numbers do not suggest, however, that a majority now do not believe in global warming—just over one-quarter say theyContinue reading “Americans increasingly doubt global warming: Harris Poll”
La Niña misses SoCal, hits Sun Belt
As we've been discussing over the last few months, this past year's La Niña has been a bust in Southern California. What was expected to be a dry winter with winds and heat turned out to be a wet, blustery winter with massive Sierran snowpack. But not so across the U.S! As the NY Times reportedContinue reading “La Niña misses SoCal, hits Sun Belt”
Tennessee Williams: Sex positive activist
Although considered politically naive by some, Tennessee Williams did know how to make a scene. Especially when it came to love. If you want the unbuttoned Tennessee Williams, you have to read Dotson Rader's entertaining Cry of the Heart. It's a wonderfully breezy and entertaining book about the mature Tennessee Williams, but even better, it's a sortContinue reading “Tennessee Williams: Sex positive activist”
The GOP vs. the Democrats: it’s not the rich vs. the common man
Still one of the best lines of the year, from Jeffrey Sachs, of The Earth Institute: The idea that the Republicans are for the billionaires and the Democrats are for the common man is quaint but outdated. It's more accurate to say that the Republicans are for Big Oil while the Democrats are for BigContinue reading “The GOP vs. the Democrats: it’s not the rich vs. the common man”
Off on the Ridgeway
Will be leaving some posts for you fine people, and perhaps with luck will post from the trail, but need to get away for some ancient English history and beauty and who knows, maybe wildness, on the Ridgeway Trail with friends and family. Back July 10th:
Jack Warner meets Tennessee Williams (or thinks he does)
From Dotson Rader's spectacularly colorful memoir of Tennessee Williams, Cry of the Heart, about his much older friend and lover, here's a note about Williams and Los Angeles: "Los Angeles [was] a city Tennessee hated more than any other in the world. "I always feel like a whore there," [he said]. "I don't appreciate worksContinue reading “Jack Warner meets Tennessee Williams (or thinks he does)”
Saving the climate by stopping the tar sands pipeline
Many of this country's most illustrious poets, writers, scientists, and preservationists are calling for volunteers to come to Washington D.C. this summer to risk arrest to stop construction of a massive tar sands pipeline from Alberta to Texas. This pipeline, the Keystone XL, could destroy any chance we have of preventing runaway global warming. How muchContinue reading “Saving the climate by stopping the tar sands pipeline”
A Republican compares climatologists to doctors
A nice piece in the Columbia Journalism Review's science writing blog — The Observatory — looks at the reluctance of the Republican field to utter the word "climate" in their most recent debate. If none of the presidential candidates mentioned climate, it is likely because they have already made it abundantly clear that they areContinue reading “A Republican compares climatologists to doctors”
A new American class: the involuntarily retired
Our local daily newspaper has an excellent story on a new class of unhappy Americans: the involutarily retired. Kim Lamb Gregory introduces the idea with a study, and then grounds it in Ventura County reality: "We are witnessing the birth of a new class — the involuntarily retired," said a report called "The Shattered American Dream."Continue reading “A new American class: the involuntarily retired”
Kit Stolz 