Healthy Aging
Legacy of Power vs. Legacy of Love: The Corleone and Murano Family Sagas
How do you watch the movies? What do you remember after the credits fade away? Do you remember “Take the gun, leave the cannoli”, or think how did it happen that Michael died as a lonely, forsaken man? Are you horrified by a headless horse, or by an enormity
The Trilogy of The Murano Family Saga.
Dr. Jack Murano will go through hell for his family. But Murano’s life is harsh. His father is in prison for killing his mother in a car accident while drunk. His son ends up in rehab after succumbing to the family addiction gene. Murano himself picks up the deadly habit,
What do I expect in 2025
Ever since 2020 I started writing about the past year, and about what do I expect in the new one, there was always a pattern. 2020 was a terrible year. We know, we suffered a lot. We probably still don’t know, and won’t know about the rest. But despite the
Spirituality, The Other Side Of The Human Life
Peter Attia’s Outlive is for me a personal manual to the human body. But there is another aspect of being alive. And is far more fascinating. I got interested in Wayne Dyer’s writings in the 90′, in the second trimester of my life. I had a busy cardiac surgical practice,
Ernest Hemingway, Extraordinary Writings By An Extraordinary Man.
In my travels through the world of literature, last year we decided to revisit Hemingway, and flew down to Key West. I was familiar with some of his writings before, but the best time to re-read them was while visiting the place he for eight years called home. His written
Fight with the Devil, Murano Family Curse
Alcohol drinking in the family is a curse. Alcohol drinking in three generation leads to damnation. Dr. Jack Murano tries to prevent his son, Mike, from becoming a third-generation alcoholic. Starting from a seemingly innocent sip of champagne drank from an ice hockey trophy, through peer pressure during the high
The Best Way to Ruin Father-Daughter Relationship
Dr. Jack Murano waited for that day ever since Kate was a little girl. In his mind, he rehearsed the wedding ceremony many times. He visualized the sequence of him walking her down the aisle, handing her to a future husband, and dancing the father-daughter dance. Long before the wedding,
The Roundup, First Book of the Trilogy in Historical Fiction
The Murano family saga is my primary theme. Pals Forever is published. So is The Resurrections. The third on The Eighteenth Camel is coming out any day. But the life of a cardiac surgeon and his family is not the only story I am interested in. I am expanding beyond
The Exchange, a Novel by John Grisham
Right after my retirement, I decided to start writing. I just graduated from my life’s second trimester, and started my third. Grisham was always my inspiration. One of a few. Throughout my life I gathered a lot of material, numerous stories, excellent stories. I was familiar with Grisham’s career, and
How to measure your physical progress in the 80s
If you can’t measure, you can’t manage People still argue, who said it If you have a goal, and commit a significant portion of your energy and time to getting healthy, you have to see the results of your efforts. You have to be able to measure them. And the
How to keep staying vertical in your 80s
In mens sana corpore sano W zdrowym ciele zdrowy duch A healthy mind in a healthy body The Romans knew. Peter Attia calls it the Centenarian Decathlon. I call it long-term planning and persistence. You have to know where to go and how to get there. That’s what I want
Elon Musk; a Biography by Walter Isaacson
For two years, the accomplished biographer shadowed Elon Musk. He was invited to his many personal and business meetings. Isaacson had no restrictions with the access to the billionaire. No limits to the materials he wanted to see and review. Musk didn’t ask to see the manuscript before its publication.
Emotional Goals to Be Fit at 80
Here are my emotional goals: *By that age, I have to know my strengths and my weaknesses. *I have to be able to listen when the others want just that. *I have to be able to take, not to shift the blame. *I need to be strong in my difficult
The goals for fitness at 80
When I was 40, my financial advisor designed our investment and estate plan until the age of 90. It’s ridiculous, I thought. At that time, I worried about the next 10 years. But now I know how thoughtful he was. When we are younger, we don’t think of our health
How to Be Fit at 80
When I think of a fit person at 80, I don’t see a muscular old man with a perfect white beard, showing his biceps and six-pack, boasting 5 percent body fat. No, these people are often gym rats, using all the pharmacological help to achieve the look, still for many
Is it Good to Live to a 100? Life Span vs Health Span
Methuselah lived to be 969. After the first 100, I imagine, his life had to be miserable. All his peers were gone, and the poor fellow couldn’t find a person to sit in the town’s square and have a cup of coffee with. Regardless of, at the certain point of
Stages Of Life, And How To Live To Get To The Last One .
This year, I am starting my ninth decade of life. And I am proud of each of them. More often than not, people in my age look back on their lives. It’s nothing new. Solon, a Greek lawgiver, and a philosopher, (they all were), divided life into ten seven-years cycles.
What if this is all it is? Life in the Rearview Mirror
Let’s imagine… Imagine you’re at the end of your life. You’re laying on the bed and can’t move. It’s dark, and there’s no one around. It’s quiet and chilly, and you are scared. You know you’re dying. You know it’s over, and you look back on your life. There were
A Look Back into 2023 and My Writing Plans for 2024
It had been a tumultuous and an eventful year. As I had promised, Pals Forever was published on Father’s Day. The Resurrections – on Christmas. My piece of real estate on the internet, witoldniesluchowski.com, saw construction of the great website built by liz@liztheresa.com and company. Beautiful and functional, the new
Christmas is coming
As promised, The Resurrections is available on Amazon. This is a Kindle version. I am working now on the paperbook edition.
And Now a Christmas Present for Me
I’ve been working hard on a Christmas present for my readers. The Resurrections is just about to be launched. But before… Here is a Christmas present for me. A new, completely redesigned website. The address is the same https://witoldniesluchowski.com/ My new home. Thanks to hard work by Liz liz@liztheresa.com, and
A Christmas Present for My Readers
The second part of Murano trilogy will be available for Christmas. Please keep an eye on the news.
My New World Symphony in ‘C’
Just something came to my mind. When I arrived to this country, I first lived in Charlotte, in North Carolina. To start my surgical internship and residency, I traveled to Cincinnati. From there I moved to Columbia, which is in South Carolina. Next for me was to go back to
The Resurrections: Man and His Dog
As promised, I have a big announcement to make. The second part of my trilogy following the Murano family saga is coming. It will be ready for Christmas. In the first part, Pals Forever, Dr. Murano created a perfect family. Or so he thought. The second part, The Resurrections, sees
Healthcare: Feeding of The Hungry Giant
The complexity of our health care delivery system is at the root of the problem. The chain of care starts with a patient, as it should. It ends with the government devising the policies and providing the funding for the delivery of medical services. Or maybe it’s the other way
Why Doctors’ Suicide Rate Is So High
It all starts with the length and the intensity of the medical training. After college, there are years of training in the primary specialty, and more if one wants to subspecialize. In my case, there were 5 years of general surgery, and 2 years of cardiovascular subspecialty. All that after
End of Summer Gift for My Readers
There are plenty of reasons to celebrate. I’m sitting on my porch looking at the greenery outside. The sun is coming up, and I can hear the world around me slowly waking up. It’s so quiet, I can hear my thoughts. And I like it that way. My laptop is
Peter Attia’s ‘Outlive’, a User’s Manual to Life
We all want to live forever. But we also know that our lives in the third trimester won’t be as joyful and carefree like in our first. And not that healthy like in our second. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Peter Attia’s monumental book explains how to
Country at the Crossroads in Europe
The end of the first millennium saw the developing of conditions for future wars in Europe. Christianity slowly kept expanding, and Poland, still a pagan country, didn’t want to accept the new order from the Holy Roman Empire, our powerful Western neighbor. Instead, we asked to be baptized directly by
Fighting the Devil
Alcohol drinking in the family is a curse. Alcohol drinking in three generations leads to damnation. Dr. Jack Murano tries to prevent his son, Mike, from becoming a third-generation alcoholic. Starting from a seemingly innocent sip of champagne drank from an ice hockey trophy, through peer pressure during the high
First book reviews are coming
Pals Forever came out two months ago, and I am lucky enough to have already first book reviews. Granted, they are all from the friends and family, but that’s only the beginning as my story travels around the world. Nevertheless, I am prepared for the good, the bad, and the
Readers Appreciation Party, The Pictorial
This post is a followup on the one published last week. My daughter Megan Jurik took the images, Bonnie and I selected and embedded them. I promised to meet again for the celebration of the second book in the Murano family saga. The Resurrections, The Man and His Dog will
Readers Appreciation Party Was a Big Success
Pals Forever is the first book in my trilogy about the life of Dr. Murano. First big chapter in the Murano family saga. And it deserved a proper send out into the real world of readers. I thought we’ve accomplished our goal last Friday. I named the book launch event
We are launching Murano Family Saga
The author and the artist introduce Pals Forever to Briar Chapel Community The time to present our work has come. Kathy Flood designed the cover. She used her family members as models. I used my life experiences in the story. We are both neighbors. Talking about a community project! We
Gösta Iwasiuk, M.D. a friend and a Renaissance Man
We had been born a few months apart, a few hundred kilometers from each other. We both have Slavic surnames. Both became surgeons. We had immigrated to the United States, and lived almost all our professional lives in Ventura County, just a few miles from each other. We even worked
Is There Heaven for Dogs?
I had it in my archives for a long time. Now is the proper time to post it. Our 14-year-old dog Abbey died last month. The day after she passed away, my 4-year-old daughter Meredith was crying and talking about how much she missed Abbey. She asked if we could
‘Genius on the Edge’, by Gerald Imber, M.D.
I wrote about Dr. William Halsted’s life achievements, and about his vices, in the post https://witoldniesluchowski.com/how-did-a-cocaine-addict-change-surgery-in-america/. The book, Genius on the Edge, is, however, about a different aspect of his life story. It’s about how, out of nowhere, there appeared in Baltimore a medical excellence center. A world-class institution, and
Pals Forever, First Book in Trilogy of Murano Family Saga
Best Father’s Day present. Dr. Jack Murano’s sole wish was to have a happy family. But is it possible when his wife and children know nothing about the hidden past—about his father being in prison for murder? Jack Murano is forced to share his difficult history when his friend sues
Best Songs for Sons and Daughters on Father’s Day, part 4
Third place. Just the two of us… by Will Smith. The rather generic song, written by William Salter, was popularized by Washington Grover. Will Smith made it into a rap, and sang about a special bond between father and son. The sacred bond. In the video, Smith takes his son
Best Songs for Sons and Daughters on Father’s Day, part 3
Second place Cat Stevens composed and recorded Fathers and Sons before he changed his name to Yusuf Islam. It’s not time to make a changeJust relax, take it easyYou’re still young, that’s your faultThere’s so much you have to knowFind a girl, settle downIf you want, you can marry… The
Best Songs for Sons and Daughters on Father’s Day, part 2
First place ex aequo I’m gonna be like you, dad… A folk rock classic. After his son, Josh, was born, Chapin wrote the music to his wife’s poem. The singer died a few years later in a car crash, and didn’t live long enough to witness the footprint of his
Best Songs for Sons and Daughters on Father’s Day
We have two sons and twin daughters. In our family, the Father’s Day is usually quite eventful, and I pride myself on being important to them. Recently, I realized how many songs there are recognizing the unique bond between the parents and their children. The sacred bond. I have known
The First Book in the Muranos Trilogy Saga.
Start your journey this Father’s Day. This was my post from January this year. https://bit.ly/3MBgnjM Here is the follow-up. And the progress report. My writing in 2023 is taking shape. You may or may not know that I took all my already published books off the market. The Pandemics helped
How Did a Cocaine Addict Change Surgery in America
The year was 1881 and a woman bled after childbirth. The family contacted a young, 29-year-old surgeon. After deliberations, he drew blood from his own vein and transfused it to the patient. The patient recovered. German scientist Karl Landsteiner, with the help of a Polish serologist Ludwik Hirszfelt, discovered and
Why I listed “Cutting for Stone” by Abraham Verghese as the First in My “Books I love” Series.
This book was recommended to me by a friend, also a cardiac surgeon. He found out that they, with the author, were trained by the same surgical superstar, Dr. Thomas Starzl. In surgery, the provenance means a lot. It took me a few years to get to the book. At
Does a Stressful Job Shorten Your Life?
“It’s not stress that kills us, it’s our reaction to it.”―Hans Selye, Hungarian-Canadian endocrinologist, author of “The Stress of Life” Let’s see. Michael DeBakey died 2 months short of 100,Denton Cooley was 96,Francis Robicsek – 94,Domingo Liotta – 97,Viking Björk – 90,Alan Carpentier, alive at 89,Thomas Fogarty, alive at 88,Dwight
Drama in the Operating Theater now Available in Paperback
“There’s nothing like a printed book; the weight, the woody scent, the feel, the look.”― E.A. Bucchianeri There comes a next mini-step in publishing the Murano family saga. The paperback is available on Amazon. Here’s the link to the paperback. And here –– to the e-book. Enjoy. Next is the
What’s New for Me in 2023?
These were my thoughts entering 2022: https://bit.ly/3Q50YtD My optimism was clearly justified. There was one significant personal loss in our family. But also 2022 brought exciting changes to my writing. Let me share these with you. I felt my stories were not ready for prime time. And that I could
If You Can’t Find Your Genre, Create One.
MONSIEUR JOURDAIN: Oh, really? So when I say: Nicole bring me my slippers and fetch my nightcap,” is that prose? PHILOSOPHY MASTER: Most clearly.MONSIEUR JOURDAIN: Well, what do you know about that! These forty years now I’ve been speaking in prose without knowing it!—Molière, The Bourgeois Gentleman, 1670 In the
How to Find Readers for Your Story.
You have to know who your readers are, they say. Then you have to find out how to get to them, they say. Have a picture of your ideal target in your mind, and write for that person. Then write to your reader’s Avatar. It doesn’t work this way for
The Polish Fight for Freedom
On this day, 83 years ago, a dark cloud descended on Poland. On September 1, 1939, the German hordes invaded our country from the West. Seventeen days later, the Russians completed the job, and marched from the East. Once again, Poland disappeared from the maps of Europe. But, as we
Twenty Things to Do in Your Thirties to Be a Happy Father for the Rest of Your Life.
“When a father gives to his son, both laugh; when a son gives to his father, both cry.” Anonymous “My father used to play with my brother and me in the yard. Mother would come out and say, ‘You’re tearing up the grass.’ ‘We’re not raising grass,’ Dad would reply.
Is Loneliness Good? Would You Rather Party or Pray?
Our family is blessed. Bonnie’s parents just celebrated their 71st wedding anniversary. What a joy! Or is it? They are still fortunate to be together and stay relatively healthy. And to have a devoted family. But it’s fascinating to think about how the old age changes your social life. I
What My Father’s Shaving Lessons Taught Me About Life
Be patient, avoid mediocrity, and pay attention to details. It was his sacrosanct daily morning routine. After getting up, before putting on his suit and leaving for work, and before breakfast was served, my father took the ownership of our kitchen table. We didn’t have hot water in our skimpy
Drama in the Operating Theater
This is the first book after redesigning my writing career. I am almost ready to hit this ‘Publish’ button, but not yet. Before doing it, I want to let my readers know that the book is coming, create some buzz, and then send the story to the world. First, here’s
My Father and Growing up in a Communist Poland
My father was an honorable and a decent man. I still remember the first advice he gave me. “Don’t lie,” he said. “It’s so much easier to live your life when you don’t have to remember each version of the story you told different people.” He was honest to a
What’s New in My Writing in 2022? Witoldniesluchowski.com 2.0
The time goes on. Here’s my blog from January of this year. https://witoldniesluchowski.com/my-writing-in-the-new-year-2022/ I saw 2021 as the best year of my writing, so far. Moreover, I expected 2022 to be even better. And I am not disappointed. Since deciding to become an author close to ten years ago, I
There’s No Writer’s Block. Let’s End this Years’ Long Controversy.
Bentley and I I sit in front of the computer, thinking. For quite a while, my fingers didn’t touch the keyboard. My mind is outside the room, which I’ve arranged so carefully to avoid any distraction. I shut the blinds to separate myself from the outside world. Bentley, my dog,
Miracle of the Human Brain
A human brain is the most complicated object in the Universe. If we compare the heart to a pump, skeleton to framing, digestive tract to a chemical factory, a human brain is a sophisticated computer. It’s so advanced, we don’t know how does it work. We don’t even know how
Miracle of the Beating Human Heart
I remember how I felt seeing an exposed human heart for the first time. I was assisting my mentor with the coronary bypass surgery. After he split the breastbone, and incised the thick layer of the sack enveloping the heart, I saw a slowly contracting glob of muscle. No bigger
How I Started My Writing Adventure
Let me tell you a story. Just imagine… Imagine yourself walking in an upscale suburban neighborhood. It’s a late evening. Through the bay window, you can see a well-lit but otherwise darkly furnished room. It looks like an old English library. There is a late-middle-age man sitting in a partially
My Writing in the New Year 2022
Happy 2022 to all. Despite all the surrounding defeatism, I greet 2022 with an unwavering optimism. At my age, I greatly appreciate each of them, and I’m ready to enjoy every one to the fullest. Each one is like a new baby––from the time it comes, you’re convinced it’s going
Mentors or How to Get Further in Life
Early morning on any beach is a magic time. But the Caribbean beaches are special. The best I’ve ever seen are in the Turks and Caicos. Their sand is as white as snow. Fine Carrara marble powder. Not even a speckle of dirt. It is so fine, you feel like
A difference Between a Science and an Art
After I thought for a while, it made sense. If you can’t replicate the work and get the same outcome, then it’s not science. If you can replicate the work and get the same outcome, it’s not art. Seth Godin
Where Is The Memory Stored?
In my previous post, I mentioned Paulo Coelho in By the River I Sat Down and Wept. The story was read by some as borrowed from the Hundredth monkey effect, originally described in the 1950s, and developed into a theory by Lyall Watson in the 1970s. It made a point
By the River Piedra I Sat Down And Wept
By Paulo Coelho I read this passage some years ago. But recently, it brought to me an entirely different meaning. I am learning about the function of the human brain, and the phenomenon of memory fascinates me. Please read, and I will return to my crazy idea in the next
Addendum to My Previous Post
Just read the article: “Dating coach claims you can still flirt with your eyes while wearing a mask.” So, what do I know.
All About Masks
I put my first mask on some sixty years ago. In my Medical School during cadaver dissection in anatomy class, the stench was difficult to tolerate. The mask was a status symbol then, and put me in the circle of health professionals. Later, during long open-heart surgery cases, it seemed
Sneak Preview of My New book, “Pals Forever”
How do you raise the son, when your father is in prison for murder? Do you even want to have a son? Crime is committed in the operating room, and they blame the surgeon for it. Fatherhood is the most challenging job, and also the most rewarding. Watercolor by Kathy
Laborer – Craftsman – Artist
He who works with his hands is a laborer. He who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman. He who works with his hands, his head, and his heart, is an artist. St. Francis of Assisi
Life Lessons
The pessimist complains of the wind; The optimist expects it to change; The realist adjusts the sails. William Arthur Ward
It’s not the critic who counts
I see this everywhere. The commentators. Political, economic, sports, social, scientific. They all make a living from someone else’s ideas, work and sweat. Someone else’s years of work, preparations, and risk-taking. Austerities. And then exposing his or her creations to the world. The commentators can make or break your career.
How to become a writer
The first condition to become a writer is to have something to say. It reminds me of the anecdote from the stormy life of Napoleon. Each time the Frenchman conquered the town, he expected a 21-gun salute. Once the expectation was not met, and the town was silent. No sounds
My Gratitude
I’m writing this a few hours into 2021. And what a year it was. Turmoil. Conflicts. I don’t remember such a consequential year during my lifetime. The monumental presidential election. A huge dynamic in national and world economy and politics. Unprecedented deception in the media. Everything topped by a monstrous
Tradycje. Epilog dla czytelników polskich
Dla moich polskich czytelników. Koncert w Piwnicy pod Baranami. A teraz sam autor, Jan Pietrzak. Tekst oryginalny. Jest takie miejsce u zbiegu dróg, Gdzie się spotyka z zachodem wschód… Nasz pępek świata, Nasz biedny raj… Jest takie miejsce, Taki kraj. Nad pastwiskami ciągnący dym, Wierzby jak mary, w welonach mgły…
Traditions
Teaching kids how to cook mother’s favorite dishes. Showing them the places your ancestors are from. Telling stories about how parents met and what they’ve done before you’ve arrived. Traditions. Most of the kids don’t think about what’d happened before they were born. And if they do––it happens late in
We know very little about our brains.
The human brain is a marvelous creation. The function of our brains fascinates me. But the more I study, the longer I live, fuller I realize how little we know. And this pertains not only to us, but even more to the professionals. How is the memory stored? Short-term memory?
Nothing is Random
We look at the sky at night and see chaos. We drive on 405 through Los Angeles during the rush hours and see disarray. We walk into the forest, look at the trees and see discoordinated growth around a seemingly unregulated river. Scientists study the environment, trying to find out
Evolution of a writer
Progression (or regression?) of a writer One starts as a writer. Then becomes a teacher. The next step is to be an editor. In the final stage you become a critic.
A Mentor
A mentor is a spirit with many faces. Find the one, who builds you up. Avoid the one who tears you down. The first type sees only problems. The second sees potential.
Who is Critic
“A critic is someone who enters the battlefield after the war is over and shoots the wounded.” Murray Kempton. American journalist
A Misleading, Unnecessary Disclaimer
A disclaimer, frequently found at the beginning of many works of fiction, always puzzled me. “Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental”
Why the Poles Fight, part 4
They were the largest group of the people participating in the Warsaw Uprising. And the only one not involved in the decision to rise. Before the war, Warsaw had a population of 1,300,000, and the city was the seventh largest of Europe. In March 1945, after the Germans evacuated, only
Why the Poles Fight, part 3
They were young, desperate, and had seen enough of German savagery. They wanted to be free and wanted to avenge the unspeakable brutality of the invaders. They knew they could die, but also knew there are worse things than death. But the youths of Warsaw weren’t the only players in
Why the Poles Fight, part 2.
The Museum of Warsaw Uprising is chilling evidence of the atrocity of dying Nazi experiment. Being beaten on both fronts, the Germans unloaded their rage on the essentially defenseless population of the Polish capital. Their destruction of Warsaw was symbolic and reminds me of the epic razing of Carthage by
Why the Poles Fight
“Why in the world did you fight the Germans in the Warsaw Uprising?” A good friend of mine shook his head. There was more than a question in his demeanor. I sensed a tone of disapproval. “Were you out of your mind?” He was Hungarian and left his native country
A Full Spectrum of Surgeons: from Brainiac to Doer
In my last three posts, I wrote about the two gods in American surgery. Cooley and DeBakey. Two personalities who achieved the pinnacle, still being on the opposite ends of the surgical universe. One was a thinker, a planner, and had vision. The other one was, let’s-operate-and-see-what-happens, man. The Brainiac
DeBakey vs Cooley, The Strife of Gods on Olympus
Ostensibly, it was all about the first implantation of an artificial heart. Argentinian surgeon, Domingo Liotta, started to work on the project at the University of Córdoba. And he was not even the first one in the history of medicine. Liotta, after his initial studies were published, was asked by
Michael DeBakey, the Surgeon who Saved His Own Life.
Putting together a puzzle of life, if you start with a piece of an enormous drive to excellence, add a piece of self-discipline, follow it with another piece of resilience, interpose these with a part of impeccable work habits, find a piece of attention to details and intolerance of error,
Denton A. Cooley, Bigger than Texas
Modify, simplify, apply Denton A. Cooley, motto of The Texas Heart Institute. A story had circulated about Denton Cooley, the famous Houston-based surgeon and innovator, an exceptionally gifted man. While testifying in court, Dr. Cooley was asked by the opposing attorney if he considered himself to be the best heart
How We Care. The Epilogue.
The family care doesn’t start at birth. And doesn’t finish at death. Arthur Kleinman, from memory, modified. At a certain age, each of us suddenly finds out we had ancestors. I got interested in my heritage when I realized that the name of the village, where my father was born,
How We Care. My Mother.
“A mother is only as happy as her unhappiest child.” Nicole Helget, Stillwater When the Warsaw Uprising broke out, I was 6 months old. We lived in the center of the city, where the fighting was most brutal. One day, the group of insurgents brought us two infants whose mothers
How We Care. My Father.
When a father helps his son, they both laugh. When a son helps his father, they both cry. Yiddish proverb. One of the most consequential decisions of my life was to bring my parents from Poland to the United States. While they were getting older, I realized my parents’ future
Francis Robicsek, the Renaissance Man.
He was Hungarian. His name, however, like the name of the city he was born, Miskolc, was Slavic. He came from the part of Eastern Europe which for a long time was dominated culturally and politically by the Austrians, and the borders between the nations were in constant flux. He
Writing Emotions
It’s not what happens to the people on the page, it’s about what happens to the reader. Gordon Lish
Getting Older
Getting older is raising from the ground up, seeing less details, but having better overview. When up, one suddenly realizes he’s at peace. High in space, there’s no noise, quiet and the air is cleaner. You see only important things.
The Plague
The choice seemed perfect. I read James Michener’s Hawaii while on vacations on Kauai and his Poland––knowing history of this country well. Reading Camus’ masterpiece now, when coronavirus is raging, lets me the current events with a different acuity. I don’t plan to relate the story in more detail. Enough
A Word About Puzzles
Recently a friend of mine wrote his first blog. https://puzzlingdotblog.wordpress.com/ We started our conversations in jacuzzi in our fitness club. They were as quirky as unusual was our meeting place. The noise in hot tub limits parts of conversations. But you know from the beginning what some people are born
