Blog

Frontline podcast https://tinyurl.com/vucolbt a journalist goes to the rural area of Athens, County where my story Cloud of Witnesses takes place–to discover that when the schools shut down in southeast Ohio because of the coronavirus it left children at risk of going hungry. The population was always at risk of poor health outcomes and at…… Read more

This past weekend was Nowruz, the New Year according to the lunar calendar that Iran follows. In my book, Cloud of Witnesses, Hassan explains the idea of Nowruz to Roland who likens it to spring cleaning, a time to clear away the old and prepare for the new. “According to the Muslim calendar this is…… Read more

So here I am for twenty minutes—the amount of time I can concentrate these days. I spend most of my time being distracted, touching my face, trying not to touch my face, or else washing my hands. A lot of time is wasted on mortality. Mine and the people I love. Charting the course of…… Read more

We are again hearing chants of “Death to America.” History repeating–though the circumstances are different this time around. My book, Cloud of Witnesses, portrays the growing relationship between two outsiders: Roland the hillbilly and Hassan the foreign kid, both new to Athens Middle School. When I began writing this book (years ago, I must confess)…… Read more