Posted in Books, Business, Writers & Writing on January 30, 2009| 5 Comments »
Found online today, during a waaaay-too-long procrastination break (OK, I’m not working on a novel, but still . . .):
Invaluable tips for would-be authors from the no-nonsense book How NOT to Write a Novel (via Times Online)
If all else fails, there’s always self-publishing!
Self-Publishers Flourish as Writers Pay the Tab (via NY Times)
Posted in Baseball, Birthdays, Obama, Race, Sports on January 30, 2009| Leave a Comment »
“Jackie Robinson was my boyhood hero and with every passing year I have a richer appreciation of what he went through and how he made this world a better place with his courage and grace.” (Tom Brokaw)
Earlier this week in New York, in advance of what would have been his 90th birthday tomorrow, Robinson’s widow, Rachel Robinson, kicked off a fund-raising campaign for a planned Jackie Robinson Museum. “The museum will consolidate the major themes that defined Robinson’s life and the lives of all who aspire to effect change: commitment and courage. ‘I saw [those traits] in Jack and I see that in President Obama and others who prevail,'” said Robinson, during an interview with New York Times sports columnist William C. Rhoden.
A Way to Mark Robinson’s 90th Birthday (via NY Times)
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Posted in Current Events, Obama, Race on January 30, 2009| 3 Comments »
In Springfield, Massachusetts (barely 30 minutes south of my home in Northampton), during the early morning hours immediately following Barack Obama’s election as President, a predominately black church under construction was destroyed by fire. Earlier this week, the three Massachusetts men, all white, accused of having set the fire, were formally indicted. The indictment alleges the men talked about their racial motives before setting the fire. Although I was horrified when I heard the news, I was, sadly, unsurprised that even in Massachusetts, the bluest of blue states, this sort of hate crime could be perpetrated. Now comes evidence that not only are hate crimes on the rise, but that “A new black president and the deepening economic crisis are creating the perfect storm for racist groups intent on swelling their ranks.” So says Neo-Nazi David Duke who offers that “Obama will be a ‘visual aid’ for angry white Americans and will provoke a backlash among relatively mainstream whites that will ‘result in a dramatic increase in [the] ranks’ of extremists.” A sampling of racial incidents, from Maine to California, reported in the wake of the election would appear to support his claim.
Obama Called a “Visual Aid” for White Supremacist Recruiting (via AlterNet)
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The 'Not-So-Rough' Guide 