Skip to main content

Guestwords

Guestwords: Home Alone

After a few days of the new regimen, you may begin to start wondering what’s going to kill you first, the coronavirus or being in such close proximity for so long.

Apr 23, 2020
Guestwords: Morning in America

The similarities between Covid-19 and climate change are striking. In both cases, it isn’t too late to make it less bad than if we do nothing, and “less bad” is as good as it gets.

Apr 16, 2020
Guestwords: The Corona Economy

I am not one to induce panic when it could be argued that panic is appropriate, but many of my friends and college classmates are as concerned as I am that this virus has the potential to do a lot more economic damage to the country than we realize.

Apr 9, 2020
Guestwords: Viral Happiness

The guaranteed way to get through the Covid-19 era is distraction. Here an accomplished physicist diverts you from thinking about the coronavirus with puzzles, problems, wisdom, and humor.

Apr 2, 2020
Guestwords: Creativity in the Age of Corona by Andrea Grover

Suddenly, every parent is a homeschooler, and everyone is an artist. We’re playing music, performing, dancing, writing stories, and making art. Creative expression is at an all-time high. Who could spare the time for this two weeks ago?

Mar 26, 2020
The Economic Impact of the Virus

Many of us have suffered already from the warlike shock of the COVID-19 pandemic. We will all suffer in some way. If we learn from the record, however, we can take steps to minimize the impact.

Mar 19, 2020
Guestwords: Don’t Call Me ‘Madam’

I tend to bristle when addressed as “ma’am.” Ma’am is so, well, elderly. Uh, except in Brazil?

Mar 12, 2020
Guestwords: We Met Over Trash

To help Dell Cullum and his Wildlife Rescue of East Hampton nonprofit, a comedy night fund-raiser was in order. This is what I do.

Mar 5, 2020
Every Day Is Sunday

I am among that elite group of people who can afford not to work, or, as in my case, were tossed out of it, and who easily lose track of days — all days, in fact, are rather the same.

Feb 27, 2020
The Philosens Vigil

A new vigil for social change takes shape at the windmill in Sag Harbor. It meets every Friday.

Feb 20, 2020
Profits With a Purpose

On the East End, fusing commercial endeavors with deep-rooted values and social good has been an ideal for years. There are many examples flourishing in our midst.

Feb 13, 2020
Once Upon a Time on West Seventh

“It was 50 years ago today,” I thought as I entered the theater this past August to catch the 1969 period film “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” looking for a reminder of a divine encounter one summer day in Los Angeles.

Feb 6, 2020
The Roots of Unhappiness

Why, in an era when there are so many things to be grateful for and happy about, are a plurality of Americans riddled with anxiety, anger, fear, and depression?

Jan 30, 2020
Guestwords: I Learn From Caroline Pratt

I first picked up Caroline Pratt’s 1948 memoir-cum-history of the City and Country School, “I Learn From Children,” in the late 1960s, and its progressive commitment to growing activist citizens instantly resonated. It’s out in a new edition, and not a moment too soon.

Jan 23, 2020
Guestwords: My Wainscott Sphinx

Norman Jaffe’s landmark design for Harold Becker’s house in a Wainscott pasture taught me that rule-bending buildings can change your mental space, your emotional compass, your perception of the relationship between nature and human nature.

Jan 16, 2020
Guestwords: Hi Ho, It’s Off to Work I Go

My life as a full-time patient.

Jan 9, 2020
Climate and Real Estate

Long Island real estate is suffering as sales decrease and homes lose value, and one reason is chronic flooding fueled by climate change.

Jan 1, 2020
The Memoir Consortium

Writing a memoir was not something that came naturally. It was more like building my first treehouse and my second marriage. I had to struggle to learn how to “measure twice, cut once.”

Dec 26, 2019
The Walgreens Welcome

Breaking news, Verizon. There’s a new kid in town, a challenger for your WCW crown — Worst Company in the World.

Dec 19, 2019
Satirizing the Third Reich

“Jojo Rabbit” is told from the point of view of a boy during the war. I was a boy at the same time. And I had trouble laughing.

Dec 12, 2019
William Ruckelshaus, Eco-Hero

Remembering William Ruckelshaus, the first administrator of the E.P.A., a principled government official whose life was dedicated to environmental leadership.

Dec 5, 2019
Guestwords: Longing for Light

There is no greater pain than the feeling of shame. I know. As a victim of clerical sexual abuse, my tears waited nearly half a century to stream from my eyes.

Nov 27, 2019
When Will We Ever Learn?

I don’t know if any one of us ever really got through John F. Kennedy’s assassination.

Nov 21, 2019
Guestwords: The Uninvited Guest

There’s one big reason for not hosting Thanksgiving — the turkey.

Nov 14, 2019
Guestwords: For Marcelo Lucero

A marathon story-shaping Freedom Forum at Stony Brook University on Saturday is dedicated to the memory of Marcelo Lucero, the Ecuadorean immigrant who was stabbed to death in Patchogue in 2008.

Nov 7, 2019
Guestwords: Anchored to Life

It’s the rhythm of the natural world that keeps us grounded, and what we need most in desperate times. That’s what I came to understand when I was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer.

Oct 31, 2019
Guestwords: The Last Time

I doubt Roy was thinking “last time” on Jan. 2, 2010, as he walked down the driveway of the Montauk house where we had shared 36 years of summers and weekends. But that’s just the thing about the last time: Plans don’t matter.

Oct 24, 2019
Martinis on Christopher St.

I loved my nirvana on the corner where I savored chance encounters with all comers — locals, tourists, art and film mavens, even an occasional boldface name. But then began my maiden skirmish in N.Y.C.’s internecine war over booze.

Oct 17, 2019
Tomato Time

The sight of the local farm stand bounty conjures a sense memory of an early fall in Indiana, and the stovetop follies of a group of friends.

Oct 10, 2019
Officers in Blue, Please Don’t Sue

It’s a mistake to allow police officers to sue the families of children or adults who have mental illness when something goes wrong after a 911 call. This may set a precedent the consequences of which could be a reluctance to make the call in the first place or even lost work because of time in court.

Oct 3, 2019