Category Archives: Dick’s Posts

I know a lot of people hate the month of November, especially here in the Northeast. It is almost always gray, dark, wet and windy, often without the layer of pristine snow that covers the sins of the careless yard … Continue reading →

In 1985, David Halberstam wrote a small lovely book called The Amateurs, chronicling the work and sacrifice of four American Olympic-class scullers. Given the subaqueous profile of their sport, none of these athletes had any prospect of extrinsic reward. Even … Continue reading →

A reprise, but on my mind as I’m writing another Elder Darrow . . I recently came across a tweet from Lawrence Block praising John Sandford’s recent release in the Prey series, a fine police procedural set in and around … Continue reading →

By the time you read this, Memorial Day will have come and gone. I try to pay it the appropriate attention. Like many Maine families (and others), I know scores, both alive and dead, who served: my father and grandfather, … Continue reading →

I was listening to NPR the other day, an interview with Judy Blume, who is much in the news lately for several reasons. A movie has been made of Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. In conjunction with that, … Continue reading →

Most of the writers I know who are interested in publishing their work are acutely aware of the odds against getting work out into the world in the current publishing climate. Some of the possible culprits are: Too many MFAs … Continue reading →

Brief Commercial Message Kate Flora, Julia Spencer-Fleming, and I are presenting Make Your Own Mystery in Room 102 of Wishcamper Hall at USM on Saturday April 1, 2023 from 1 to 3 PM. It is a free presentation and parking … Continue reading →

 In 2004, I was a Fishtrap Fellow at the Fishtrap Writers’ Conference in Joseph, Oregon. The theme of the conference was “Writing and the West,” and included poets, fiction writers, songwriters, and anyone else who had anything to say about … Continue reading →

Another of my old teachers died last week. Charles Simic was a Pulitzer-Prize winning poet, a MacArthur grantee, and a well-loved teacher at the University of New Hampshire. He died in Dover, NH of complications of dementia. He was also … Continue reading →