Pat Taub
“The Vixen”
This week I devoured Francine Prose’s witty new novel, “The Vixen,” which takes place in the 1950’s and revolves around the infamous Rosenburg trial and execution, where Ethel and Julius Rosenburg were executed for passing along secrets to the Russians. The protagonist, young editor, Julius Putnam, is assigned a book that casts Ethel as a femme fatale, at odds with the ordinary housewife role she inhabited. The plot is zany and laugh out loud to the very end.
“Better Things”
I’m a big fan of the Hulu series, “Better Things,” starring the show’s creator Pamela Adlon, as a single mother of three precocious teen daughters, living in LA, and across the street from her demanding, eccentric mother. The characters are believable and lovable, and always funny. Sam, Pamela’s character, is complex beyond what is usually portrayed in TV series.
The cast of “Better Things:” Pamela Adlon, forefront w/ actors who play her mother and daughters
The Loss of a Wonderful Elder
This week, Joanne Booth, a member of my Portland church, died at age 97. We shared a common history as members of the summer work camp at College Cevenol in Chambon, France. As a proud Francophile, Joanne had worked at the college right after the war, while I had attended it as a college student in the ‘60’s. Joanne loved to dance, wear colorful socks, and write poetry. She was my inspiration for aging with gusto. Here are the opening lines from a poem Joanne wrote for a WOW blog in 2016:
Age does not define us
We are more—much more—than our age
Who we are is
What we value most deeply
What we laugh at
How often we smile
What we fantasize about.
Family Memoir
Recently I returned in earnest to a memoir I’ve been writing about growing up in the 50’s, with an emphasis on fleshing out the stories of my relatives and their amusing qualities. There was a great aunt who had a pet monkey; another great aunt, who looked like a bar maid but who designed glamorous women’s hats. I’m sprinkling my memoir with historical events that curtailed my growing up, like Sputnik in 1957. I’m hoping the historical references will entice my heirs to read my story, rather than retreating into boredom as they often do now when I try to recount family antidotes. I plan to end the memoir at my current age.
A childhood family photo. I’m on the left, with my parents and two younger brothers
