Liberal Arts

Though my working life has been tied to my professional pursuits, my education was, and continues to be, rooted in the liberal arts.

Though reading has permeated my life, I have only come to appreciate it fully since retirement and my private writing life. Reading is, as someone has said, “fundamental”.

Having the freedom to explore the world of literature has opened up new worlds of poetry and prose for which I have had little time. I have discovered writers and genres I did not even know existed. I plan to urge you to do the same given your time available.

One of the very difficult things for most of us is to sift through the galaxy of great opportunities. (We are so “busy”!) We need a curator. I will offer my very idiosyncratic things for your consideration, grouping them by genre and style.

I, out of necessity, will suggest only those choices I find compelling and let you be the judge of my expertise. (trust is everything!)

For the last two decades or so I have been exploring the work of writers who are pursuing topics related to philosophy, intelligence and the mind, mostly non-fiction with some novels thrown in (mostly women!). Reading primary sources is truly hard and laborious, so I have allowed these writers to “filter” and curate the most current great minds for me. If this sounds interesting, I would very much like to share them with you.

I strongly recommend “How to Live” by Sarah Bakewell who shares her love of the 16th century French creator of the “personal essay” Montaigne.