“Come mothers and fathers throughout the land And don’t criticize what you don’t understand Your sons and your daughters are beyond your command Your old road is rapidly agin’ Please get out of the new one if you can’t lend a hand For the times they are a-changin’ “ This was the voice … Continue reading TIMES THEY ARE A’CHANGING
8000 MILES & 8 TIME ZONES
(A young adventurer’s solo journey across the Soviet Union and Siberia during the height of the Cold War) Saturday April 20th 1968, Hotel Metropole, the Soviet Union “Are you sure you’re safe? I’ve been so worried about you.” After a disturbing number of clicks, my mother’s voice echoed down the line, “I haven’t been able … Continue reading 8000 MILES & 8 TIME ZONES
IT’S ONLY RITA BEING RITA
(a memoir of an enduring but unlikely friendship) “Who was that?” I asked when, after chatting for over an hour, Joe finally replaced the receiver. I was 19, newly arrived in New York, and had just moved into a studio above Carnegie Hall with a man 25 years my senior, Joseph X Dever, the very … Continue reading IT’S ONLY RITA BEING RITA
THE ORIGINAL IGO-ROCKET MAN
(An Interview with Kidlat Tahimik by Caroline Kennedy) London, November 1980 “And it’s going to be a long, long time Till touchdown brings me home and they’ll find I’m not the man they think I am at home, Oh, no, no, no, I’m the rocket man….” (with apologies to Elton John) Kidlat Tahimik, alias Eric … Continue reading THE ORIGINAL IGO-ROCKET MAN
CRUISE CHRONICLES # 3 – THE ART AUCTION
Did I mention Art Auctions at sea? Yes, they really do hold them on board the Noordam. And, to make sure we all knew about it, loudspeakers had been proudly heralding yesterday’s auction of “important contemporary works of art” since we set sail on March 26th. Now these auctions, I soon discovered, are definitely … Continue reading CRUISE CHRONICLES # 3 – THE ART AUCTION
The Letter
There is a letter, quite a long one, in fact. Since I can't show it to you, I shall describe it. It is handwritten, in ballpoint pen, in a sprawling, unfamiliar script, covering both sides of a sheet of graph paper, probably ripped from a child's exercise book. You can see it was written in … Continue reading The Letter
From Mere Mortal to Living Goddess
This is a story I have dined out on for many years. I enjoy watching people's expressions when I casually drop the line: "Did you realize you have just been having dinner with a "living goddess"? I could write a whole chapter about the reactions I have received! One cold, misty January morning, Ben and … Continue reading From Mere Mortal to Living Goddess
The World is a Book
Since I was very small I have always had an innate wanderlust. Day and night I would pore over books with photos of strange places, wild topography, fascinating people and exotic flora and fauna. These pages excited me like nothing else. Forget Alice in Wonderland, forget Winnie the Pooh, forget Little Women. As I grew … Continue reading The World is a Book
Caroline Kennedy: My Travels 