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My dinner with Sylvester Stallone
June 29, 2011 by
We had dinner with Sylvester Stallone at Mosca’s Italian joint on the edge of New Orleans. He’s here to shoot Bullet to the Head. More blood and violence. Hollywood moguls surrounded him.
What do two famous authors have in common?
June 26, 2011 by
F. Scott Fitzgerald and Anthony Trollope – prose on women
Senior Tango
May 24, 2011 by
Some of the most devoted students of Argentine Tango are not what or who you would think. They are fine citizens who show up every Friday afternoon at the Emeryville Senior Center for lessons with Ivan Schvarts, Andrea, and me. You will have to look closely to guess that these dancers range in ages from […]
Argentina, a Traveler’s Literary Companion
May 16, 2011 by
Argentina, a Traveler’s Literary Companion tells you more, shows you more, and penetrates a culture faster, more accurately, more deeply than a dozen guidebooks ever could or would dare to. The writers whose works you’ll encounter include some of the world’s greats: Jorge Luis Borges, Julio Cortazar, and Luisa Valenzuela.
Tango Boot Camp takes me higher
May 5, 2011 by
Just when I think I can’t get any higher in tango along comes an experience that raises the ceiling. Such was the case at Christy Cote’s Tango Boot Camp at Linden Dance Studio in Oakland.
Tango Music arranged by Bendrew Jong
February 28, 2011 by
Bendrew Jong is an accomplished tango dancer in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is also a musician with a deep passion for tango music. He transcribes, translates the lyrics, and remixes and performs the Golden Era tangos, including singing them. That’s his voice you’ll hear on all the tangos below. You can catch Ben […]
Awarded For My Love of Tango
January 21, 2011 by
Rewarded in cash and a party for quitting day job to tango in Buenos aires
VIA Magazine archived stories
May 2, 2010 by
These are links to some of the many travel stories I wrote for VIA Magazine from 1988 through 2006. Some info may not have aged gracefully – do check all contact info. MENDOCINO, CALIFORNIA http://www.viamagazine.com/weekenders/mendocino97.asp BIG SUR, DRIVING THE BIG SOUTH http://www.viamagazine.com/top_stories/articles/bigsouth97.asp – JACKSON HOLE, WYOMING http://www.viamagazine.com/top_stories/articles/jackson98.asp HAWAII’S ALOHA FESTIVALS http://www.viamagazine.com/top_stories/articles/aloha97.asp PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA http://www.viamagazine.com/top_stories/articles/desertwilds98.asp […]
“The crack is in me,” I said heroically
May 1, 2010 by
“The crack is in me,” I said heroically. Fitzgerald
Tim Cahill—Hold his enlightenment
May 1, 2010 by
Cahill’s first story broke my heart—Hold the Enlightenment. It poked fun at a sacred cow – – – wanting enlightenment and writing occasionally about it. Apparently, says Tim, all these guys are self-published and take themselves too seriously, even when they can write, and well, therefore, enlightenment is anathema to real writers like he—who don’t have to self-publish. I don’t exactly want to be enlightened, I decided. I like the old saw that I just be enlightened about my delusions—and not deluded about my enlightenment.But I guess that’s not funny. So forget I said it. For now.
Writing Hands Dancing Feet
May 1, 2010 by
I break the rule of milongas that says not to change your shoes at the table all the time. It’s because usually I enter the milonga in the middle of a tanda of music I love and can’t wait. Here I am strapping on shoes to dance with a performer in La Boca who invites […]
Small Presses are Bigger
April 29, 2010 by
Last Tuesday I had the pleasure of lunching with Lindy Hough, co-founder, editorial director of North Atlantic Books, Berekely, California
We talked all too briefly but urgently on books, writing, publishing, creativity . . . all the good stuff of life. North Atlantic is like my publisher—Seal Press—whom I’ve worked with for the past five years: dedicated to a certain type of book that wouldn’t get the treatment it deserves from the Big Fish.
Lindy knows a lot about shaping a manuscript and making a book coherent and easy to read. She’s worked with many authors over the many years North Atlantic has been publishing.
Your writing instructor
April 8, 2010 by
About me . . . I bring to my workshops more than thirty years of experience in publishing as researcher, writer, editor, and instructor in a vast array of subject areas including essay, memoir, food, travel, fitness, health, mind/body/spirit, creative non-fiction, fiction, and more. My latest book, a travel memoir, TANGO, AN ARGENTINE LOVE STORY, […]
Writing Workshop Goals
April 8, 2010 by
HERE ARE YOUR FOUR GOALS WE’LL ACCOMPLISH IN THIS INTENSIVE: 1. Understand and embrace your writing setpoint. Just as with body weight, we all have a writing setpoint—a natural length that suits our message and determines our ideal genre. 1,000 words is the mean, from which you assess your need to unpack and flesh out or […]
Writing Workshop, what’s it all about
April 8, 2010 by
Some writers can barely squeeze a thousand words out and they feel done—they have said it all. Others of us gush, feeling much like Zeno’s Hare—the distance to the finish is perpetually cut in half. Neither setpoint is better or worse—both are useful modes of writing that help you shape and craft your piece. enre, […]
The Last Cannoli
March 16, 2010 by
This is a work of fiction inspired by my growing up in a large Sicilian American family – ten kids, two parents, a few pets here and there (very few survived for long with us, I don’t know why exactly . . . something to explore later). If you are looking for a strongly plot-driven novel, don’t bother with this one. If you like character-driven literature and a dash of the potent spice, magical realism, read this book. Especially fun to read if you grew up in New Jersey/New York area and know places like Rahway, Jersey Shore . . . which you thought would never be uttered in the same breath as literature.
Squaw Valley Institute, tango talk and demo
March 14, 2010 by
Tango and other book author Camille cusumano talks about writing, dancing tango, living in Buenos Aires at the Squaw Valley Institute; she’ll do a tango demo.
Your writing instructor
February 19, 2010 by
My writing workshops are always designed to fit the needs of participants: I bring to my workshops more than thirty years of experience in publishing as researcher, writer, editor, and instructor in a vast array of subject areas including food, travel, essay, memoir, fitness, health, mind/body/spirit, creative non-fiction, fiction, and more. My work has appeared […]