Solace in a Book

Celebrating Solace in so many years

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Four years ago Solace in So Many Words was launched. As expected, sales have tapered off, but I still frequently hear from people that the book has helped them. Maybe they consulted it when a loved one died or turned to it on a night when they need some consolation. This makes me feel good for it is the reason I created the book. We have mourned the death of a few of the 52 contributors and we celebrate the great work continuing to be done by the others. The web site … [Read more...]

Guest Post: Laura Rodley “To Be a Horse”

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This essay by Massachusetts writer Laura Rodley gives us an image and rides with it.  Reading it makes me think of all the horses in literature and the horse books by Marguerite Henry. I love how Laura’s writing flows (it's why I fell for "Addicted" in Solace in So Many Words).  This lyric essay is timely to me too because it mentions a broken arm, and I am recovering from a broken arm (but not one as serious the  fracture mentioned here).     To Be a … [Read more...]

Guest Post: Laura Rodley “Smoking”

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I've been trying to write a post on giving up something for Lent, but I am still working on it.  Smoking is something I've given up a number of times. Here, Laura Rodley captures why it attracts, rather than repels.   Smoking My father’s brand Pall Malls, hands off steering wheel to light his, then flick off searing leaves that stuck to his lip, happened each trip sixty miles per hour, I worried we’d flip   over, he contentedly pressed the … [Read more...]

Philip Levine and solace (and me)

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I just heard the news that Philip Levine has left this earth. The work he left behind is something we can find solace in when we miss his voice. So many great poems. I have fond memories of Phil Levine because he is a contributor to Solace in So Many Words, and we had a lot of correspondence about which poems of his to use. I felt like I knew him a little, that I could call him Phil. That's how he signed his emails: “Be well, Phil.” In spring 2007 I had an idea for an … [Read more...]