Luke Bales is almost too nice for New York. An expatriate Australian bar owner, Luke's propensity to go above and beyond for friends nearly gets him killed in Lazarus, the second Luke Bales mystery from Simon Foster. Foster has a keen eye for New York and the people who live there, and takes Luke all over the city trying to discover the truth about what he suspects is the murder of Australian musician looking for a second chance in the U.S. For fans of Aussie vernacular, there's plenty of it here, used to witty, Raymond Chandler-like effect. It's an exciting... Continue reading

Who can resist a church pie sale? There are moments in life that leave you flabbergasted at your ridiculous good fortune. Finding a twenty in an old pair of pants. Reading Where the Wild Things Are to your kid for the first, or hundredth, time. The sound of hard rain on an awning, as you sit underneath it. Goodies, for sure. But they pale to this one: driving down a small town Main Street and seeing a pie sale sign in front of a church. I think I almost got rear-ended as I stomped on the brakes and careened across... Continue reading

This week's beautifully drawn Isabella Bannerman "Six Chix" cartoon. Continue reading

Always exciting to be in the Funny Times! And Isabella had two cartoons in the same issue. Click to enlarge. Continue reading

The Better Business Bureau’s “Do’s and Don’ts in Advertising Copy” Binder Every rule and regulation you needed to break, updated yearly. No one considers the 1950’s a golden age in advertising, except perhaps for the salaries (if you were the right gender, religion, and color to work in the industry). TV was new and money flooded into agencies trying to reach Americans glued to the three networks. The real creative revolution began in the 1960s. All the rules were broken. I know because I have the rulebook. When one of the big agencies I used to work for was moving... Continue reading

A British TV show has a fix for everything. Steve Fletcher (clocks), Will Kirk (cabinets), Kirsten Ramsay (ceramics), Jay Blades (host, furniture), Lucia Scalisi (paintings). Photo credit: Weald & Downland Living Museum It’s the office we’d all like to go to. In an historic, thatched-roof barn in bucolic West Sussex, England, a team of expert restorers fixes beloved family heirlooms. Is their work appreciated? Typically, the customers burst into tears when they see the restorations. The sounds of a music box, unheard for decades, recalls time spent with a grandmother as a child. A precious antique vase, passed through five... Continue reading

Today's Six Chix cartoon by Isabella Bannerman. The hermit crab version of a McMansion. Continue reading

There's nothing like a new robe. Mom, circa 1973, Buffalo, NY. Some things are sacred to a man. His brand of potato chips. His James Brown Live at the Apollo LP. The inviolability of his shaving razor. And, to be protected at any cost, his robe. My flannel robe had been under attack by my wife for over a decade, possibly two. I could never really understand why. It was a “black watch” tartan pattern, soft as a misty day in the Scottish highlands, and I laundered it frequently, at least twice a year. Actually, my wife had one main... Continue reading

In my family, the paranormal is normal. My grandfather, Bengt Paul, was a graphologist, read the future in cards, and practiced automatic handwriting. He also liked an expensive cigar. Do you believe in ghosts? I don’t. But I admire the people who make a living in paranormal professions. My grandfather dabbled in them. This might explain my love for any show about ghosts or aliens, or alien ghosts. I will also watch any program about Alaska or ancient Egypt. Recently there was documentary series called “Alaska Haunting” about ghostly visitations. Had they discovered a pharaoh’s tomb on the Chilkoot Trail... Continue reading

Our Roomba is currently hiding somewhere and we can't find it. It has disappeared into the ether. Continue reading

Sent to me by Matt Conrad. The piece remembers the heroism of his relative, Lieut. Michael J. Duddy, who was killed in WWI in France. The article also mentions my great uncle, Lieut. John V. Curry. John was also killed in France. They were both from Plains, PA. Click to enlarge. Continue reading

Sunday: Monday: Six Chix cartoons by Isabella Bannerman. The detail in the Sunday panel is amazing. The title panel shown at the top of this post would be placed to the left of the larger drawing, but most newspapers leave them out. Continue reading

Another great cartoon by Six Chix's Isabella Bannerman. In his new Netflix special, "23 Hours to Kill," Jerry Seinfeld talks about how texting has replaced talking as our preferred means of communication. I think he's right (as usual). Anyway, I love the expressions on the monkeys. Continue reading

Some Even More Remarkable Men Someone once said—was it Gide?—that authentic fame is being known by fifty people so long as they are the fifty whose opinions make all the difference. ­—James Lord, Some Remarkable Men: Further Memoirs Frederick P. Odell A swimming champion from Princeton, Freddy was extraordinarily attractive to men and women alike. He himself was attracted to anything that smelled of chlorine, and thus passed much of his time with swimmers and later in life, laundresses. Once on a lark Freddy dog-paddled around the Ile de la Cité, scandalizing not only his wealthy Philadelphia family, but the... Continue reading

Excited to have a piece in the May issue. Click to enlarge. Continue reading

Beautifully drawn bunnies from this week's Six Chix. Good for trying something new, bunny. Continue reading

Today's Six Chix cartoon by Isabella Bannerman. Looking forward to being cage-free again! Continue reading

It’s all Nolan Ryan’s fault My name is trending on the baby name lists. James, a perfectly good name, is #4. I’ve got no beef with that. It was good enough for James Brown, it’s good enough for anybody. But the name that’s trending is Nolan, #64 and rising. The final straw? An article on the front page of the New York Times today, with a photo of a Brooklyn couple and their baby boy, Nolan. If it’s becoming popular in Brooklyn, in a few years’ time it’ll be in the top five. This is just wrong, and I say... Continue reading

Another great cartoon by my wife, Isabella Bannerman, perhaps indicating that spring has arrived. Continue reading

Our latest selection, click to enlarge. We are sold out of Alice Dunbar Nelson. We have Shakespeare and Austen in large (3x5) and small (2x3) sizes; the rest are 2x3. They fit great on phones, laptops, and cars. All the illustrations are by Isabella Bannerman. To learn more or to order, visit us at literarylocations.com Continue reading

Social distancing in a galaxy far, far away. Baby Yoda Easter Egg art and photo by Mark Baldo I live in a suburb of New York City, so like much of the rest of the country, we are hunkered down, venturing out only for walks and, occasionally, groceries. I am grateful we don’t have the virus, and heartbroken for the many thousands who have died from it. But I am also grateful for Disney+ and Netflix. While I may have to socially distance from everyone I love, which is getting more surreal by the day, at least I can catch... Continue reading