When Fanny Grossman turned eighty-six, she decided she'd had it with life at the Magnolia Village Assisted Living Home in Peachtree City, Georgia. But it was mainly Nellie Mae Karr and her damn Southern accent that got to her. Nellie, the perennially smiling director of Magnolia … [Read more...]

Fifteen years ago, I was an unemployed 22 year-old living in a friend’s studio apartment near Los Angeles when I took a temp job working for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. My job was to process orders for a casting bible they’ve been putting out since 1937 called … [Read more...]

“Did you get your haircut?” Mom immediately asked upon greeting us at her front door. “Yep.” She didn’t say a word. No, “It’s cute.” Or, “It looks awful.” The three of us just stood there. So I left the blank, silent stillness that lingered and walked inside. She followed … [Read more...]

I could have taken home a trophy from France. Not just any trophy, mind you, but one big enough to impress friends with rooms full of trophies. I would have put it on top of the bookcase, a few feet from my front door. Whenever visitors commented on it, I would have told them all … [Read more...]