Christine Schoefer

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS

The 1995 film Home for the Holidays, starring Holly Hunter, about a comedic (both dark and light) trip back home for Thanksgiving, inspired our essay roundup. Eight essayists tell stories from a child’s eye to the mind’s eye, from poignant family lore to lighter fare. Each of these literary lights takes us into the season with moving, funny, irreverent moments in time.

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The Summer of Love

I remember my childhood summers as a happy jumble of hot and cold (blistering asphalt! Ice cubes down my back!) and dry and wet (dusty softball fields! Thunderstorms!). My memories are sense-oriented: the smell of Coppertone and...

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Summer Reading —A collection of essays

“Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,” wrote William Shakespeare in Sonnet 18. His comment on the intensity of summer is a theme taken up by our Bay Area bards this month as they describe a near-drowning, an awkward houseguest, teenagers on vert ramps, poignant slices of lemon meringue pie and so much more.

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Mr. Right

Three essayists chronicle their quest for the perfect mate. Does he get his hands dirty? Is his bark worse than his bite? Will he make the hot chocolate the way she likes? Whether he’s callused and tender, strapping and sexy, or well, a dog, he’s found a place in the hearts of these women.

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Character Building

There’s something romantic about the act of handwriting. When we write we can sense the history and meaning behind each letter–their shapes and the work our hands and brains do to make them. Some experts even say that specialized handwriting can change our behavior. But can this ancient art survive the rush of the digital age?

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Faces of the East Bay

In the Philanthropic Swim

In the Philanthropic Swim

Rockridge residents John Bliss and Kim Thompson may live far removed the gritty flats of East and West Oakland. But this philanthropic couple see themselves as one with the citizens of Oakland, particularly those who are struggling financially, and they’re leading a campaign to get their “financially blessed” peers to invest in the community like they have by funding city programs to teach kids how to swim.