Blog

Thoughts on writing, reading and life...

  • January 20, 2018
    Jon’s mother died on Tuesday. She was a pioneer for social justice, an anti-war activist, and a gardener, botanist and herbalist (she could wax eloquent any day about a humming bird or praying mantis...
  • December 5, 2017
    This is a blog about Anne Frank, but it starts with human rights advocate and Bard College professor Helen Epstein.
  • November 15, 2017
    “The Children’s War: Rescued from conflict, boy soldiers in South Sudan weigh a return to the fight.”
  • March 30, 2017
    March being "Women's History Month," I was asked to read from "Lucretia Mott: Friend of Justice" at McKinley Elementary School. My audience? A kindergarten class. I was nervous.
  • January 9, 2017
    A Q&A with Dayna Meyers, editor of Johns Hopkins School of Public Health's online magazine: Global Health Now about "To End AIDS," an e-book that we produced at the Pulitzer Center. Several of...
  • November 10, 2016
    Tuesday night, as mothers all across the country tucked young daughters into bed, many told them when they awoke our country would have elected its first woman president.
  • June 22, 2016
    In 2020, the new $20 bill will feature Harriet Tubman. Also appearing on new U.S. currency will be Lucretia Mott and Eleanor Roosevelt. All three are subjects of my biographies—and the topic of a...
  • April 2, 2016
    Vicki Reutter reviews both "Nujood Ali and the Fight Against Child Marriage" by Katherine Don and "Grace Akallo: The Pursuit of Justice for Child Soldiers" in the School Library Journal.
  • March 24, 2016
    Laura Apol reviews "Grace Akallo"—and discusses challenges in writing about child soldiers—for "Africa Access." She writes: "The text handles issues of violence, rape, abuse, killing, and suicide...
  • February 28, 2016
    Last month I was invited to speak at Northwestern University in Doha, the capital of Qatar and home to Education City, a campus on the outskirts of the city that encompasses branches of eight...