With skill and intelligence, the veteran interviewer crisscrosses the country in search of a public school program that teaches religious literacy well, says Publishers Weekly in review of Faith Ed. Read about this and other news in Faith Ed newsletter. Continue reading
June 19, 2015
Almost exactly two months to publication date for Faith Ed. Several bits of news to report, starting with a fun item:
The Teach Don’t Preach Video: You can now see a video, Teach Don’t Preach, that includes an interview with me about Faith Ed as well as interviews with a Wellesley, Mass., middle school teacher and social studies chair featured in one chapter of the book. Backstory: A group of students from Housatonic Valley Regional High School in Conn. made the film as part of the … Continue reading
Bode Miller has nothing to be ashamed of and neither does Christin Cooper, the NBC reporter who aked repeated questions about the Olympic skier’s late brothe r. It’s okay for a grown man to cry, and it’s okay for the rest of us to watch it, too. I watched the interview from a dual perspective, as a woman who lost her brother and as a journalist who has interviewed countless people after the death of a sibling, a parent, or a child. Continue reading
A Boston-area grocery store made this Jew very happy today. And yet, I couldn’t help but wonder. How did non-Jews react when they received grocery bags with that picture of that menorah and the candles all aglow with orange flames? They don’t celebrate Hanukkah. Would it make them feel left out like I did many times in my childhood? I seriously doubt it. My hunch is that the bag will give non-Jews a tiny glimpse at Hanukkah.
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In a recent article in The Atlantic, I profile Ellery Schempp, who staged the protest that led to a landmark school prayer ruling in 1963. His case should become required reading for today’s teens. He rebelled against his school system not for himself but because of an injustice. His school, like many across the country, was blatantly violating the separation of church and state by requiring prayer every morning. Continue reading
Ellery Schempp at age 16 led a silent protest against mandated prayer and Bible readings in his school and ultimately won – in the landmark Supreme Court ruling Abington v. Schempp in 1963. Read about where he is now and his continued passion for the rights of non-believers and religious minorities. Continue reading
Randomness. That word sticks in my mind in the aftermath of the bombings near the Boston Marathon finish line. The randomness of it all when it came to who was injured and who was not, who died and who survived. The randomness of who decided to watch the marathon that day and who chose instead to spend a day at a beach, a zoo, or Revolutionary War reenactments. Continue reading
Many of us know far too little about the world’s religions. An interfaith event at a Boston-area private high school hammered in that point this week. Continue reading
People often struggle about what to do when a friend’s relative dies. Sometimes, the smallest things can make a difference. Today, I stumbled upon a book a photo store gave in memory of my brother — 27 years ago. It meant more than I ever could have imagined. Continue reading
Maybe it’s weird to keep my brother’s Levi’s jacket. But it’s a piece of him that I’m not ready to give up. By keeping the jacket, I preserve a precious moment in time, a day when I could grant my brother exactly what he wanted. It was a moment I would never again get to repeat with my brother. Continue reading
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