When I started putting together my to-do list this week, I felt so overwhelmed that rather than jumping in – I distracted myself. These days, with the ever-growing stream of emails waiting for my response and my iPhone and various...
Mary Oliver’s “The Summer Day” is the only poem on my office wall. It was given to me as a gift many years ago. In the many tributes to her, the last lines of the poem are often quoted: Tell...
We are delighted that Busboys and Poets will be hosting the Takoma Park Book Fair again this year—our 10th anniversary milestone! Saturday, December 15 2–5 p.m. Takoma Busboys & Poets 235 Carroll St NW, Washington, DC This unique holiday book sale and signing...
Recently Mary Oliver’s poem, “In the Storm,” landed in my inbox. In the poem, Oliver took a remarkable scene from nature — acts of kindness between birds in a storm — and used her keen observational powers and poetic magic...
Today is Mary Oliver’s birthday. Many of her poems grace the pages of our poetry books – Teaching with Heart, Leading from Within, and Teaching with Fire. Mary Oliver is one of the poets most often chosen by teachers to speak...
Parker Palmer begins the first chapter of On the Brink of Everything by describing how he came to the title of his book. He starts with dictionary definitions of “on the brink” noting that most of them are negative. I’m not sure...
On this 4th of July, I want to take a moment to recognize the “every day” heroes amongst us. To “celebrate the spirit and courage of the 3.1 million teachers who each and every day, despite many challenges and obstacles, strive...
Book Giveaway! I am delighted to announce that Parker J. Palmer’s On the Brink of Everything: Grace, Gravity and Getting Old – is our next Book Giveaway! I’ve only read a few pages but I’m already hooked! Though he writes...
