Patricia Vaccarino

Freedom Spent

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When I was in college, a professor suggested that I read Freedom Spent by the legal writer Richard Harris. Freedom Spent was a narrative of three case studies in which Americans lost their civil liberties during legal proceedings that adhered to the letter of the law, or abided by a strict constructionist (narrow) interpretation of the law that disregarded the gravitas and prevailing spirit of the U.S. Constitution.  I lent Freedom Spent to so many friends that eventually I lost track of it and fear it is no longer in my library. 

Today, I am more convinced than ever that America has the most amazing...

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Latest Posts in Patricia Vaccarino

March 2024 Magazine

This month  Barbara Lloyd McMichael writes about a young woman, Raihab Baig, who has taken her passion for exploring healthy beverages to create a thriving business. Nick Licata’s analysis of the Middle East succinctly places the current Gaza Conflict within a historical context. In How NOT to Read the News, Patricia Vaccarino writes about how we can get a reality check to tell what is real from what is not. As always, Time Marches On! Happy March! 

 


Women Believe

My granddaughter Quinn was born on November 4, 2023. Quinn’s birth made me twice the Nonna that I used to be. (My grandson Wyatt was born November 25, 2021.) Becoming a Nonna (Grandma in Italian), made me embrace the fragile complexity of life that is especially evident in these tender children. As a Nonna, a writer, and a giver of life, I can help to make a better world, that ultimately benefits all children. So, I came up with a list of simple beliefs that #Women Believe.


NOTES FROM THE ROAD: Listen to This...

This past November, I was traveling from Denver, making a connection from Salt Lake City to Portland. While I waited for my flight to Portland, an older man sat next to me and started a conversation. I put down my New Yorker and listened to him. 


Notes From the Working Class: My Small Book

The Yonkers Carnegie Library was commonly held to be the most beautiful building in the city. I remember the library sat high on the hill and seemed to see the far corners of the world, beyond the Hudson River. The library took Yonkers for what it was—a city hovering in an undefined limbo, blurring the distinction among urban, suburban, and rural; and the rich, middle and working-classes, and the poor; and the people, black, brown, and white.


Lipstick on a Pig

What happens in the Book World impacts my life. I am the author of ten books.  I am also a consumer of books, and read two books a week, often more. I immerse myself in articles and newsletters that focus on the Book World. The recent NYT article Barnes and Noble Sets Itself Free, dated October 17, 2023, is about how Barnes and Noble is re-decorating many of its stores to resemble small independent bookstores. It’s ironic that this behemoth chain wants to look more like the small Indie bookstores that it had once been intent on driving out of business.