I’m scheduled to board a ship in Athens, Greece, this weekend and sail for Turkey, so I’ll be offline for a few days. In the meantime, here are some links to some fascinating pieces I’ve enjoyed recently.
The first is from my longtime friend David Margolick about Elizabeth Eckford, the black schoolgirl dressed in white who walked through the jeering mob in Little Rock 50 years ago this week — depicted in the famous photograph by Will Counts. Here’s the link, and here’s a piece about the controversy behind the piece.
The second is from Ann Patchett, the novelist from Nashville, who writes a wonderful piece about the quirky music of Music City.
And speaking of Ann Patchet, if you’ve got a few minutes and sometimes find yourself wondering what it’s like to write a book, here’s a wonderful clue: It’s a piece on NPR about Ann’s relationship with her “first reader,” Elizabeth McCracken.

Some writers spend a life time writing about the place where they live. Some have strict routines and need to be surrounded by their favorite things in order to write.
Ann Patchett, author of the novel Bel Canto is not that kind of a writer. She says she can write anywhere — hotel rooms or airports if need be. And she is not interested in creating fiction based in Nashville, where she has lived most of her life. But what she cannot do without is a “first reader.”