First school visits in London

On 2/17/23, I arrived in London for my first school visits in the United Kingdom. But my initial catalyst to make the weeklong trip was not those speaking engagements. For what was, see the end of this post.

Hampton Court House

(one of the three schools I spoke at; 

it's housed in a handsome structure built in 1757)

exterior of HCH

Knightsbridge School

Eaton Square Prep School

Big Ben

(not a school)

Westminster Abbey

Buckingham Palace

Hampton Court Palace,

onetime home of Henry VIII and his VI wives

Kew Gardens

The Hive, a striking installation in Kew Gardens

A decade ago I found and interviewed the five women who appeared 

in the iconic video for "Addicted to Love" by Robert Palmer. 

On this trip, I met three of them in person. 

Mak Gilchrist gave me an articulate and fascinating tour of Kew Gardens.

Julie Pankhurst and Julia Bolino took me to a

popular meeting spot with character in spades.

I saw the musical inspired by Back to the Future.

I thought this was the funniest part.

speaking of funny (because tragedy plus time equals...)

again speaking of funny: three coffee shops in a row

I walked a lot in London.

The reason I planned the trip...my daughter would be in town,

returning from a five-week gap year service trip in Kenya.

I surprised her. At the airport at 6:30 am.

Meeting the "Addicted to Love" video women

Ten years ago, I had the thrill and privilege of being the first person to find and interview all five women from the iconic video for Robert Palmer's "Addicted to Love" (1986).

A year later, the fab five reunited in person for the first time since the shoot.

Lovely people all, and we've stayed in touch. Patty Elias lives in California, Kathy Davies lives in Thailand, and the other three are still in London (where the video was shot).

On 2/17/23, at Bluebird in London, I had the thrill and privilege to meet two of them in person, Julie Pankhurst (keyboards) and Julia Bolino (guitar far right). 

Julie again on left, Julia again on right.

A wee bit blurry but best we got. Gonna have to face it.

Three days later, still in London, I met a third, Mak Gilchrist, who had been out of town the night I met Julie and Julia. She took me on an enlightening walking tour of Kew Gardens, where I'd never been. 

It was mind-warping to get to know people I'd known of since I was 14 and now consider friends.

Everyone has a story behind the story...

Best of the blog 2022

This blog launched on 2/19/08.

Every February 19, I share posts of the previous 12 months that I feel have the best chance of interesting someone other than me.

This year's lineup:

planning a virtual children's author benefit for kids of Ukraine

author benefit for kids of Ukraine raises $15,000

introducing Songbook, a web series starring kids I created, wrote, and directed for the Kennedy Center

RIP, Kevin Conroy, voice of animated Batman since 1992

a book about Bill Finger, me...and me

antisemitic graffiti at my kids' high school

"Songbook" in "School Library Journal"

Thank you, Betsy Bird of Fuse #8, for asking me about Songbook, the Kennedy Center web series I created, which (speaking of) fuses three of my passions: literature, music, and working with children.