Ann S. Epstein writes novels, short stories, memoir, essays, and poems. Please use the links or site menu to go to the HOME PAGE; learn about her NOVELS, SHORT STORIES, MEMOIR, ESSAYS, and POEMS; find interesting facts in BEHIND THE STORY; read REFLECTIONS on writing; check NEWS for updates on publications and related events; see REVIEWS; learn about her END-OF-LIFE DOULA credentials and services; and CONTACT US to send webmail.
The 124 Munchkins in the 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz were mostly adult actors with pituitary dwarfism. Only ten, aged 7 to 9, were children of normal height. The youngest non-child, Margaret Pellegrini, was 16. The oldest little person, Meinhardt Raabe, was 24. [Note: My novel A Brain. A Heart. The Nerve. is a fictional biography of Raabe, who played the Munchkin coroner.] Toto the dog was five. Read Who Cares? about the struggle for dignity at Woodruff Home for the Aged, “a lively place where old people go to die.” Learn more about the book and its characters, aged 9-90, in NOVELS.
All but 10 of the 124 Munchkins were adults with pituitary dwarfism
Woodruff Home for the Aged, where aging with dignity battles corporate greed
A fictional biography of the actor who played the Munchkin Coroner
John A. Roebling was 63 when he designed the Brooklyn Bridge, the longest suspension bridge in the world at that time. Born in 1806 in Prussia, Roebling emigrated to the U.S. at age 25. Work on the span began in 1869 and was completed in 1883. Tragically, the architect died from a tetanus infection during the bridge’s construction, but his son, Washington Roebling, finished the project. Read Who Cares? about the struggle for dignity at Woodruff Home for the Aged, “a lively place where old people go to die.” Learn more about the book and its characters, aged 9-90, in NOVELS.
John A. Roebling, the Brooklyn Bridge architect, died before the project was completed
Woodruff Home for the Aged, a lively place where old people go to die
My Goodreads and Amazon review of Whistler: A Novel by Ann Patchett (Rated 5 – Surprise and Inevitability.Whistler: A Novel by Ann Patchett is a small quiet book about the big noisy subject of love. Love in its infinite combinations, between parents and children, spouses, siblings, humans and animals, people and their work. Love that boasts its presence and the love that “dare not speak its name.” Love that calls to us and, like Whistler, the horse of the book’s title, shows up to save us. Patchett creates unforgettable characters. Life has been kinder to some than others, yet each finds a way to survive. Some are instantly endearing: Protagonists Daphne and Eddie, a middle-aged woman who accidentally meets the stepfather who abruptly left the family when she was nine; Daphne’s considerate and down-to-earth husband Jonathan. Others, like Daphne’s birth father Buddy, set up to be villains, turn out to be mensches. And even the real baddies, Eddie’s overbearing friends Skip and Polly, merit sympathy as victims of the social norms that force people into compromising roles they wouldn’t have chosen for themselves. Patchett creates a network of ties among people brought together by chance whose relationships nevertheless feel meant to be. As a novelist myself (see my Amazon author page and Goodreads author page), I admire her ability to make surprise and inevitability coexist on the page. Whistler is a satisfying and deceptively deep book.
Rekindling a lost love
Why writers read: “A good book is an event in my life.” – Stendhal
Nils Bohlin was 38 when he designed the harness seat belt in 1958. He was working for Volvo when he came up with the seat belt model that has saved millions of lives. Lap belts had been around for nearly a century, but his three-point system (shoulder, chest, and lap) was a major improvement. After some initial resistance from drivers who resented being told what to do, even for their own good, Bohlin’s seat belt became standard equipment around the world. Read Who Cares? about the struggle for dignity at Woodruff Home for the Aged, “a lively place where old people go to die.” Learn more about the book and its characters, aged 9-90, in NOVELS.
Harness belt more effective than lap belt at preventing injuries and saving lives
Woodruff Home for the Aged, a lively place where old people go to die
Judy Garland was 16 when she was cast as Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz, 17 when the movie was released in 1939. Born Frances Ethel Gumm into a vaudeville family, she began performing at age two with her older sisters. At 12, she signed with MGM, where she made 27 of her 34 films. Her long career earned Garland an Academy Award, two Grammys, and a posthumous Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Her personal life was a struggle however, and she died of an accidental overdose at 47. Read Who Cares? about the struggle for dignity at Woodruff Home for the Aged, “a lively place where old people go to die.” Learn more about the book and its characters, aged 9-90, in NOVELS.
The iconic singer-actress was successful on screen but troubled in life
Woodruff Home for the Aged, a lively place where old people go to die
Henry Dunant was 73 when he won the first Nobel Peace Prize in 1901. Appalled at the suffering he witnessed during the Second Italian War of Independence, he published a book, A Memory of Solferino, and proposed that the nations of the world form their own relief societies to care for the wounded and train volunteers to treat them. Dunant helped to found the International Committee of the Red Cross in 1863, at age 35, and launch the first Geneva Convention in 1864, which has since saved the lives of millions of soldiers worldwide. Read Who Cares? about the struggle for dignity at Woodruff Home for the Aged, “a lively place where old people go to die.” Learn more about the book and its characters, aged 9-90, in NOVELS.
First Nobel Peace Prize winner helped found International Red Cross
Woodruff Home for the Aged, a lively place where old people go to die
Charles Feltman, age 30, is credited with inventing the hot dog on a bun in 1871. After a modest beginning selling sausages from a pushcart, the German-American went on to establish a large restaurant complex on Brooklyn’s Coney Island that included a beer garden and carousel, and served millions of customers annually. Nathan’s hot dog stand, which sold nickel franks on the boardwalk, was opened in 1916, 45 years later, by Polish immigrant Nathan Handwerker, who originally worked for Feltman. Read Who Cares? about the struggle for dignity at Woodruff Home for the Aged, “a lively place where old people go to die.” Learn more about the book and its characters, aged 9-90, in NOVELS.
30-year-old Charles Feltman invented hot dog on a bun in Coney Island 45 years before Nathan’s opened
Woodruff Home for the Aged, a lively place where old people go to die
My Goodreads and Amazon review of Whidbey: A Novel by T Kira Madden (Rated 5) – Impact Statement.Whidbey: A Novel by T Kira Madden, about a serial rapist named Calvin, is told from the perspectives of two victims and his mother. I read the book with trepidation, knowing it would be a trigger. Reading it took courage; writing it took guts. It’s a testament to Madden’s talent that she portrays these three women with insight, sensitivity, and authenticity. Birdie, raped while still in elementary school, chooses to live her life in the shadows. Her privacy is disrupted when Linzie, who was a young adolescent at the time of her assault, writes a memoir that becomes a best seller. Birdie retreats to Whidbey Island off the coast of Washington State to escape the unwanted attention deflected on her. Through Calvin’s trial and incarceration, his mother Mary Beth remains loving and loyal to her otherwise reviled son. Pitted against one another in this drama, each woman struggles with how she sees herself and how society defines her role. As a novelist myself (see my Amazon author page and Goodreads author page), who strives to make difficult characters understandable, if not likable, I admire Madden’s ability to render each protagonist with depth and honesty; she doesn’t sugar coat the outcomes for the victims or their families. The narrative is painful to read, but worth the emotional investment. Whidbey is a gripping story and valuable book, whatever brings readers to its pages.
A fraught topic, sensitively and honestly handled
Why writers read: “Many people, myself among them, feel better at the mere sight of a book.” – Jane Smiley
In 2002, Aiden Byrne at age 22, was the youngest chef to earn a Michelin star, while working at Adlards restaurant in Norwich, England. Since then, he’s run his own ventures and cooked at other noted restaurants across the UK. Byrne refuses to be pigeon holed, but says be cooks with British, seasonal produce in the classical way he’s been trained. He does admit to a favorite ingredient — globe artichokes — which can be “robust and delicate at the same time.” Read Who Cares? about the struggle for dignity at Woodruff Home for the Aged, “a lively place where old people go to die.” Learn more about the book and its characters, aged 9-90, in NOVELS.
The youngest Michelin-starred chef is a fan of globe artichokes
Woodruff Home for the Aged, a lively place where old people go to die
At 110 (1914-2024), Australian Eileen Kramer was the oldest person to still dance professionally. She choreographed her graceful, dramatic movements to increasingly use the top half of her body. In addition to dancing, Kramer wrote a story a day and painted. She disliked the word “old,” claiming “My attitude to creating things is identical to when I was a child.” Read Who Cares? about the struggle for dignity at Woodruff Home for the Aged, “a lively place where old people go to die.” Learn more about the book and its characters, aged 9-90, in NOVELS.
Oldest professional dancer as well as writer and painter
Woodruff Home for the Aged, a lively place where old people go to die
