my work
Ghostwriting
By definition, ghostwriting is confidential. Therefore I cannot link to most of my client work. However, I CAN link to SOME of it (see below). And I’ve also published various writing under my own name, such as the following:
Why Poetry?
An excerpt from the introduction to my book, The Poetry Reader’s Toolkit (still in print!), published in 1997 by NTC/Contemporary Books; since acquired by Glencoe/McGraw-Hill.
The Double You
A couple of decades ago now, I teamed up with a jobs counselor, Ron Mendlin, to create a series of workbooks on life skills and job search techniques specifically for people coming out of prison. Ron and the people at his agency (Northern California Service League) were my subject matter experts. I was the writer. This is the intro to those workbooks, which were published by Jist, Inc. of Indiana in the year 2000.
Leave the Light On
The Committee on the Shelterless is a unique homeless shelter and homeless services organization in Petaluma, CA. Here is an interview with John Records, COTS’ long-time director, which appeared in The Sun magazine.
Blog Posts
(permission to share explicitly granted)
Taking a Sabbath Day
A little blog post based on a conversation with Dr. Chandler Chang of Therapy Lab.
Everybody should have some form of a Sabbath in their lives. My own Sabbath involves taking a 24+ hour break from all screens. Highly recommended!
Love Maps
A blog post I wrote on behalf of The Couples Clinic, based on an interview with a clinician there and on material from the book THE SEVEN PRINCIPLES FOR MAKING MARRIAGE WORK by Drs. John and Julie Gottman.
Torn Between Value Systems
A blog post based on a conversation with therapist and spiritual raconteur Michael Gelbart. (Do check out his youtube channel)
Spiritual Sex in an Increasingly Virtual World
A Huffington Post column on the virtues of “spiritual sex.” (Though Suzie Heumann, formerly of tantra.com, was the author of record, she graciously credited me at the end of the article.)
Tiny Tinkering Repairs
A blog post of my own. Thoughts on the Jewish concept of tikkun olam.
Memoir Writing
(permission to share explicitly granted)
Stella’s Choice
A spontaneous download of ancestral memory leads storyteller Michael Gelbart down a remarkable chain of reflections that contain grief, reconciliation, and gratitude.
Introduction to David’s Journey
This account was ghostwritten by me for a psychologist whose child was born with a rare and severe sensory processing disorder. These are the first pages of her memoir-to-be.
An Early Experience of Kindness
A lovely individual whom I had the privilege to work with years ago recalls some formative impressions from his childhood, and in particular one early encounter with gratuitous kindness.
and a couple of my own little stories …
Infinite Time
An early life lesson about difficult choices.
Stumping ChatGPT with My Dream Joke
I don’t visit ChatGPT much but I’ve long been curious about how AI understands humor.