In the comments section to my 1/31/2012 Cuba post, Emily’s asked whether we were involved in the actual delivery of the medical supplies we took over and what free medical care means in Cuba.  I can answer the former but not the latter question. 

Those of us on the tour carried over-the-counter medical supplies of a wide variety, since pretty much everything you could buy at a Walgreen’s or CVS are needed.  We were encouraged to spend about $50.00 each, as I recall.  We had both a “drop” in Santiago and in Havana.  In Santiago we met with … Read More

Back in the olden days when I was in college, I did not have, as George Saunders said of himself at the Key West Literary Seminar, a boner for Ernest Hemingway (it’s a guy thing).  I preferred Faulkner and the girls: Katherine Anne Porter, Carson McCullers, Flannery O’Connor, Eudora Welty, Katherine Mansfield.  But In Our Time did make a lasting impression on me.  While I have forgotten so much over the years, I have never forgotten “Indian Camp,” and I hope I never do.  The boy Nick has just experienced birth in the agonizing delivery of a baby at … Read More

Dear Blog readers (if you’re reading my posts, I consider you a close, personal friend):

I have been MIA for almost a month.  I apologize for my silence, but I have a good excuse.  I’ve been in Cuba. 

No one was more surprised than I.

As those of you know who follow my blog, my intention is to post about writing and books.  But sometimes I wander far afield, as far as Cuba, in this case.  I’m so saturated with Cuba at the moment that I must tell you about it.   

It happened like this.  In January I came … Read More