There are an infinite number of ways to attract children to reading, and children’s rooms in our public libraries provide a veritable endless supply of displays, activities that involve recreational reading programs for specific age groups, special events, clubs, and…
Nora’s Corner
Turning 90
by Nora H. Caplan • • Comments Off
This July I turned 90. As far as I know, I’m the only person on either side of my family to have lived this long. My mother passed away in her early eighties, and in 1964 we thought that was…
A Horse Named ‘Doc’
by Nora H. Caplan • • Comments Off
Doc was a Morgan colt when young Emaline and he first met. Drawn to each other by curiosity, their faces gently touched each other’s over the fence near the Sheads’ barn lot one spring morning in rural Missouri. He instantly…
Dime Store Treats and Treasures
by Nora H. Caplan • • Comments Off
Present-day Dollar Stores were dime stores in my youth, and the merchandise in my dime stores was even tackier than what is in today’s descendants of dime stores. But the treasures I found in Woolworth’s, Kresge’s, and Newberry’s are now…
Looking for Fried Catfish in Maryland
by Nora H. Caplan • • Comments Off
Fried catfish was on the menu of the restaurant where we were eating lunch. My Caplan niece’s boyfriend was excited. He usually had a hard time finding it locally. “Down there,” he assumed we knew he meant south Louisiana, “you…
Alice, the White Rabbit and I
by Nora H. Caplan • • Comments Off
It was the 1933 movie version of “Alice in Wonderland” that first introduced me to this Lewis Carroll classic. The bizarre characters didn’t frighten me because they were played by an all-star cast that was familiar to me. Even though…
Revisiting the Trysting Place
by Nora H. Caplan • • Comments Off
During the Christmas holidays, my family gave me a rare treat—an auto tour of downtown Washington, D.C. They didn’t know, however, when we took a break at the historic Willard Hotel just how personally significant this landmark was to us.…
Travel Talk
by Nora H. Caplan • • Comments Off
When I was a child, my mother’s strictest rule for me was “Never talk to strangers.” Many years later, I not only unconsciously ignored that rule, but talking to strangers became an essential part of my travel experiences. I found…
Big Bands—Big Business
by Nora H. Caplan • • Comments Off
My father was in charge of the fountain room and dance hall box office of Half-A-Hill, my parents’ restaurant and nightclub near Springfield, Missouri, from 1920 to 1939. He also bought all the supplies needed for this business. During the…
Another View of California
by Nora H. Caplan • • Comments Off
As a visitor, I’m a fan of California’s diversity of landscapes and historic sites. Over a period of some 40 years I’ve had the pleasure of savoring: The magnificent view of the Pacific from San Diego’s Point Loma with its…