Since my retirement in 2008, I’ve continued to read and write, mostly in the Mid-Hudson Valley, because Holly still teaches at Dutchess Community College. Retirement feels like a long leave more than anything else, and so far it has been a pleasurable one.
My last novel, Jesse’s Ghost, was published in 2011, and I’ve now turned to writing nonfiction, mostly a series of sketches and essays that I hope will eventually become a book, tentatively called The Toughest Kid We Knew: Recollections of California’s Great Central Valley.
Holly and I continue to publish translations from Spanish to English, and we were recently asked to translate an essay by the Argentine Alberto Manguel and a poem by Barcelona-born Violeta C. Rangel, which has just come out.
During the past year I gave a lot of readings and talks, mostly in California, including Vassar club presentations with Meghan Daum ‘92, but one of the most enjoyable public events for me was my reading in November 2011 to launch the series of annual emeritae/i presentations. I’m grateful to Michael McCarthy, the AEVC steering committee, and all the retired Vassar folks who turned out to make this a wonderful communal event.
I stay in touch with my relatives in the Basque Country, and in the coming year I hope to resume my annual visits there. I also hope to return to Chiapas, Mexico, where I’ve lived and written large portions of my first three novels.
For the past twenty-five years, Holly and I have regularly driven back and forth in our pickup with our dogs between Highland and Pagosa Springs, Colorado, where we have a cabin and normally spend the summer and occasional sabbaticals.
Posted: April 2012