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Crescent Dragonwagon

“My late father, Maurice Zolotow, was a Hollywood biographer, a professional freelance writer and passionate reader. Whenever I went through hard times, personally or professionally, Maurice could be counted on to tell me two things. The first was advice:  ‘Write your way out of it!’ he’d bark, directively.  But then, more thoughtfully, he’d say, ‘It’s all material, Cres. Nothing is wasted on the writer.’

“These are words I’ve lived and written by; they have allowed me to find meaning and purpose in every age, stage, experience adventure and misadventure in life. Here, I do it again, focusing on our lives, mine and yours, as writers. I give some advice; I tell some stories.

"Thanks for the title, Maurice.”

HOW I MET HIM, LOVED HIM, LOST HIM: BLUEGRASS, APPLE CRISP, & FEARLESSNESS IN THE FACE OF MYSTERY

HOW I MET HIM, LOVED HIM, LOST HIM: BLUEGRASS, APPLE CRISP, & FEARLESSNESS IN THE FACE OF MYSTERY

By Crescent Dragonwagon 9 Comments

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I blame, or credit, Carol Gaddy. She heard me reading poetry between sets of a bluegrass band at a now-defunct nightclub in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. If you are silly enough to attempt such a reading, you will find your poetry greatly improved by the endeavor. The feedback is like no other:  if one single phrase isn’t smacking your audience upside… Read More

Filed Under: #WidowhoodWednesday, Fearless Writing, Nothing Is Wasted on the Writer

RIDING IN THE CARRIAGE WITH MY DADDY

RIDING IN THE CARRIAGE WITH MY DADDY

By Crescent Dragonwagon 10 Comments

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“Daddy,” I said admiringly, “You should run for president.” I was six. Sitting on the dirty clothes hamper in the bathroom, my back to the window, watching him shave late one afternoon. He stood, in his white boxers, facing the mirrored white medicine cabinet.  At that time, he was a Broadway critic, and if he was going out to an… Read More

Filed Under: Maurice Zolotow, Nothing Is Wasted on the Writer Tagged With: anniversaries, Central Park carriages, Crescent dragonwagon, fatherhood, fathers, grief, Maurice Zolotow

SAYING YES TO NOVEMBER; THANKFULNESS IN DARK TIMES

SAYING YES TO NOVEMBER; THANKFULNESS IN DARK TIMES

By Crescent Dragonwagon 7 Comments

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November, the month that begins with the syllable “No.” And this year,  in 2016, the month when more than half of the Americans who voted woke up to discover the country in which they lived was not the one in which they thought they lived. What is there to say yes to in November, particularly this one? *** On the… Read More

Filed Under: Nothing Is Wasted on the Writer

THE YEAST THAT RAISES AMERICA

THE YEAST THAT RAISES AMERICA

By Crescent Dragonwagon 2 Comments

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As the granddaughter of despised immigrants (Russian Jews) who worked their way up from nothing, doing factory leather piece-good work on New York’s Lower East Side, I have always felt that far from taking away jobs or anything else, newcomers energize America. For as long as I’ve understood what they, like most immigrants, endured to get here, I have also understood… Read More

Filed Under: Nothing Is Wasted on the Writer

WHICH MEMOIR DO I WRITE?  WIND ROSE, REBIRTH & RECALL’S CANYON

WHICH MEMOIR DO I WRITE? WIND ROSE, REBIRTH & RECALL’S CANYON

By Crescent Dragonwagon 8 Comments

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My long out-of-print children’s book WIND ROSE  just may be re-issued. Unlikely: outest of out chances, longest of long shots. Still, I needed to find a copy to send to the perhaps-publisher. I went to the shelf where I keep copies of books I’ve written in my  (this is unbelievable to me) 47-year career as a professional freelance writer (my first… Read More

Filed Under: Nothing Is Wasted on the Writer Tagged With: aging, Charlotte Zolotow, children's book writing, children's books, Crescent dragonwagon, Maurice Zolotow, memory, Wind Rose

IN HEAVEN AS IT IS ON EARTH

IN HEAVEN AS IT IS ON EARTH

By Crescent Dragonwagon 5 Comments

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If there is nothing after this, I thought, right after I said it, this is enough. The “it” I’d heard myself say out loud was one word: “Heaven.” I don’t believe in heaven. I don’t not believe in heaven either, though I’m doubtful. I’d stepped out for a quick stretch-break from my laptop. I had an ostensible, wholly unnecessary task: carry recyclables to… Read More

Filed Under: Nothing Is Wasted on the Writer Tagged With: Dragonwagon, Earth, ecocide, heaven, Vermont, walking

A FOXGLOVE FLOWER FALLING REMINDS ME OF CHARLOTTE, AND WHY

A FOXGLOVE FLOWER FALLING REMINDS ME OF CHARLOTTE, AND WHY

By Crescent Dragonwagon 4 Comments

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It’s the softest sound in the world, and one only occasionally hears it: a flower falling. This morning, sitting in the right place, I heard it. A single foxglove blossom dropped from the arrangement I had placed on a table yesterday.   It’s such a small sound, but it stayed with me all day. Until I finally asked myself, ” Why?”… Read More

Filed Under: Nothing Is Wasted on the Writer, Uncategorized Tagged With: aging parents, Charlotte Zolotow, children's book writing, Crescent dragonwagon, flower falling, If You Listen, mothers and daughters

Motherless Mother’s Day, Again

Motherless Mother’s Day, Again

By Crescent Dragonwagon 8 Comments

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Last year, at the get-together after the memorial service for poet Miller Williams, his daughter, singer/songwriter/musician Lucinda Williams, said to me, “You know what’s strange? You know when I cried? I cried the day my father told me he was through writing poetry. That he could no longer do it. So far I haven’t cried at all since his actual death, but… Read More

Filed Under: Nothing Is Wasted on the Writer Tagged With: Charlotte Zolotow, Mother's Day, mothering

WHAT LASTS: OF LAST VISITS, LAST TIMES, & LASTING LOVE

WHAT LASTS: OF LAST VISITS, LAST TIMES, & LASTING LOVE

By Crescent Dragonwagon 12 Comments

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The car — I put gas in it yesterday — has only one small suitcase and two audiobooks. I packed lightly; it’ll only be an overnight. But my heart and mind are much more densely packed for this brief trip, to Sevierville, Tennessee. To see Hattie Mae. *** 1986. We used to say,  of Dairy Hollow House, “It’s Eureka’s best inn,… Read More

Filed Under: Nothing Is Wasted on the Writer

SLIPPING: LIFE, DEATH AND THE GOD-BLESS-AMERICA CHICKENHOUSE

SLIPPING: LIFE, DEATH AND THE GOD-BLESS-AMERICA CHICKENHOUSE

By Crescent Dragonwagon 16 Comments

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Because yesterday was going to be a very full day, rather than put off what I consider my daily must-do’s until later, I did them first thing in the morning. The must-do’s include a very brief practice that passes for meditation or devotions (it’s not exactly either, but that’s the closest summation). And, writing practice. And, the drinking of alkalized… Read More

Filed Under: Nothing Is Wasted on the Writer, Uncategorized

THE SHADOW OF HER SMILE: LIFE, LOVE, OPACITY & 1965

THE SHADOW OF HER SMILE: LIFE, LOVE, OPACITY & 1965

By Crescent Dragonwagon 6 Comments

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“That’s not the name of the song!” my father, Maurice, would say, mock-irritated. “It’s ‘Theme from the Sandpiper’, ‘Theme from the Sandpiper’!” But Charlotte, my mother, would merely give her half-smile, inscrutable. Like almost everyone else, she called the song “The Shadow of Your Smile.” That’s a line from the lyrics. The most memorable line, the one which everyone who’s ever… Read More

Filed Under: Nothing Is Wasted on the Writer Tagged With: Charlotte Zolotow, Liz Taylor, Maurice Zolowtow

Love is not comparative, except when it is

Love is not comparative, except when it is

By Crescent Dragonwagon 18 Comments

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He would have been 60 yesterday, my late husband. But he didn’t even live to 50. In 2000, he went on his usual 3 times a week bicycle ride out towards Beaver Lake, turned at the Conoco station (which, because they used to rent canoes out there, he always referred to as the “Canoe-Co”) and headed home. Instead, he bicycled… Read More

Filed Under: Nothing Is Wasted on the Writer

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Read Aloud with Crescent and Mark

NOT A LITTLE MONKEY, by Charlotte Zolotow, illustrted by Michelle Chessaree

"So, the little girl climbed into the big waste-basket and waited." ' Oh no,' said her mother, ' we don't want to throw you away.'"There are many ways to express love and the need for attention. Here, a busy mother and her just-a-bit naughty little girl tease each other affectionately — the little girl making her point without even uttering a word.That's today's story time — read aloud by the author's daughter at Crescent Dragonwagon's Writing, Cooking, & Workshops, with Mark Graff's "text support" and discussion."Just right for two-to-fours, the humor of this true-to-life story of a mischievous little girl who blocks her mother's attempts to clean house will elicit giggles from the lollipop set." Kirkus Reviews

Posted by Crescent Dragonwagon's Writing, Cooking, & Workshops on Thursday, June 4, 2020

Read Aloud with Crescent

Read Aloud with Crescent

The Washington Post on Crescent’s Lentil Soup Recipe

The Washington Post on Crescent’s Lentil Soup Recipe

Greek Lentil Soup with Spinach and Lemon, photograph by Tom McCorkle, Washington Post

March Offering

March Offering

Bean By Bean Cookbooks

#DeepFeast Recipes

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Dinner with Dragonwagon

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A NAPPA Gold Winner
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"... like a warm luminescent blanket at bedtime... softly lulling." -- New York Times


"(With) weary animals, Dragonwagon offers an “alphabet of ways to sleep,” smoothly working in some alliteration..."
- Publishers Weekly (starred review)


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read aloud with Crescent Dragonwagon

Until Just Moistened

Until Just Moistened

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