Blog

This stained-glass window in the chapel of the former Academy of Our Lady of Good Counsel complex in White Plains, N.Y., contains a portrait of foundress Mother Mary Veronica as St. Veronica, the woman who wiped Jesus’ face with her veil on his road to Calvary and received the imprint of that anguished face on the cloth in return. *Photograph by Georgette Gouveia.*

Reunion and remembrance: Good Counsel revisited

September 21, 2023

When Katharine Hepburn made her first and only appearance at the Academy Awards as a somewhat old lady on April 2, 1974, she said, “I’m the living proof that a person can wait 41 years to be unselfish.”

I, now also a somewhat old lady, beat the great Kate by nine years, waiting 50 to be unselfish enough to attend my high school reunion on the former grounds of the Academy of Our Lady of Good Counsel in White Plains, N.Y.. A former classmate and friend who was on the reunion committee told me she had made it her mission to get me there and, not wanting to disappoint, again, I hustled my considerable butt to meet her at the chapel for the Mass that would begin our journey into the past.

Novak Djokovic holding the US Open men’s singles championship trophy aloft on Sunday, Sept. 10, at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Queens. It was his 24th Grand Slam singles title, tying Australia’s Margaret Court. *Photograph by Mike Lawrence for the United States Tennis Association (USTA).*

Last man standing -- the liberation of Novak Djokovic

September 14, 2023

Often in life what appears to be improbable is ultimately inevitable. It’s only later, though, that we understand that what seems to make no sense at first is in the end what was meant to be all along.

For much of the early part of his career, Novak Djokovic — the Celiac-ridden guy from an economically straitened family in war-torn Serbia — was a reliable, color-coordinated number three to the elegant, aloof Roger Federer and his intense, visceral rival, Rafael Nadal. But in becoming the oldest man to win the singles title at the US Open Sunday, Sept. 10, the 36-year-old Djokovic has eclipsed them —tying Australia’s Margaret Court for most Grand Slam singles titles (24); returning to the number one ranking for a record 390th week (altogether that would be seven and a half years, folks); setting a new record for most times winning three Slams in a year (four, in 2011, ’15, ’21 and ’23), having the most ATP Masters 1000 titles (39) — the list goes on.

Novak Djokovic poised to return Emil Ruusuvuori’s serve during practice on Media Day, Friday, Aug. 25, ahead of the US Open, which runs Monday, Aug. 28, through Sunday, Sept. 10, at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Queens. *Photograph by Georgette Gouveia.*

Media Day 2023: On the job at the US Open

August 27, 2023

What was Media Day (Friday, Aug. 25) like for me at the US Open, having not attended for the past three years?

The same thing only different. Everything at the Media Center is digital now. And there seem to be a few new tournament sponsors, including now LVMH-owned Tiffany & Co., maker of the U.S. Men’s and Women’s Singles Championship trophies, and Mount Sinai Health System -- which also has a booth at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Queens, where the US Open runs Monday, Aug. 28, through Sunday, Sept. 10.

My favorite photograph of Novak Djokovic ,at the moment it all began to happen for him, defeating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the semifinals of Wimbledon 2011 to become the number one-ranked men’s player.

The improbable triumph of Novak Djokovic

August 22, 2023

In our endless summer of discontent — the heat, the humidity, the devastating wildfires, the smoke, the wayward storms, the indictments, the losing Yankees, to name but a few — I’d like to take a break and return to a subject that helped inspire my fiction and this blog, tennis and in particular Novak Djokovic, whose career trajectory has a lot to do with two pairs of themes that fascinate me — power and rivalry and context and perception.

The Fulton County Courthouse in Atlanta, Georgia. Former President Donald J. Trump is expected to surrender in Atlanta on charges of racketeering no later than Aug. 25. He’ll be formally arraigned in September.

The Grand Slam of indictments

August 19, 2023

If indictments were tennis, former President Donald J. Trump would be Rod Laver.
Rod “the Rocket” was the last man to win all four Slams — the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open — in a calendar year. He did it twice — in 1962 and 1969.

Trump, however, won’t be lifting and kissing any trophies. Instead of appearing on the court, he’ll be in the courts of four different venues — New York City, Miami, Washington, D.C. and Atlanta, where he’s been charged with everything from paying hush money to a porn star to obstruction, violation of voting rights and racketeering.

To live and die in L..A. -- Greta Gerwig's 'Barbie'

August 10, 2023

“Barbie” — the billion-dollar blockbuster that has fashion and interior designers thinking pink and movie theaters seeing green (as in dollars) — is a rather deceptive movie. It starts out as a kind of beach blanket battle-of-the-sexes rom-com that quickly builds into a poignant dramedy of what it means not to be a woman or a man but human.

J. Robert Oppenheimer speaking in Israel in 1966, the year before he died. *Photograph by* ***Boris Carmi*** /***Meitar Collection*** / ***National Library of Israel*** / ***The Pritzker Family National Photography Collection*** / ***CC BY 4.0***

'Oppenheimer' as a mirror for our partisan times

July 27, 2023

“Oppenheimer” is a magnificent film that paints J. Robert Oppenheimer, the so-called “father of the atom bomb,” in a more sympathetic light than his detractors would like while nevertheless exploring the blindness behind his brilliance.