I just read a beautiful elegy. Written by Karen Mittelman, the current Executive Director of the Vermont Arts Council, Gone Bolshevik takes us deep into the lives of a powerful, type-A Manhattan attorney dying slowly of throat cancer and his daughter who is trying both to resolve her complex relationship with her father and be there for him as he musters all his male, social, and legal powers to little effect against the cancer that’s killing him. The book is a poignant tale of a daughter’s attempt to understand and empathize with her dying father while finding her own self after he is gone. Read this book as soon as you can. Beautiful writing.

Rarely do I substitute TV watching for reading but I’ve been watching The Dictator’s Playbook and just finished the documentary on Benito Mussolini. Mussolini was considered a pioneer among 20th-century dictators. From undermining judges to indoctrinating children, he forged key tactics for seizing power. The series is produced by Twin Cities Public Television (Minn.- St Paul) and airs on PBS. Its executive producer is a close friend and trustee colleague at the VT College of Fine Arts. It follows the rule of documentary to the letter “Don’t try to convince, educate with facts.”  Although it is never suggested, one cannot watch this episode without eerie resonances of what emanates from the current administration. Watch you must but prepare to be shaken.

This tool is called a larding needle and is used to insert a vein of rich lard into a cut of meat that is overly lean. A well-marbled cut needs no additional fat to enhance its flavor but some very lean meats like venison benefit greatly by having a vein of flavor-enhancing lard inserted in them. A great tool if you love lean meat but dislike roasted loafers!

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