& Other Slices of Life
by Martha Reingold
Dedication
To the Mintz Girls
Long may they wave!
Introduction
I’ve always been a reader . . . fiction mostly. People scoff at fiction. They say it’s a waste of time, useless fantasy, unimportant in the grand scheme of things. But I read it anyway.
Maybe that’s why I’ve always loved words and word games. I devour the New York Times Sunday Crossword Puzzle. I’d rather play anagrams and banana-grams than eat Baskin Robbins Jamoca Almond Fudge. Charades is a favorite game. The transformation of words into motion is a serious business. And I’ve always loved art museums and concerts and roaming around parks and hidden gardens. I was destined for a life in the arts. Mostly, people thought I should be a writer.
Well, now I’m 80 and recently retired. For sixty years I had a career designing and implementing computer software. I was once considered an expert in meta-syntactic languages. Now, I have time to consider my options. After suffering from writer’s block for over 75 years, I’ve decided to give writing my best shot. And, I’ve decided to go public before it’s too late.
This book is a collection of pieces I’ve written in the past year or so. It includes short stories, essays and portions of two memoirs that are currently works in progress.
I want to thank the many friends, old and new, who have cheered me on. There are a few people who deserve a special “Thank you.” My niece, Liz Levine, for her steadfast insistence that I keep on writing, even when I wasn’t sure I should. My great friend and sister by choice, Joan McKay, who took me to the International Women’s Writing Guild workshop program and really got me going. The Buena Vista Writers’ Group in West Hartford who invited me to their bi-weekly meetings and taught me how to say things in 800 words or less.
And, to my sisters and my sons who listened to me when I probably bored them to death, thanks for your patience and love.
Martha Reingold – 2015