Jo Maeder

Author

Q&A: Jill McCorkle on dolls, dollhouses, tiny objects and what they have to do with writing and life

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    “I have always loved dolls. And yes, there are still within the love, those that have creeped me out!” – Jill McCorkle Jill McCorkle is a bestselling, award-winning author of unforgettable novels and short stories. She was a Briggs-Copeland Lecturer in Fiction at Harvard, where she also chaired the department of creative writing. […]

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FREE THINKING: The #1 way to increase happiness is…

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Life is not a bowl of cherries for anyone. We must take the bitter with the sweet, we’re told. But some people seem to have an innate melancholy they can never shake. Studies now show that we stay at the same level of happiness our entire life. There’s only one thing that’s been proven to […]

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ZERK ‘EM: Another surprise in a pile of old family papers

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In honor of Aviation History Month, Veteran’s Day, and my father’s birthday, I’m sharing a peek at a treasure I unearthed when his widow died. I was asked by her executor if I would like his papers. What papers?, I thought. When he passed she became obsessed with ballroom dancing and turned his office into […]

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MAMA JO REVISITED: Mother’s Day Without Her

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This Mother’s Day, 2016, marks the eleventh one without Mama Jo. It’s always been tinged with sadness since her passing, but this one will be particularly hard. I recently completed reading and editing the audiobook of When I Married My Mother. I read it four times, all nine hours, before I had it right. Every single […]

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Q&A: Candace Bushnell on KILLING MONICA, what Hollywood needs to do, privacy, reinvention, Mom, and more

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Photo by Marion Ettinger                 It’s indeed a pleasure to welcome Candace Bushnell to my ongoing author Q&As. Ms. Bushnell, of Sex and the City, Lipstick Jungle and The Carrie Diaries  fame, talked to me about her new novel Killing Monica (Grand Central Publishing, 2015). Killing Monica  is classic […]

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CASEY KASEM: His End-of-life Family Drama and Avoiding Something Similar Yourself

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In 1997, I was honored to present a prestigious radio industry award to one of my heroes in the business, Casey Kasem. The sordid drama that has unfolded recently around his death made headlines around the world. As author of a memoir about caring for my mother at the end of her life, I’ve become […]

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SHIRLEY TEMPLE: The girl, the woman, the dolls

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I’ve now been in the doll adoption business about 18 months. If I had to pick the one doll with the most universal, indestructible appeal, it would be Shirley Temple in all her various sizes and outfits. Barbie is too polarizing. Madame Alexander dolls too prissy. No one dislikes Shirley Temple. She appeals to a […]

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FADED PHOTOGRAPHS

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In going through another purge/organization of my home, I found this photo. I have no idea who this woman is. I do know the photo was taken in Kansas City, Missouri, around 1900. I’ve seen her face in a few other pictures but there’s nothing written on the back to identify her. Look at that hat! […]

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HOLIDAY REMINISCENCES AND REGRETS

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An adapted excerpt from the chapter “Watching a Photograph Slowly Fade” from When I Married My Mother “Are we putting up a Christmas tree this year?” Mama Jo asked when our third Thanksgiving as roommates rolled around. I groaned and was sorry I did. The first year we lived together, after uncovering the ornaments of […]

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