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Jo Maeder

Author

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Recent Posts

  • 2020: The Ups and Downs, a New Year’s Eve Invitation, and Wedding Photos!
  • Q&A: Jill McCorkle on dolls, dollhouses, tiny objects and what they have to do with writing and life
  • How My French Work Exchange Journey Led to a New Life and Love
  • Chapter 1 of Zerk ‘Em and Pull the Push Rods: A Wry Squint at Aviation in the Mid-20th Century
  • The Tale of the Squirrel-proof Bird Feeder

Archives

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

September 9, 2020 by Jo Maeder Leave a Comment

    “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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Filed Under: Author Q&A, Blog, Dolls, Entertainment, Family, Love, Pop Culture Tagged With: Baby Thumbelina, Charlie McCarthy, Danny O'Day, dollhouses, Dolls, Dr. Ruth, Japanese wig doll, Jill McCorkle, Liddle Kiddles, Nancy Anne Storybook. Wednesday's Child Doll, Thoreau dollhouse

Chapter 1 of Zerk ‘Em and Pull the Push Rods: A Wry Squint at Aviation in the Mid-20th Century

September 10, 2018 by Jo Maeder Leave a Comment

“Something went terribly wrong,” the stranger said. “Katie’s been in the hospital since her operation last month. She wanted me to call you. She’s on a ventilator and can’t speak.” Katie was my father’s widow. After George Weitz died in 1985 at age 75, the British Katie, almost two decades his junior and not prone […]

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Filed Under: Aviation, Blog, Books by Jo, Family Tagged With: Aviation, CAA, FAA, Marines, military

What is the #1 way to increase happiness?

November 20, 2017 by Jo Maeder 4 Comments

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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Filed Under: Essay, Family, Grief, Love, Medical, Relationships Tagged With: forgiveness, gratitude, happiness, hoarding, Thanksgiving Day

Zerk ’em: Another surprise in a pile of old family papers

November 8, 2017 by Jo Maeder Leave a Comment

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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Filed Under: Aviation, Blog, Essay, Family, Grief Tagged With: Aviation history 20th century, C.A.A., F.A.A., family history, George Weitz, the inspector

Mother’s Day without Mama

May 7, 2016 by Jo Maeder 4 Comments

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 once. Didn’t like the way I did my mother’s parts. Re-read them […]

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Filed Under: Books by Jo, Dolls, Essay, Family, Grief, Love Tagged With: Gain, Loss, Mother's Day

Q&A: Patricia Park on RE JANE, nunchi, and the danger of rewrites

March 7, 2016 by Jo Maeder 2 Comments

I read Re Jane while I was in the midst of renovating a home while living over an hour away. I didn’t have much time for joy reading and my ability to concentrate was marginal. However, I couldn’t let go of this book. No matter how long it had been between picking it up, it […]

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Filed Under: Author Q&A, Family, Writing Advice Tagged With: Jane Eyre, Patricia Park, Re Jane

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

December 14, 2015 by Jo Maeder Leave a Comment

                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 Candace Bushnell and yet […]

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Filed Under: Author Q&A, Family, Pop Culture, Writing Advice Tagged With: Candace Bushnell, emoji line, female empowerment, Killing Monica, privacy, stationery line

Casey Kasem and His End-of-life Family Drama: How Can You Avoid Something Similar?

June 16, 2014 by Jo Maeder Leave a Comment

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 unfolded around his death made headlines around the world. As author of the national bestseller WHEN I MARRIED MY MOTHER: A Daughter’s Search for What Really Matters – and […]

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Filed Under: Essay, Family, Pop Culture Tagged With: Alison Steele, Casey Kasem, dying with dignity, end-of-life family drama

Shirley Temple: The girl, the woman, the dolls

February 19, 2014 by Jo Maeder 2 Comments

I’ve now been in the doll adoption business about 18 months. If I had to pick the one 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 goodness and […]

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Filed Under: Dolls, Essay, Family, Pop Culture Tagged With: grief, Mama Jo's House of Dolls, Shirley Temple autobiography, Shirley Temple Black, Shirley Temple dolls, The 700-doll question

A BURIED TREASURE, A NEW ADVENTURE

September 13, 2012 by Jo Maeder 4 Comments

He almost went into the freebie pile. He stands 7 1/2 inches tall. I should say he measures that tall because he can’t stand on his own. His clothes are moth-eaten. His feet look too wide and big for his short legs. Yet there was something about him that intrigued me. Mind you, it took […]

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Filed Under: Dolls, Essay, Family, Pop Culture Tagged With: collecting, Dolls, grief, hoarding

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