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About Theresa Donovan Brown
Visit her website: www.theresadonovanbrown.com
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Blog postI have actively engaged in researching nutrition and American eating behaviors for the past twenty years, at least. I have not even attempted to extricate my personal involvement in our food system from the 30,000-foot view of the state of things. Questions about food and what it does to our bodies color every day for me, both as a participant and an observer. So it rather surprised me when one instance of how food affects life jumped out and crystalized as a definitive impetus to write my lates3 years ago Read more
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Blog postOne of my daughters has discovered in herself a talent and passion for Tri-Athlete competitions. She's a hella swimmer, runner, and biker and she trains with Spartan discipline. So even though she's a relative beginner to the world of Tri racing, she's made a showing in some big races. My husband and I get so excited by these accomplishments that we don't even notice exactly where in the winner lineup she ranks, only that indeed the world has validated what we know: our little girl is a WINNER.3 years ago Read more
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Blog postLike most Americans, I am an omnivore. I eat red meat occasionally, but because of its environmental costs (or economic cost if it is sustainably raised), I don't like to eat much of it. I do relish fresh, local fish that doesn't break the bank — but that's hard to come by, even in the land of plenty where I live, 15 miles from the sea. So chicken is the go-to meat. I try to cook it with variety, but "chicken again" is on the menu for the majority of my family's dinners. Yesterday I, a4 years ago Read more
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Blog postIn writing nonfiction, imagination is a critical ingredient. It's the jump-start that makes a writer dive down the rabbit hole to explore why this or that is how it is. Historical nonfiction is a meta endeavor -- following other people's rabbit holes and back-tracking to figure out which histories might be real, and which simply a creation disguised as fact by history writers. Yet something, real or unreal, sparks the nonfiction writer's imagination. In the case of my book on capitalists in the4 years ago Read more
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Blog postThe other night, I desired a well written nonfiction book to lull me to sleep. For as long as I can remember, we have had a copy of M.F.K. Fisher's With Bold Knife & Forktucked among our cookbooks. I have denied myself what I regarded as a somewhat off-topic treat for all these years. A few nights ago, I ended this fast and cracked open the old paperback. Of course, I was enchanted from the opening quote — James Boswell (Samuel Johnson's wingman and chronicler) writing in his London Journal,4 years ago Read more
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Blog postBig Sugar shapes American lives in countless places. Our collective waistlines constitute one locale. But there are bigger areas of concern. The LA Times recently reprinted a Miami Herald article that points to Big Sugar pollution as a source of ecologically devastating algae blooms in Florida's coastal estuaries, seagrass die-offs in Florida Bay, and threats to the Lake Okeechobee dike and Everglades marshes from fluctuating water levels. At the same time, Big Sugar (in the forms of United Sta5 years ago Read more
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Blog postI have not yet done the deep dive on Soylent, the 1.6 powder or the 2.0 liquid, but I'm going to assume that the eponymous product is not the evil sham portrayed in the movie "Soylent Green." One thing I love about it, it's a great conversation starter. Everybody's got an opinion about food, including Rob Rhinehart, CEO and founder of Soylent, who in February of 2013 not only got people talking, but started a food-alternative community, first with his blog, "How I Stopped Eating F5 years ago Read more
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Blog postOliver Evans's Grist Mill: First Automated Industrial Processing in the World c. 1790 Several weeks ago, I asked my daughter who has access to Stanford's magnificent Green Library, to borrow a book I needed for my research on wheat. Oliver Evans: A Chronicle of Early American Engineering by Greville Bathe and Dorothy Bathe was not available through any of my usual channels, as only 500 copies had been printed in 1935 by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Its scarcity is a sh5 years ago Read more
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Blog postLabels on humans and human institutions always distort the reality they purport to represent. "Feminism" and "feminist" fall among labels that are too ambiguous, malleable, and fraught with the carnival-mirror reflections of history and personal bias. So I don't like the title of this article, but I like where it goes — to promote the idea of caregiving in our society. Read it. Care. Give.How to Fix Feminism by Judith ShulevitzThe New York Times, June 10, 2016My friend, Lisen5 years ago Read more
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Blog postLike the ineluctable course of a grist-mill water wheel, the profession of milling wheat is coming full circle. My new book on the history of food processing in the United States starts with the story of Oliver Evans, a brilliant inventor hobbled by his humble roots. Evans, a fussy sort of precisionist, reviled the rancid, rock-strewn, maggoty flour that his local Delaware Valley grist mills cranked out. Perhaps even worse to this pioneering process engineer were the product waste and labor inef5 years ago Read more
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Blog postThis week, my VERY active, healthy, tri-athlete, twenty-six-year-old daughter is eating like a poor person -- or at least like an idealized, nutritionally conscious poor person. She, along with other MBA students across the country, is trying to eat on $4.50/day, which is what the USDA's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) clients attempt to do. Real SNAP participants augment the paltry allowance at their local Food Banks, church socials, and other gatherings where they can get a fr5 years ago Read more
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Blog postHey! I'm in the running as a finalist in the annual ebook competition run by EPIC, Electronic Publishing Internet Coalition. Not sure where this will go, but definitely better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick! Publishing The Old Inn at Punta de Sangre electronically has been quite an adventure. It's a big, wide, seemingly infinite world out there without a traditional publisher holding your hand. But drop by drop, readership accumulates. Need a cozy little mystery to cuddle up with? The5 years ago Read more
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Blog postMy co-author, Marilyn Yalom, and I will be speaking at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco on Thursday, January 14. I'm really excited, because this time, Marilyn and I will be "in conversation with" the sparkling Ellen Sussman, author most recently of A Wedding in Provence. JCCSF is such a wonderful venue -- we are in illustrious speaker-company. And what a dedicated production staff -- there are lots of people paying attention to all the technical orchestration -- so great t5 years ago Read more
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Blog postThe Social Sex is launched. Fun book tour winding down. Whew! On to next projects.1) Refined (LOTS more to come)2) Rewrite of my historical novel, Sempervirens, to be renamed, Stumptown Waltz.Nevertheless, I'll never forget that laden word, Sempervirens. It was jogged loose from the corner-of-mind where I had temporarily stashed it by this VERY nerdy little "Rangsta" YouTube that actually taught me several things. It's worth a listen (once)."Rangsta" Rap: Marbled Murrelet5 years ago Read more
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Blog postRead this interview with crime-fiction master writer and teacher, David Corbett, on Jane Friedman's blog. If you ever get the chance to take a writing course from him, go for it. He's not as severe as he looks -- quite the opposite, in fact. He's full of perspicacity, good humor, and kindness. And if you love crime fiction, check out his taut, character-driven novels. If you want writerly advice, read his The Art of Character.5 years ago Read more
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Blog postOkay, I'm not a New Yorker, and never will be. But I do take to heart the conversational "editing" of our phenomenal Harper Collins editor, Gail Collins. Over yummy whitefish at Russ & Daughters, Gail informed me that in NYC, one knows to say "Ninety-second Street Y." I committed the Silicon-Valleyish faux pas of calling the venerable venue "Ninety-two Y." Now I know, but remain unabashedly delighted to recall the great fun my co-author, Marilyn Yalom, and I had5 years ago Read more
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Blog postWhat are we running from; what are we chasing? Often, wretchedly and amazingly, it is the same thing.Meg Waite Clayton's strong, vivid historical novel The Race for Paris, brings these tough questions smack up to the surface of her riveting story about women warriors of a sort who broke down barriers for everyone who has followed their dreams in the face of prejudice on the one hand and daunting challenges -- physical and moral -- on the other.This is a war story that helps those of us now dista5 years ago Read more
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Blog postYesterday, some great conversation blossomed around the subject of Female Friendship, aka"GIRLFRIENDS!" What we mean in one another's lives and why that matters for the whole world. Small moments writ large. We women have good reason to join in friendship. The world has good reason to follow suit. I LOVE my girlfriends!Thank you, Michael Krasny, for hosting co-author, Marilyn Yalom, and I on KQED's marvelous FORUM show. Your grace and ease made those daunting microphones disappear. I l5 years ago Read more
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Blog postWednesday, October 14, at 10 am, you might absentmindedly turn on the radio for some background noise, flip through the presets, and WAIT! That voice chatting away with Michael Krasny is SO familiar. Yes, it IS Theresa! Yours truly and my co-author, Marilyn Yalom, will be on the second hour of FORUM (click to listen live) (10-11am) discussing our recently releasedThe Social Sex: A History of Female Friendship.Michael Krasny is an erudite literary scholar and social observer. He knows his way aro5 years ago Read more
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Blog postBut nothing institutional about our treatment at Mrs. Dalloway's, a fine, comfortable shrine to the printed page on College Avenue. Sydney, Jackie, and Chelsea kept pace with their brisk trade while accommodating the "special treatment" we requested to show the slides that help my co-author and I condense the 2500 years covered in The Social Sex: AHistory of Female Friendshipinto 45 minutes of talk. So many good, supportive friends appeared. Those quick waves, smiles, and knowing winks5 years ago Read more
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Blog postGeorge at Books Inc., how could you be any nicer? You gave Team Social Sex a beautiful set up, all with such good humor and accommodation. Thank you! What a brilliant bookstore, too. My fingers are itching to start turing pages on my sweet author's gift -- I chose the first of Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan Novels. After all, it's all about friendship! Dear, dear, long-time friends came long ways to support me. Real kindness, which is at the heart of real friendship. Thank you all for an evening th5 years ago Read more
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Blog postSo much FUN!! Hand-in-hand, face-to-face, and shoulder-to-shoulder, my "girlfriend" and co-author,Marilyn Yalom, and I on Sep. 24 launched The Social Sex: A History of Female Friendship(Harper Perennial 2015). First, a spectacular gig at Kepler's, our hometown (and incomparable) bookstore. More than eighty people turned out to hear our overview of 2500 years of Female Friendship! We were so excited and honored. Champagne and cookies (and mango licorice ?!?!?!) made it a girl-friend cel5 years ago Read more
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Blog postGot a visual jolt of WeHo thanks to Book Soup, premier bookstore in West Hollywood, and Grace Jones. Cruising Sunset Strip, we noticed a line of decked-out hipsters lining up outside the bookstore ahead of our signing. We were excited and flattered by the attention of this ear-gauged/pierced-body crowd, which grew steadily outside the building and spilled around the corner and down the next block. Wow, our reviews have been good, but this was amazing. Slowly it dawned on me that there was a cele5 years ago Read more
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Blog postThanks to Acacia and Julie and the entire staff at Warwick's in La Jolla for their considered support and enthusiasm for The Social Sex: A History of Female Friendship.Acacia gave us the best introduction we've had so far -- especially noting the originality of our endeavor in looking a the bonds between women through the lens of time. We had a blast. What a good, loyal community of book lovers is fostered by Warwick's. Thank you!5 years ago Read more
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Blog postThe big day for this two+-year project is at hand. The Social Sex: A History of Female Friendship (Harper Perennial) goes on-sale Tuesday, September 22. Yipee!My co-author Marilyn Yalom and I will be launching our book on Thursday, Sep. 24, 7:30 at Kepler's in Menlo Park. I'd love to see you there. If you can come, click on the link to RSVP to Kepler's. (The event is free.)It will mean so much to have my friends there helping to celebrate this publication -- a milestone in my writing career!If y5 years ago Read more
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Blog postClick on the link for a chance to win a copy of Summitville. If you like the book, please review it on Amazon. https://giveaway.amazon.com/p/84804ba92f646b65(Giveaway ends Aug 22, 2015 11:59 PM PDT)The pictures on the left, taken a few days ago, are of the toxic spill fouling the Animas River in southern Colorado. The picture on the right is the cover of Summitville, a novel I wrote 15 years ago. This thriller tells the story of a cyanide heap-leach gold mine in the San Juan Mountains of souther6 years ago Read more
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Blog postThe 2015 Mendocino Coast Writers Conference ended with a blaze of inspiration. Writers found and nutured writerly friendships. We frenetically scribbled notes about how to make our creations FINALLY finished (for some, that means perfect; for others, that means saleable; for others, that means read and appreciated). We opened our minds to great advice and soulful readings, all generously, richly delivered. And on the periphery, big ocean frothed and hid its own universe. Already looking forward6 years ago Read more
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Blog postI'm one of those limited people who craves delimitation -- round and round the same course, back and forth on the same route, up and down the pool lane. Boring? Not for us measurers. I often wish I could "be Zen" about my moments in time, but I generally fail in this human endeavor. I love to know how far I have to go, how much I have accomplished up to this point. When things aren't seeming fun, when I'm not catching the zone wave, I can walk myself through the slowly passing time, en6 years ago Read more
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Blog postI remain among the naïfs in the universe of media, social as well as the stuff we are meant to sit back and passively take in like water from a fire hose. My family still has no TV, no cable. We watch a few hours of this or that DVD each week, and the occasional podcast or YouTube delectation. I think I am too busy for more. There is too much out there in reality to experience and, especially, to do. But every now and then I remember to be thankful for the wonders of the world wide web. Man6 years ago Read more
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Blog postMy sister, to whom The Old Inn at Punta de Sangre is dedicated, and I went on a unique "book tour" around Pigeon Point, where some scenes in my novel take place. The lighthouse stands stark and rust-stained on a promontory of the treacherous San Mateo County coast. In the elongated shadow of the tower, we frolicked in the cove where whalers used to flense their prey. We watched rollers break along the deep curve of coast that used to lure navigators in the fog toward false open water a6 years ago Read more
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Blog postA fan who had just finished reading The Old Inn at Punta de Sangre asked me, "Theresa, how do you know all these things...the waves, and the tide pools, and getting caught like that?" (She was referring to some of the adventures of my protagonist, Sara.) This turned out to be a fun question to answer. Writers, in one way or another, ALWAYS draw on what they know, even if they are portraying a space hero trapped in Dimension Five. Some door deep in the folds and synapses of their brains6 years ago Read more
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Blog postA few evenings ago, I attended a celebration hosted by the Clayman Institute for Gender Research at Stanford in honor of my dear friend, and esteemed co-author, Marilyn Yalom. Late afternoon sunlight haloed the sequoia trees in the background, and made the grass and the wine glasses sparkle. The large crowd of Marilyn-admirers smiled and applauded in agreement when speakers praised her charm, incisiveness, soaring intelligence, kindness, and effectiveness as a leader at the Institute. I knew wha6 years ago Read more
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Blog postThe other day, I was privileged to attend a PEN West meeting that featured a reading by Sandra Gilbert, a treat that far exceeded my expectations. In a cozy bungalow perched as if to launch itself out of the Berkeley hills into the wild beyond the Golden Gate, Sandra wove a masterful tapestry of observations about what it means to be a human animal with a need for nourishment. Gilbert read wonderfully -- in a voice at once maternal, authoritative, resonant, and with knowing intonations that lift6 years ago Read more
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“Fascinating . . . The Social Sex is a paean to companionship. Share it with a bosom friend.” —NPR
From historian and acclaimed feminist author of How the French Invented Love and A History of the Wife comes this rich, multifaceted history of the evolution of female friendship
In today’s culture, the bonds of female friendship are taken as a given. But only a few centuries ago, the idea of female friendship was completely unacknowledged, even pooh-poohed. Only men, the reasoning went, had the emotional and intellectual depth to develop and sustain these meaningful relationships.
Surveying history, literature, philosophy, religion, and pop culture, acclaimed author and historian Marilyn Yalom and co-author Theresa Donovan Brown demonstrate how women were able to co-opt the public face of friendship throughout the years. Chronicling shifting attitudes toward friendship—both female and male—from the Bible and the Romans to the Enlightenment to the women’s rights movements of the ‘60s up to Sex and the City and Bridesmaids, they reveal how the concept of female friendship has been inextricably linked to the larger social and cultural movements that have defined human history.
Armed with Yalom and Brown as our guides, we delve into the fascinating historical episodes and trends that illuminate the story of friendship between women: the literary salon as the original book club, the emergence of female professions and the working girl, the phenomenon of gossip, the advent of women’s sports, and more.
Lively, informative, and richly detailed, The Social Sex is a revelatory cultural history.
— John Lescroart, The New York Times best-selling thriller author
Sara McGrath sucks at sales, but real estate is the only growth market in the depressed California coastal town where she's trying to pull together a life for herself after her ex, a Silicon Valley venture wannabe, dumped her. Sharks hunt the point breaks where her teenager, Marsi, surfs. And even nastier creatures — realtors, developers, and open-space-hungry environmentalists — troll the multiple listings in Half Moon Bay. Sara's first shot at a million-dollar deal looks like the capital kick-start her dream of a seaweed-products business needs until dead bodies complicate escrow on the old Punta de Sangre Inn. As the inspection clock on her deal runs down and the ripples of violent deaths widen toward Marsi and herself, Sara is forced into a partnership of wits with a taciturn sheriff whose fisherman son may have been victim of more than a storm at sea.
Sara finds herself at the impact point of big issues and their backwash: Around Punta de Sangre ("Blood Point"), powerful land preservation interests clash with greedy developers and their plans to turn great swaths of agricultural land into luxury resort and McMansion developments. Meanwhile, land-rich agribusinesses exploit an underground majority of immigrant workers. And the local fishing fleet and tourist-pandering “chummers” clash with the surfing community over shark-baiting. As the wave of chaos and loss builds, Sara heeds the big-wave surfers' mantra: "Eddie would go." Sara goes.