Tag Archives: pausing to take note of history

James William Loewen (1942-2021)

Posted on August 23, 2021 by Matt Ruff

Professor James W. Loewen, the author of Sundown Towns, has died at the age of 79. I was introduced to Loewen’s work through his 1995 bestseller Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong. But it … Continue reading →

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I’m not sure how I got invited to this party

Posted on July 22, 2021 by Matt Ruff

To celebrate Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry’s 100th birthday, Roddenberry Entertainment invited a hundred former and current cast members, other celebrities, and “notable fans” to record themselves quoting Gene Roddenberry. While I definitely qualify as a fan, I would not … Continue reading →

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Lovecraft Country earns 18 Emmy nominations

Posted on July 14, 2021 by Matt Ruff

Per the official Emmys website (complete nominations list): Outstanding Drama Series — Lovecraft Country Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series — Misha Green for episode 1, “Sundown” Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series — Jonathan Majors as Atticus Freeman … Continue reading →

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One hundred years ago today

Posted on June 1, 2021 by Matt Ruff

Today marks the hundredth anniversary of the invasion and burning of the Greenwood neighborhood of Tulsa, Oklahoma by an army of white citizens who had been frustrated in their attempt to lynch a black man the night before. By the … Continue reading →

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88 Names podcast: season 2 wrap-up

Posted on April 21, 2021 by Matt Ruff

On this week’s special finale episode, Blake Collier and I close out the 88 Names podcast with a freewheeling conversation about virtual reality, what we learned from our guests on the ‘cast, and the very strange pandemic year we’ve all … Continue reading →

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Alison Lurie (1926-2020)

Posted on December 4, 2020 by Matt Ruff

My old friend and mentor Professor Alison Lurie, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Foreign Affairs and The War Between the Tates, has died at the age of 94. I met Alison in my junior year at Cornell, when I took … Continue reading →

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So much for the Fourth Reich

Posted on November 9, 2020 by Matt Ruff

Like many of you, I spent last week watching election returns and reading silly hot takes about What It All Means. (My favorite, so far, is Jonathan Chait’s assertion in New York Magazine that “America, by and large, never wanted … Continue reading →

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#5

Posted on August 27, 2020 by Matt Ruff

It was only a couple of days ago that I gently corrected an interviewer who’d referred to Lovecraft Country as a bestseller. Although sales of the novel had increased significantly since the premiere of the HBO series, so far as … Continue reading →

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50

Posted on September 8, 2015 by Matt Ruff

I’m a half century old today. I was going to add a joke about how I was a teenager only yesterday, but it’s not true. When I look at the above photo—that’s me at 15, in my bedroom in Queens … Continue reading →

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25 years

Posted on December 31, 2013 by Matt Ruff

I let the actual anniversary slip by unnoticed, but 2013 was my twenty-fifth year as a published novelist. When you’ve always known what you want to do with your life, and you’re fortunate enough to actually be able to do … Continue reading →

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