Anna Quindlen

When I was a young wife, with the three boys somersaulting here and there, I still read the paper every day. I felt like it kept me connected to the world at large, and also nudged my brain toward an existence beyond spilled milk and sibling rivalry. In those days, I believed that my voice was embodied by Anna Quindlen, whose syndicated column ruminated about her home front. When she decided to end her column and write novels and occasional opinion pieces, I mourned. I think I had abandonment issues. I've forgiven her, of course. I have loved many of her novels, filed her commencement speeches in my documents folder for recycling to graduates, and mourned her lost pets as I have mourned mine. She still speaks for me very often, as in her Newsweek essay, which was reprinted in today's Sun Times. Click on the Anna Quindlen title at the top of this post.