The Undertaker's Daughter

by Jeffery Rudell

A teenage boy’s reaction to a dead body causes him to ask some tough questions.

Lewis Lapham

Lewis Lapham is the editor of Lapham's Quarterly a new journal of history and ideas which can be found at www.laphamsquarterly.org. He is a National Correspondent for Harper's Magazine and the author of thirteen books.

Rookie Reporter

by Lewis Lapham

Scandal, vice and magnificent hypocrisy: the truth about the press in 1950s America, as seen by a wide-eyed cub reporter.

Christopher Hitchens

Christopher Hitchens (1949-2011) was a author, journalist, and outspoken atheist whose work appeared in New Statesmen, The Nation, The Atlantic and Vanity Fair among others.

Mistaken Divinity

by Christopher Hitchens

A man is deified in Ceylon.

The One Good Man

by Joyce Maynard

An author who treasures the art of letter-writing is spellbound by an inmate who becomes a pen pal.

Breaking Up in the Age of Google

by Jessi Klein

A difficult break-up lures a young woman into a digital vortex.

Between The Lines

by Sheri Holman

A woman remembers visiting her two mysterious aunts as a child.

Sing Sing Tattoo

by Ted Conover

An inmate’s tattoo intrigues a prison guard.

Tamara Jenkins

Tamara Jenkins is a filmmaker and actress. She is best known for her films Slums of Beverly HIlls and The Savages.

Tom Weiser

Tom Weiser lives in a Buddhist household in Boulder, Colorado. He is an adjunct professor at Naropa University, and a teacher of Alexander technique and improvisational singing. His essays have been featured on NPR and Newsweek.

Alternate Ithaca Tom

by Tom Weiser

Dreams of what might have been plague a man during a road trip.

Aloha

by Tamara Jenkins

A woman flies cross country to help the aging father she hasn't seen in 18 years.

Nancy Finton

Nancy Finton lives in Brooklyn, NY and works as a writer and editor.

I Never Saw His Face

by Nancy Finton

A woman walking alone at night faces her worst fears.

President Clinton and the Egg Timer

by Mark Katz

A political speechwriter risks his job for a joke.

Father Joe

by Tony Hendra

An inspirational monk causes a young man to choose the spiritual path, only to find years later that what connected them was a biting sense of humor.

Liberty Card

by Marvin Gelfand

An immigrant child finds independence in the world of books.

Bob Zellner

Bob Zellner is an influential leader in the Civil Rights Movement. He is the son and grandson of Ku Klux Klan members, but has risked his life in the fight to achieve The Second Emancipation. Bob was an organizer of the Freedom Rides of 1961 and the first white southerner to serve as Field Secretary for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. He has worked alongside Martin Luther King, Jr., John Lewis, Rosa Parks and many other civil rights leaders. 

Poitier and Brando, Mississippi, 1964

by Bob Zellner

White southerner Bob Zellner reflects on being an ally during the Civil Rights Movement.