Where the past begins: a writer's memoir

Introduction. Where the past begins

Prologue. The breaker of combs

I. Imagination. A leaky imagination

Music as muse

Souvenir from a dream

Hidden genius

Reorientation : Homer, Alaska

II. Memory in emotion. Genuine emotions

The feeling of what it felt like when it happened

A mere mortal at age twenty-five

A mere mortal at age twenty-six

How to change fate : step 1

III. Retrieving the past. The unfurling of leaves

The auntie of the woman who lost her mind

Unstoppable

Time and distance : age twenty-four

Time and distance : age fifty

Time and distance : age sixty

IV. Unknown endings. The darkest moment of my life

Nipping dog

The father I did not know

Reliable witness

V. Reading and writing. I am the author of this novel

How I learned to read

Splayed poem : the road

Eidolons

Letters to the editor

Letters in English

Why write?

VI. Language. Language : a love story

Intestinal fortitude

Principles of linguistics

Companions in the house.