Second Drafts · Every Sunday
One letter on Sunday, about beginning again.
A Sunday letter about late beginnings, second careers and the books that got me through them.
Recent letters
Oct 27, 2026 · 7 min read
The year I unlearned being busy
For thirty-four years my value was my speed. This is what happened when I stopped typing for other people.
Oct 20, 2026 · 5 min read
A typewriter teaches patience, then cruelty
There is no backspace. Every sentence I keep, I have earned twice.
Oct 13, 2026 · 9 min read
What my mother never wrote down
Her recipes, her temper, the year in Glasgow she would not talk about.
Readers say
“I am fifty-eight and I read it every Sunday before anyone else in the house is awake.”
“The only newsletter I have ever paid for, and the only one I forward.”
Go further
Memoir circle
Starts Mon 18 Nov · online
About
I was a court stenographer for thirty-four years. At sixty I sold the house, bought a typewriter and started writing down the things I had been listening to all my life. Now I write one letter every Sunday, and a book when the letters add up to one.