Today, the first of August, is the Swiss equivalent of the Fourth of July, similarly celebrated with picnics, firework displays and speeches by local and national politicians. Swiss families gather with their neighbors at village-sponsored breakfasts or evening fish fries, and the huge bonfires lit on local hills are visible for miles. Already for daysContinue reading “National Memories, Myths and Memes”
Author Archives: Kim Hays
World without Gender:
Revisiting The Left Hand of Darkness My husband Peter and I just got back from two weeks in France. We started our holiday in the town of Sarlat in the Dordogne region, which is a nine-hour car trip from Bern. Not only did we drive back two weeks later, but we used the car aContinue reading “World without Gender:”
Swiss Women’s Rights: What Happened?
In 1869, the territory of Wyoming (population less than 10,000) gave white women the right to vote. The first country to grant suffrage to women (including Maoris) was New Zealand, in 1893. Later came Australia (1902), Norway (1906), Great Britain and Ireland (1918), Germany (1918) and the US (1920), among others. A few more atContinue reading “Swiss Women’s Rights: What Happened?”
An Evening with Donna Leon
My March 12 post mentioned Donna Leon’s latest book, Transient Desires, her thirtieth in thirty years. I’ve always enjoyed her mysteries, and her Commissario of Police, Guido Brunetti, is my idea of a perfect hero: a clever, compassionate and literate man with an interesting family. This past Wednesday evening Ms. Leon was here in Bern,Continue reading “An Evening with Donna Leon”
Books We Grow Into
There’s a column in the New York Times called “By the Book,” in which successful writers—or famous people who have written a book, which isn’t quite the same thing—answer questions about their reading habits. If my friend Donna reads an example she particularly likes, she cuts it out and shares it with me over coffee.Continue reading “Books We Grow Into”
Telling Swiss Farmers What to Do
I can’t remember the last time I didn’t know who or what to vote for. “Undecided” is not a category I ever find myself in, at least not when it comes to politics. On June 13, however, Switzerland is voting on two initiatives that would force Swiss farmers to give up pesticide, and I don’tContinue reading “Telling Swiss Farmers What to Do”
Newly Discovered: Belinda Bauer
I am a sucker for books with kids as heroes. Not smartass kids, not stagy kids—just kids. Maybe I never quite outgrew my favorite children’s books, or maybe my affection for Jem, Scout and Dill from To Kill a Mockingbird has had too strong an influence on me. In any case, if you, too, likeContinue reading “Newly Discovered: Belinda Bauer”
Happy Mother’s Day
It’s Mother’s Day. On June 8th of this year, my mother, Joy Neiter Kramer Hays, will have been dead for ten years. I wish I were celebrating the holiday by spending the day with her, and to make my happiness complete, I’ll include my sister Natasha in this fantasy as well. My mother loved NewContinue reading “Happy Mother’s Day”
Living with Guilt
In 1976, an American, Judith Guest, published a 263-page debut novel called Ordinary People. Robert Redford made it into a movie with Donald Sutherland in 1980, and it won the Oscar for Best Picture. I read the novel and saw the movie and was moved to tears by both of them. Of course, I stillContinue reading “Living with Guilt”
A Garden for the Dead
At the risk of seeming morbid, I wanted to return to my favorite place for walks, the Schosshalde Cemetery. On March 30th, I wrote about how most Swiss graves last for only twenty years, before they are filled with another generation’s coffins and urns. But I didn’t tell you how beautifully tended those temporary gravesContinue reading “A Garden for the Dead”
