by Peter Scotchmer | Essays
In this piece, Peter talks about the enduring power of inherited wisdom and how neglecting it leaves us unmoored. In a speech delivered in 1858, Abraham Lincoln foresaw the consequences of the ruinous Civil War that was to devastate his nation: “A house divided...
by Peter Scotchmer | Essays
In this piece, Peter talks about how Hagar’s pride blinds her to the shared moral wisdom all humans depend on. In Margaret Laurence’s novel The Stone Angel, the combative central character Hagar Shipley (nee Currie) tells the story of her own life. The reader must be...
by Peter Scotchmer | Stories
Peter Scotchmer writes a short story on how love sees truth even when the eyes refuse to. Near the beginning of the semester, Rebecca Cooper, slim, blonde and beautiful, stood somewhat shamefacedly before her teacher’s desk after class, self-consciously twisting an...
by Peter Scotchmer | Stories
Peter Scotchmer’s fictional story of an administrator straying into matters she doesn’t understand may be too close to reality for those committed to following the latest fad of the day. Geoff Carter, a veteran teacher of thirty years’ standing, tried hard to win over...
by Peter Scotchmer | Reviews
Novella Review by Peter A. Scotchmer, featuring themes like literary fiction, loneliness, poetic novels, Canadian literature, escapist characters, modern novellas A novella by the Quebecois writer Denis Theriault called Le Facteur Emotif in French was recently...