Signing “Sandy”

March 29, 2026 books, Nature, Uncategorized, writing No comments

Today I had the honor of signing a copy of my book, “Sandy: The Story of a Young Dune,” for a woman who called me out of the blue and told me she would be honored if I would consent to sign the copy that she bought for her new grandson, whose name happens to be Sandy.


I assured her that the honor would be all mine.


For one thing, I was so impressed that Sharon Meyers tracked me down. With a bit of internet sleuthing she found my phone number. She called me one day last week when I was entertaining my grandchildren at Chicago’s Museum of Science & Industry during their spring break. But we arranged a meeting at my home in Chesterton when she and her husband would be en route from their Evanston, IL, home to their vacation home in nearby Michigan City, IN.


My son, Cory Falk, agreed to come next door from his home to photograph me and Sharon so I could memorialize the event on my website blog.


What a fun and fascinating lady! I am new to this book signing business, but if every interaction with a purchaser is as interesting as today’s, I could happily sign books all day.


Sharon and I have a lot in common. She said she just completed a writing residency in Japan and she is well versed in Japanese culture. I studied Japanese tea ceremony and spoken and written Japanese some years ago, though I have only been to the Narita Airport near Tokyo, on my way to Nepal.


She also does food writing and cooking classes. I’ve done my share of food writing and when she gifted me a container of artisan Japanese salt I had to mention articles I’ve written about salt and Portland, Oregon’s own selmelier, Mark Bitterman.


As for my book, “Sandy: The Story of a Young Dune,” I published it through Amazon last year, but interest in it seems to be growing as 2026 is the 100th anniversary of the opening of Indiana Dunes State Park. I wrote and illustrated the story of the Dunes, as told by a young sand dune. I included the science of dune succession and the history of both the state park and the national park at the Indiana Dunes. It’s currently for sale at the Indiana Dunes Visitors Center, the Nature Center gift shop in the Indiana Dunes State Park, and at the nearby Schoolhouse Shop.

SANDY. Written and illustrated by me!


Sandy is also available at Amazon.com for $12.99. I am thrilled each time someone tells me they love my book and asks me to sign it.

I wrote a sand dune book!

August 24, 2025 Nature, publications No comments

If you read any book about sand dunes this year, let it be SANDY: The Story of a Young Dune. I wrote it and I illustrated it. My son formatted it and Amazon (via Kindle Direct Publishing) published it.

SANDY. Written and illustrated by me!

Where can you find it? Why, Amazon, of course. Also (so far), the Indiana Dunes State Park Nature Center gift shop and Schoolhouse Shop in Chesterton, Ind.

The book’s summary is on the back.

I am traveling through Northwest Indiana (the area where the sand dunes lie along the south shore of Lake Michigan) to sell my fun book. I will also go to other areas of the state where there will be interest in the stories told in SANDY. My book covers the science and history of the sand dunes and several of the fascinating personalities involved in establishing both a state and national park in order to preserve the iconic sand dunes of this region.

This huge dune became mostly glass canning jars, now collectors’ items.

For instance, visitors to Minnetrista, the former home of the Ball canning jar company, in Muncie, would be interested to know how the company’s most famous product got its color. The “Ball Blue” jars, made by the millions in the early 1900s, owed their color to the mineral content of one particular sand dune. Known as Hoosier Slide, the sand dune was a popular sliding spot in Michigan City, Ind. But by 1920 all of Hoosier Slide was “mined,” its sand taken by railway car for industrial and business use.

There is much to like and learn in Sandy: The Story of a Young Dune. Please enjoy!

What Hamlet means to me

December 8, 2024 art No comments

I love Hamlet. That is to say, “Hamlet” is my favorite of Shakespeare’s plays. I’ve lost count of how many productions of Hamlet I’ve seen, either live or on television or cinema. Of all, my favorite remains the version performed by Christopher Plummer. His Hamlet is not often mentioned among the best Hamlets, generally thought to include Laurence Olivier, Kenneth Branagh, Derek Jacobi, Richard Burton, David Tennant and other notable actors, including, surprisingly to some, Mel Gibson.

My favorite Hamlet, Christopher Plummer

But I really liked Plummer’s Hamlet persona and thought he was especially good at claiming to be crazy while probably wondering if he really was or not. I found Olivier to be wimpy and Branagh to be too huffy and puffy.

Although some productions of Hamlet I’ve seen were downright bad (two at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in past years come to mind), that hasn’t stopped me from buying tickets to new productions that come along. Most recently I attended a dance version of Hamlet that had its U.S. premier in Chicago. I hesitated. After all, what is Shakespeare without words? But then I remembered seeing the ballet of Romeo and Juliet at La Scala in Milan. I was shocked to find myself weeping as Juliet, in a grief-stricken dance, whirled Romeo’s body around her.

I remembered that words are not the only vehicle for expressing emotion. Turns out, the dancing Hamlet, Guillaume Côté, touched my soul too.

On Saturday, Dec. 7, I drove to South Bend, Ind., the home of the University of Notre Dame, to see a special program by a renowned Shakespearean actor. She used Shakespeare’s words to create a personal memoir. I thought that was an intriguing concept, enough that I willingly drove an hour to the Notre Dame theater.

Lisa Wolpe as Hamlet and others

Lisa Wolpe, founder of the all-women Los Angeles Women’s Shakespeare Company, has played nearly every leading role (both males and females) in Shakespeare during her career. Knowing Shakespeare’s words as well as she does, she was able to select strings of speeches, sonnets and soliloquies to express her response to multiple family traumas, including several suicides, in particular that of her Jewish father. He took his life after becoming a war hero fighting the Nazis that exterminated his family. She was 4 years old at the time.

Wolpe said her traumatic childhood gained some meaning and stability when at age 19 she discovered Shakespeare. Shakespeare’s reflections on the human condition helped her to sort out her own feelings. She crafted another way to appreciate Shakespeare deep understanding of humanity by using his powerful words for her memoir, part performance, part reflection.

Wearing black pants, shoes and vest, Hamlet’s customary attire, Wolpe weaved together Hamlet’s “To be or not to be” soliloquy with lines from other plays or poems. I easily recognized the bits from Hamlet and the sonnets, but guessed the origin of other lines. She switched easily from Shakespearean characters to being her own self, wrestling with questions about her father’s and her life.

Her performance received a well-deserved standing ovation. Before leaving the theater I spoke to her to offer her a glimpse of my relationship with Shakespeare. I was 13 when I first saw “Hamlet.” My grandmother had taken me to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. I was electrified by Hamlet’s words and his strong emotions.

But in my family it was inconceivable that I would be allowed to speak my mind in the same eloquent way. My father was a violent alcoholic who allowed no other family members to express emotion, especially anger (at him).

I started memorizing Hamlet’s soliloquies and soon knew each one by heart. If ever I felt overwhelmed by the oppressive atmosphere of my home life, I let loose with Shakespeare’s words. My father thought I was merely trying to follow in his footsteps, since he often reminded us that he was a top Shakespeare student in college.

“I love that story,” said Wolpe as she brushed me off and turned to speak to other admirers from the audience.

Yeah, me too. It’s just another example of how Shakespeare saves lives: mine and Wolpe’s.

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