Book Review: Fierce and Delicate: Essays on Dance and Illness, by Renée K. Nicholson

By Katherine Itacy Genre(s): Memoir; Dancer Autobiography Synopsis: Fierce and Delicate is Renée Nicholson’s love letter to the art of dance. The memoir details the unrelenting and often unrealistic requirements of ballet dancers, the competitiveness and cattiness exhibited by so many in the field, the joy and pride Nicholson so often felt while rehearsing and […]

Book review: Reaching for normal, by amy daniels

Book Review: Reaching for Normal, by Amy Daniels By Katherine Itacy Genre(s): Memoir Synopsis: At twenty-six years old, Amy Daniels is a new mother with an exceedingly cranky baby. She and her husband, Dave, decide to get their daughter checked out by medical professionals, and when they do, they’re told seven-month-old Emily has a brain […]

Book Review: Gray is the New Black, by Dorothy Rice

Genre(s): Memoir Synopsis: Dorothy Rice’s memoir focuses on a year in the author’s early sixties in which she strove to work on her physical and emotional health, her physical and emotional relationship with her husband, her ability to love and accept herself, and her goal of writing a book about the experience. As Rice explains […]

Book Review: Her Name Was Margaret, by Denise Davy

Genre: Biographies of persons with disabilities; Women’s biographies Synopsis: Her Name Was Margaret tracks the difficult life and devolvement of Margaret Louise Jacobson, a once religiously devoted and musically talented young girl who suffered a psychotic break as a teenager. Following her commitment to a psychiatric hospital and a diagnosis of schizophrenia, Ms. Jacobson spent […]

Book Review: Face: A Memoir, by Marcia Meier

Genre: Memoir Review: This review was originally published at Story Circle Book Reviews: Most women in America are insecure about at least one aspect of their physical appearance. I, myself, am most insecure about a benign tumor I have on my lower back, although I am able to hide it with a loose shirt or […]

Book Review: You Don’t Know What I Have Done, by Sheila McNaughton

Genre: General fiction/Family life fiction Synopsis: A large extended family, mere weeks into grieving the passing of their patriarch, is confronted with evidence that the family matriarch, Maggie, is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. As Maggie’s children, Lizzie, Ian, and Kevin, along with their spouses, attempt to care for her, Maggie begins to reveal shocking details […]

RARE Across America 2021

Check out my essay regarding my participation in RARE Across America 2021 and rare disease advocacy

Ain’t No COVID Strong Enough to Keep Me From You, Motown!

Photos documenting my most recent tour of the Motown Museum

White Person to White Person: Let’s Talk!

Thoughts on white allyship in the antiracism movement, coming from a former criminal defense attorney and civil rights activist. I discuss George Floyd, Rush Limbaugh, slavery, segregation, white privilege and more.

When You’re Feeling Like an Ineffective Ally

Warning: This post involves some self-pity and defensiveness coming from a white woman. If you bear with me ’til the end, I think you’ll find comfort in the fact that I snap myself out of it and try to encourage others to do so as well. But if you’re in no mood to hear about […]