An Immodest Proposal

A Birthday Surprise Ruined in 750 Words

By Geoffrey Dean

Cover Design by
Jennifer Dean Neumann

The project started in my mind as a collection of Moristotle poems that I could read to his granddaughter. Of course, he could read them to her himself, or record them for her, or even write new poems for her, but these are other projects and not how the one I’m writing about here evolved. I got my sister involved early, and we agreed that the goal was a full-fledged publication of the “Selected Poetry of…” sort that we would present to Moristotle on his birthday in 2018. I’ll call this Plan A.

Sketches from Salt Lake: Ode of joy to rabbits

In Bloomington, Illinois

By Geoffrey Dean

We’re back in Salt Lake City following three weeks in Bloomington, Illinois, for the 15th edition of the Illinois Chamber Music Festival at Illinois Wesleyan University. Coaching young chamber groups and performing some of the iconic works from the chamber music literature with fellow faculty members make this a meaningful experience each summer that I’m always happy to come back to. The highlight of this year’s faculty performances, according to an audience member who’s been coming to the concerts for over a decade, was our rendition of the Dvorak String Quintet in E-flat Major, Op. 97. The lesser-known “cousin” of Dvorak’s popular “American” quartet, the quintet was also written during the summer of 1893, when the composer was staying not too far from Bloomington, in Spillville, Iowa. How “American” is the American quintet? The theme of the variations movement sounds a lot like “My Country, ’Tis of Thee.”

Sketches from Salt Lake: From the day you were born

Reading to Vera

By Geoffrey Dean

Even before our daughter, Vera, was born, my wife and I starting frequenting the children’s section of the main branch of the wonderful Salt Lake City Library and scouring the Internet to reconnect with some of the books that we remembered from our own early days.

Seventy-four (74)

“They say it’s your birthday!”

By Moristotle

It was about three months before his 75th birthday when my father died. The fact that he died when he was the age I am today has been giving me pause for some months.