Patricia Vaccarino

Freedom Spent

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When I was in college, a professor suggested that I read Freedom Spent by the legal writer Richard Harris. Freedom Spent was a narrative of three case studies in which Americans lost their civil liberties during legal proceedings that adhered to the letter of the law, or abided by a strict constructionist (narrow) interpretation of the law that disregarded the gravitas and prevailing spirit of the U.S. Constitution.  I lent Freedom Spent to so many friends that eventually I lost track of it and fear it is no longer in my library. 

Today, I am more convinced than ever that America has the most amazing...

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Latest Posts in Patricia Vaccarino

NOTES FROM THE WORKING-CLASS: Dirty Gertie

Gertrude’s wispy-thin hair is shock white. Although she’s pushing a hundred, she doesn’t look a day older than eighty. Introducing herself by her nickname, “Trudy,” she smiles, showing her broken teeth—some decaying and in need of extraction.  Gertrude confesses she was never called Gertie because kids would have picked on her and called her Dirty Gertie, and you know what that means—Dirty Gertie is a bad girl, easy, a slut. 


The Skillman Branch Library, Detroit, Michigan

Libraries We Love – The Skillman Branch Library, Detroit, Michigan – The key to understanding people and the world around us begins with education. One way to learn about the world is by developing a love of books. Each month, we profile a library. Large, small, urban, rural, post-modern, quaint or neo-classic; do you have a library that you love? Tell us about it. This month, Patricia Vaccarino writes about the Skillman Branch Library in Detroit, Michigan.


NOTES FROM THE WORKING-CLASS: Perfetto

When I was in Rome last November, I drifted to sleep at night listening to the sound of competing sirens. One night I had a dream about Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese. They weren’t doing much in my dream, just hanging out on the streets of Yonkers, the same way I used to hang out on the streets of Yonkers when I was a kid. 


THE “HEART OF YONKERS” CAPTURES WORKING-CLASS HEROES IN THE 1970S

Author Patricia Vaccarino can’t seem to forget her hometown, Yonkers. She’s back with a new story, “The Heart of Yonkers,” that takes us back to a time long before social distancing.


BOOKS WE LOVE

During the Covid-19 pandemic, many libraries have temporarily closed. So, we are turning our attention to books. You can still order books online or maybe browse your own bookshelves at home to find books you never thought you’d have the time to read.