Published in AMERICAN THEATRE MAGAZINE October, 1990 A crying baby expresses its emotional truth—its breath picks up its essential survival impulses and turns them to sounds, which demand a response. If the response comes, the baby lives. If the call is unanswered, the baby dies, either literally or in spirit. Later, when words begin to come, a child's environment either confirms that emotional expression is all right or, more commonly, inhibits such expression. The three-ye

My mom died the morning of June 5th, at the ripe, full age of 84. The day previous she’d spent a long, leisurely, laugh-filled FaceTime with her granddaughters, a regular quarantine ritual, and this past January we had all made the trek from L.A. to Orkney to ring in the New Year with her, and we had a fair party full of dance, songs, and toasts before the world shut down. If anyone asks me about myself, I’ll typically answer with my mother’s story; she’s my best context. So