Although my mother was his only surviving child, her father always said he had another during his first marriage. He implied that the baby died as an infant, Mom says; in fact, I discovered this weekend, the little girl lived nearly six years. My grandfather, Robert Bruce, was seventeen when he wed Nettie Mason, then sixteen, in May, 1925. A . . .
Recently I remembered a compilation of my granny’s (pictured) sayings that appeared online in 2003 on a site that’s since gone to internet heaven. I managed to dig up the list, so here are the “Favorite Expressions of My Deceased (and Beloved) Texan Grandmother, with Explanations”: 1. He looked at me like a calf at a new gate. Translation: “Even . . .
Charles William Bruce, otherwise known in la casa de Maud as the great-grandfather who killed a man with a hay hook, has always been one of the most compelling characters in my personal deck of Notorious Ancestor Playing Cards. And now he’s the second forbear — his wife Rindia being the first — to whom I owe an apology. June . . .
Granta’s Fathers issue includes nine writers’ recollections of their fathers. For Granta.com, the magazine has invited newer writers, including Jim Shepard, Gary Shteyngart, Rabih Alameddine, lê thi diem thúy, and me, to reflect on a photo of their dad. My contribution is up today; here’s the first paragraph: Exactly how long the prostitute, unbeknownst to my father, stayed at our . . .