Posts by Susan Montross

As my valued colleague hangs up his NYPL id and follows the dream of “westward ho” I ponder my own fate on the east coast and in particular the question, “Is NYC a place to grow old?” Stepping lively onto a subway, is that a future I'll be equipped physically, financially, and emotionally to handle?    

Stephen King hailed A Three Dog Life as, “The best memoir I have ever read.” Very true, my own mother wouldn’t talk to me, after I had journeyed far & wide on a Metro-North train to visit her, until she had turned the last page! “Just a minute,” she said, opening her front door for me and simultaneously marking her place in the book with her finger, “I’ll hear all about your life in the City after I finish this book; go fix yourself something to eat.” Curious about what could possibly be keeping my mother from me, her favorite and only daughter, I scooped the book up immediately upon her setting it down and proceeded to read 

Eee – gads, my morning muffin has how many calories?

Remember, back in the day, when one could enjoy one’s morning muffin under the delightful cliché, ignorance is bliss. Really, how many calories can a blueberry muffin have; it’s mostly fruit, right? Yes, I tell myself, a blueberry muffin is indeed a breakfast of champions, quite worthy of the Olympic festivities.

Well, the blissful days of guilt-free morning muffins are over. To my great horror, climbing out of the subway and following the aroma of fresh baked goods into my favorite little shop for my morning meal of a blueberry muffin, I came face to face with the sign proclaiming,