I am pleased to share with you news of the publication of my beloved partner’s book. Dorothy Stoneman wrote a dramatic and well-told story of our family’s journey preparing for and living through our daughter’s heart surgery when she was age five--how we engaged her in many decisions, navigated the medical system, handled our own … Continue reading Our Daughter’s Heart
Personal Stories
A Love Letter of Sorts to the January 6th Insurrectionists from a Biden Voter
Two years ago, after that harrowing day when a mob violently invaded the U.S Capitol, I wrote a letter to them. There was and still is so much that was wrong with that scene and what led up to it. And yet I identified with the rioters' outrage that something was terribly unfair in our … Continue reading A Love Letter of Sorts to the January 6th Insurrectionists from a Biden Voter
“Are You Ready to Fight?”
What does "fighting" your political opponents mean?
Alida’s Unraveling
REFLECTIONS ON OUR MENTAL HEALTH SYSTEM By John Bell “I’ll throw your baby out the window!” This is what Alida said about our new born when I invited her to come stay with us in the midst of her first of many psychotic breaks. Fortunately, my wife Dorothy was more level-headed and said “Absolutely not! … Continue reading Alida’s Unraveling
Mafia Hit Man Transforms
by John Bell For years in the 1970s I taught ongoing peer counseling classes in my home in Harlem. A woman we will call Ellen (the names of the two characters have been changed to honor confidentiality and safety.) had been in one of these classes for about a year. The class was a multi-racial … Continue reading Mafia Hit Man Transforms
Begin Within 