All Posts By

Dana VanderLugt

Blog

Really Big Spring Break

Last Friday, I watched out my office window as children burst out of the doors of their school to board the buses for what my

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Blog

What is Left Behind

For most of his life, my grandfather managed an apple orchard. We called it Grandpa’s Orchard, though technically the 200 acres of apples (plus 50-some

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Blog

The Discipline of Specificity

“Be more specific,” I used to tell my writing students. “Don’t say cereal when you could say Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Don’t say your character walked

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Blog

The First Hill

I had to learn how to enjoy rollercoasters. I was a cautious kid, not one to take risks, and it wasn’t until high school that

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Blog

Attached

I remember a pastor once telling me that children who have an attachment item — a blankie, a teddy, a snuggly — are more likely

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Blog

Losing My Way

I. “Those who stutter win, in the painful pauses of their demonstration that speech isn’t entirely natural, a respectful attention, a tender alertness. Words are,

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