Blog Posts for Terence Clarke

Baseball Dreams

Terence Clarke — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 12:52:08 -0700

I dreamed I saw Joe DiMaggio last night, alive as you and me.It was in the old San Francisco Seals stadium at 16th and Potrero Streets, where I occasionally went to games when I was a child. This was before the New York Giants came to San Francisco and ruined the fortunes of the Pacific Coast League (although a part of the minors, it was often called the Third Major because of the excellence of ...

Jacobo Timerman

Terence Clarke — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 15:38:14 -0700

These days political torture is being much examined in the news: its use by the recently defeated Republican Party team of George Bush, its purposes, its physical effects on those tortured, its success (or lack of same) as an investigative device. Questioning and torture, we have learned, frequently go hand in hand, and Jacobo Timerman knew quite a bit about that.“Are you a Jew?” A ...

The Runway Walk

Terence Clarke — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 23:17:14 -0700

The beautiful runway models, so enhanced by the artfully-designed dress or gown, by the sensuous sway of the well-appointed evening wrap or the gathering of motion in color and surprising embroidery, are testament to what the poet Robert Herrick was describing when he wrote “Next, when I cast mine eyes and see/That brave vibration each way free. . .”. But there is one thing that clutters this ...

Pablo Neruda's "Ode to the woman in her garden"

Terence Clarke — Fri, 22 May 2009 09:37:04 -0700

Among the many, many unusual kinds of poems that Pablo Neruda wrote, his Elemental Odes are justifiably celebrated. He produced an abundance of them, odes to just about everything including the most domestic of everyday articles. . . innumerable objects, pieces of homey flotsam, the stuff of every day life and his constantly wandering thoughts about how they could be shown in verse. One that I ...

The Passing of Mario Benedetti

Terence Clarke — Fri, 22 May 2009 00:05:59 -0700

The Uruguayan writer Mario Benedetti died in Montevideo on May 17. A novelist, essayist, short story writer, poet and apologist for tango, Benedetti wrote more than sixty books and has long been considered a major figure in Latin American writing of the last half-century. He was also a political figure, having been pursued by the Uruguayan military junta in the 1970’s for his indiscreet ...

There Is Life In Inanimate Objects

Terence Clarke — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 16:33:49 -0700

Very often in fiction, inanimate objects simply lie there. You'd think they'd be more...lively, that they'd get up and do something!It happens that the novels I love are all about human relationships and whether or not they are successful. Great novelists attempt to explain how relationships work and what life those relationships can give to the soul, or what damage they can cause it.A marriage ...

Terence Clarke On Tango 3: "What a milonga really is"

Terence Clarke — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 10:19:21 -0800

I recently co-wrote and appeared in a stage show entitled "Tango: A Romantic Ritual". It was video-taped and is available from Social Dance Cultures. I was interviewed for the show as well, and I hope you'll take a look at these few portions of the conversation.

Terence Clarke On Tango 2: "Tango and emotion"

Terence Clarke — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 10:02:40 -0800

Terence Clarke On Tango 1: "See what happens"

Terence Clarke — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 14:18:50 -0800

Tango!

Terence Clarke — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 11:15:10 -0800

As the tango says: Así se baila el tango,sintiendo en la cara,la sangre que subea cada compás,(Thus is tango danced,feeling in the facethe blood that riseswith each rhythm.)I’m involved in two major Argentine tango events in the San Francisco Bay Area on Valentine’s weekend. Please join us. . .¡Milonga de amor! At The Ferry Building (at The Embarcadero and Market Street in San Francisco), ...