United States
Lou-Ellen Barkan is native New Yorker, spending her retirement years in the Berkshires teaching creative writing classes, running a writers' group and publishing stories. Some these can be found in Lowestoft Chronicle, The Jewish Literary Journal, Bright Flash and Defenestrations. She holds a BA Summa Cum Laude from Hunter College and an MA in adult education from Columbia University.
In 2011, on a brutally hot August morning, my eighty-seven-year-old mother and I arrived at Florida’s West Palm Beach airport for her final flight to New York. On arrival, two good-natured stewards seated mom in a wheelchair and escorted us into the terminal where we checked in and headed to security...
After three weeks touring Russia and the Baltic, Riga was the last stop. Not our first choice, but an unexpected change in airline schedules made it the only option to catch our transfer back to th...
"I have a surprise," Michael announced. "Guess where we're going for our anniversary?"
Chiaroscuro, Resilience, Regeneration by Margaret E. Wagner, Editor-in-Chief Dianne Apter, You Just Never Know 🎧 Lou-Ellen Barkan, The Unguilt Trip Karen Paul, Chocolate Confessional Ann Levin, Hard-boiled 🎧 Cheryl Achterberg, Red Alert: Border Patrol Antonia Lewandowski, The Art Lesson Tua Laine, Snail Mail 🎧 Deborah Douglas Wilbrink, Decay of the Dark Karen G.
My friend Marianne died last week. We met through a writers' group that started through the local public library and continued on Zoom during the pandemic. In the beginning, the group was fluid, writers, coming and going, sometimes for weeks, sometimes longer, usually without explanation.
A Very Moving Experience Lou-Ellen Barkan London, 1985 The Stafford Hotel dinner was the finale of our three-week London shopping spree, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to ... Read More ›
The year my kids were two and seven, my husband, Michael, suggested that I complete the last two years of my bachelor's degree. "You're kidding." I was holding a lamb chop, chasing the two-year-old across the kitchen floor.
by Lou-Ellen Barkan The resort served dinner at eight in the main dining room. On our first night, Michael and I were the first ones seated. We were at a table facing the entrance, watching the other guests arrive. 'So," Michael asked, sipping his martini. 'Which one is he?' 'No idea.
By Lou-Ellen Barkan "Guess what?" My sister Lois's voice was up an octave, so I guessed good news. "You won the lottery?" "You're close. We got a reservation at Premise!" "You're kidding" I laughed. "How did you pull that off?" Premise, New York City's trendiest restaurant, had just received a five-star review.
"I think it's disgraceful," my mother said. "I agree," my father said. "Pass the bread, please." "What's disgraceful?" I asked, walking into the dining room and dropping my book bag on the floor. "Maybe that you're half an hour late for dinner." My mother pointed to my chair. "Sit down, please."
A short story about a young girl learning about her sinister neighbor while babysitting for them one night. redrosethorns publishes writing pieces centred around the subjects of mental health, gender/sexuality, self-care, and empowerment to create more information and conversations around these topics. As well as to build connection within our global community.
Lou-Ellen is a native New Yorker, recently retired after three careers; on Wall Street, in NYC Government and, over the last sixteen years, as a not for profit CEO. With a comedian/writing partner, she has written two tv shows waiting for a home when/if the world returns to normal.