New Books

An Italic Calligraphy Handbook and Perfect Reading & Beautiful Handwriting

Featured here is my calligraphy textbook, An Italic Calligraphy Handbook, along with a related title I wrote a couple of years later, that offers reading and writing instruction geared toward kids, called Perfect Reading & Beautiful Handwriting.

A Woman of Wisdom: Honoring and Celebrating Who You Are

This book is my spiritually-oriented and richly illustrated guidebook for women, A Woman of Wisdom: Honoring and Celebrating Who You Are.

The Power to Write: Seven Keys to Discover Your Writer Within

My most popular book, published by Barnes and Noble Publishing, is The Power to Write: Seven Keys to Discover Your Writer Within. (Also pictured above is a beautiful little gift book that includes a quote of mine, called Toasts.)

As may be the case for you, too, I have been a book lover all my life, and have always been surrounded by books—which is why my favorite places to be are often bookstores and libraries, wherever I can find them. My love for books began very early, as during my childhood my father was an editor of children’s books at McGraw Hill, a major New York City- based publishing company. At a tender age, then, I got the idea that I would follow in his footsteps, and also become a creator of books, when I grew up. I had the ambitious goal of having my first book published before I was 25, and somehow, I did manage to bring this dream into reality.

My first published book was a textbook on the Italic style of calligraphy, and I was fortunate at the time to be teaching calligraphy at Harvard University (which at the time offered a wide array of non-credit art and design courses open to the public). While teaching there, for a three-year time period, I had daily access to the magnificent Houghton Library, which houses thousands of early manuscripts and printed books, including the very first calligraphy textbooks ever written, in the 1500’s, which I decided to model my own teaching manual upon.

Below, I am standing in front of the Houghton Library at Harvard University, where I spent countless hours pouring over ancient texts in order to prepare for the writing of my own calligraphy textbook, and these rich, treasured hours are still a fond memory. The book I wrote then, An Italic Calligraphy Handbook, has been considered a classic text on the topic, and has been printed in various editions in the US over the years, and enjoyed great success in its paperback edition in Great Britain, where calligraphy is still a much revered art form.

I also love the wonderful Widener Library, where I also spent time when at Harvard, as well as the Harvard Divinity School Library, where I recently attended an open house showcasing many of their fascinating collections – including a Buddhist text written on palm leaves, a Papal Bull from the year 1260, a Latin manuscript page written in the Half-Uncial style, and many other gems of early writing and printing.

Whenever and wherever I travel, I am drawn to every single bookstore or library I pass by – as books have always held a certain mesmerizing appeal and irresistible magic for me. Indeed, books are often my greatest companions, teachers, inspiration, and gateways to the world of knowledge.I truly cannot even imagine getting through life without a stack of good books by my side – and without being immersed in the creating, writing and design of a new book project of my own, too, at any given time.

Here are a few photos from some of my favorite bookstores and libraries, and if you know of any that you think are especially interesting or beautiful send me a note and let me know where they are, and I will be sure to stop by if I am in the area.