Vera Herself | Stories from Istanbul

A weekend newsletter. Caturday, Just Us on Saturdays, Communal Poetry on Sundays, and a little surprise in between. 📩 [email protected]

I am a Witch, a retired Technomage, a Socialist, an Anti-Capitalist, the father of twins, Swing dancer, poet, writer, comic art lover, Groucho-Marxist, and an uprooted New Yorker. Merry Meet!

How to live in a world our minds weren’t built for and thrive in deep alignment. 20+ years reshaping the unconscious mind. Practitioner by choice, poet at heart.

A perpetual seeker and sometime finder. A former teacher, bartender, banker, and technologist. Guided by humor, driven by desire, and a lover of life.

I write Short Story Section, one original short story a week and the story of how it was written.

Once upon a time businessman forging new paths and un-retiring. Making new connections, finding what interests me, being more

I enjoy walking, reading, performing music and writing (poetry and fiction).

I call myself Earth Mother. I remember the first poem I wrote that made me even think I might have the mind and heart of a poet. That was almost 50 years ago. Writing may help keep me sane. I surely am not the judge of that!

I used to know a little bit about some things. Now I am not so sure. That may change. FAQ (since bots): 69 years old, single, never married, no kids. Near Jupiter, FL. Retired jcksnhsr at gmail dot com

The most populous cat publication on Substack: Cats of Istanbul. In other words, Catstantinople. 🐈 By John the Cat Photographer.

I have taught physics, mathematics, and engineering at the University of Washington from 1987 until my retirement in 2026. In 2010 I won the Thomas Merton Prize for Poetry of the Sacred. I like to write poems about ideas, situations, and responses.

Writing on migration, identity, belonging, and whatever comes along the way to understanding them.