Welcome to my Web Site!

"The way to know any writer, of course, is not to meet him in person but to read what he writes. Only in print is he most clear, most true, most honest. No matter what he might say in polite society, catering to convention, it is in his writing that we find the real man."

---Richard Bach, A Gift of Wings, 1974

I like to think that's true of me, particularly with the difficulty I have expressing myself in person. (Which makes me feel a little like the Wizard of Oz, hiding behind the curtain of this web site.)

Photo by Fritz Schafer, 2/05

See the Contents list at right for general topics, most of which contain essays I've written. On each topic page is a list of individual pages relating to that topic. From an essay page, you can click on the UP button to go back to the topic page. (Also note the full-text search feature below and on most topic pages.)

If you read something here you want to comment on, I'd like to hear from you. Click here to send me an email.)

Want to search my site for something in particular? Click Here

Contents:

My Background
What's New
Please Respond
A Topic Tree
Ideas, etc.
Personal
Community
About Music
Flying Things
Photography
Books by Donald Skiff
Book Reviews
Films I've seen
Fiction (mine)
Great Grandchildren

I live in South Lyon, Michigan, where I spend most of my time at my computer or reading (having satisfied the powers that be that I am no longer needed to support the economy). I've written since I was an adolescent, the subjects of my pen having changed many times over the years. In recent years I was obsessed with something I call "community;" that is, how people are with each other when we're gathered in relatively stable situations for periods of time. Somehow, that obsession led me into an investigation of "spirit." (The connection may be obvious to you, but it wasn't to me.) This blending of philosophy and psychology rather permeates my current thinking and writing. So, much of what you'll read here has to do with one or both of those subjects.

I do have other interests, which ebb and flow. Photography, for example, was a passion in my youth, and I've recently rediscovered some of its delights. Music has always held a special place in my heart and mind. Trying to express my relationship with music has turned out to be more difficult than I would have imagined. Still, there are pieces here to represent my attempts. For a time after I retired, I built and flew radio-controlled model airplanes. There are essays on that topic here, as well as illustrations.

Click on one of the Contents Categories under my photo above for links to specific articles. To see what I've added most recently, you can start with What's New. That page contains a link to just about everything else in the site, with the latest additions at the top. If you'd like a little more specificity in choosing what to read, browse A Topic Tree, which breaks down the categories a little more than Ideas and Personal.

I've compiled several books of my essays and stories, including many of the essays I have posted on this Web site. For descriptions of each of them, go to Books by Donald Skiff on this web site.

This page was last updated on January 29, 2008 .

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