Ann S. Epstein Writer

Amid COVID-19 Learn History Through Fiction: Dr. Oddbody Cures Spanish Flu

Fearful of the 1918 Spanish flu, gullible consumers sought magical remedies. One proclaimed, “When the body is exhausted and its resistive powers are diminished, Dr. Oddbody’s Cure All Elixir affords splendid and effectual means of offsetting the tendency toward weakness and protecting strength.” Alas, the elixir’s ingredients are not listed, but the product’s name says it all. Read more about the deadly Spanish flu pandemic a century ago in On the Shore (1917-1925), a tale of conflict between generations in a Lower East Side immigrant family (see NOVELS).

A touted elixir during the Spanish flu pandemic a century ago

Generations of immigrant family in conflict

Writing During COVID-19: And That’s Just Fine

The July–August 2020 issue of Poets & Writers features thirteen quotes by “Authors on Creativity in Quarantine” describing their (in)ability to write during the pandemic. Says one guilt-free poet: “I’m not writing a lot creatively right now. I am having wonderful exchanges with my students. I go out and talk to my neighbors. I guess this will all end up in a poem. But maybe not. And that’s just fine” (Gabrielle Calvocoressi). COVID-19 has not affected the amount of creative writing I do. I still write every day. Nor do I feel compelled to act as a witness to the pandemic, although my characters may be more fearful, angrier, or in search of escape. But the act of writing itself remains constant. And that’s just fine. For more of my thoughts on writing, see REFLECTIONS.

Why writers write: “Writing is the answer to everything. It’s the streaming reason for living … to make something, to make a great flower out of life, even if it’s a cactus.” – Enid Bagnold

Amid COVID-19 Learn History Through Fiction: Tanlac Laxative Prevents Spanish Flu

The Stanford World, home paper of a city in central Montana, carried an ad in 1918 for Tanlac, a “stomachic tonic” to ward off the Spanish flu. The laxative, sold locally at Harvey’s Drug Store, would help those who were “weak and rundown (who) become easy victims to widespread epidemic.” The tonic contained nearly 16% alcohol by volume, a bitter drug such as gentian, herbal extracts, licorice and wild cherry flavoring, and glycerin. Read more about the deadly Spanish flu pandemic a century ago in On the Shore (1917-1925), a tale of conflict between generations in a Lower East Side immigrant family (see NOVELS.

One of many quack remedies for the Spanish flu a century ago

Writing During COVID-19: Same or Different?

The July–August 2020 issue of Poets & Writers features thirteen quotes by “Authors on Creativity in Quarantine” about how and why they do (or don’t) write during the lockdown. I half agreed with this one: “Writing remains just as and no more difficult than it always has. On bad days, I do not lose myself in my writing. On good days, that doesn’t happen either. Every sentence is a boulder pushed up a hill that does not change in steepness or in height. Some days I have the strength to push; some days I have the strength to lie down and take a nap; never do I know what kind of day it will be” (Novelist Lillian Li). I agree that the nature of writing has not changed for me. Before the pandemic, I wrote every day. During the pandemic, I write every day. Writing is hard work. Some days, words flow more easily than others. But, unlike Li, I keep going. Forcing myself to take a nap would be more effortful than restorative. Doing the work produces the reward. So I stay awake. Every day. For more of my thoughts on writing, see REFLECTIONS.

Why writers write: “The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.” – Louis L’Amour

Amid COVID-19 Learn History Through Fiction: Powerful Light Cures Spanish Flu

[Note: I ended this series on the Spanish flu in May, but a spike in cases during the current pandemic led me to find more missteps and quack cures a hundred years ago. I’ll be posting them in the coming weeks.] A 1919 article on the editorial page of Montana’s Great Falls Tribune showed a photo of a Swedish physician using “powerful electric light and heat” on a patient suffering from the Spanish flu. The therapy was said to produce “excellent results.” No data were presented to further enlighten the newspaper’s readers. Read more about the deadly Spanish flu pandemic a century ago in On the Shore (1917-1925), a tale of conflict between generations in a Lower East Side immigrant family (see NOVELS).

One of many quack cures for Spanish flu a century ago

Writing During COVID-19: Mining the Minutiae

In the July–August 2020 issue of Poets & Writers, which features thirteen quotes by “Authors on Creativity in Quarantine,” one describes turning to a different form of writing during the pandemic lockdown: “The last thing I want to do is write fiction. It all feels like fiction already. Instead I’ve gone back to the least artistic form: a journal. That’s what I want right now: Minutiae. The meals we ate, that I let another load of laundry mildew, that my son screamed I LOVE YOU to the neighbor boy across the street. Because when I do return to fiction, I’ll need the people at home, half panicked and half happy, doing the ordinary things: washing the dishes and putting their kids to bed” (Novelist Alyssa Knickerbocker). As a writer of historical fiction, I know that those mundane details bring a story to life. I am forever grateful to the journal keepers and letter writers whose records of their day-to-lives not only bring my stories to life, but are often the inspiration for the character traits and plot events I write about. For more of my thoughts on writing, see REFLECTIONS.

Why writers write: “Everybody walks past a thousand story ideas every day. The good writers are the ones who see five or six of them.” – Orson Scott

What I’m Reading: Sontag: Her Life and Work by Benjamin Moser

My Amazon and Goodreads review of Sontag: Her Life and Work by Benjamin Moser (Rating 5) – Deft Interweaving. Benjamin Moser’s personal and bibliographic biography of Sontag: Her Life and Work deftly interweaves these two inextricable facets of a literary and cultural icon. I was most engaged reading about Sontag’s life, but also impressed by Moser’s insights into its influence on her work. As a developmental psychologist specializing in how childhood and families shape the people we become, I appreciated Moser’s thorough research, compilation of myriad perspectives, and comprehensive interpretations, even when I occasionally questioned them. As a writer (see my Amazon author page and Goodreads author page), I found his analysis of “metaphor,” the theme Sontag continually returned to, lucid and provocative. Writers strive for the perfect metaphor to illuminate reality and bring a person, object, or event to life. The irony, as Sontag repeatedly cautions, is that metaphor can distance us from reality. It’s an insoluble dilemma, which is why it proved such a rich vein (metaphor alert) for Sontag’s life’s work.

A deft analysis of a literary and cultural icon

Why writers read: “A book must be the ax for the frozen sea within us.” – Franz Kafka

Writing During COVID-19: A Form of Protest

The July–August 2020 issue of Poets & Writers features thirteen quotes by “Authors on Creativity in Quarantine” describing how and why they can (or can’t) write during the lockdown. I like the defiance behind this thought:“I think writing is a form of protest. Over the past two decades, as an Asian American poet, I wrote more and worked harder as a form of protest. Oddly, today I feel similarly; I write now to tell off the pandemic. To prove that writing as an act can and will endure. It might not save us, but I know it will always be here for us” (Poet Victoria Chang). For more of my thoughts on writing, see REFLECTIONS.

Why writers write: “The purpose of a writer is to keep civilization from destroying itself.” – Albert Camus

Author, Revised

Ann S. Epstein, Writer with a new haircut and eyeglasses

As a writer, I pour my creativity into inventing and revising my manuscripts. I’m not one to “reinvent” or “revise” my own image. Yet, just as I challenge myself to enter unexplored territory as a writer, there comes a time when I admit I need to update myself too. Ergo, after sixteen unshorn years, I got my haircut. Needing new eyeglasses, I also opted not to use the (very) old frames, but to buy new ones. Maybe the physical alterations will lead me to try new literary genres: graphic novels, mystery, romance, sci fi …? Then again, fiction, creative nonfiction, and essays provide enough variety. At least for the next sixteen years. For more of my thoughts on writing, see REFLECTIONS.

Amid COVID-19 Learn History Through Fiction: Mask as Political Symbol

During the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, when the San Francisco Board of Supervisors imposed a mask-wearing ordinance, a group of citizens formed the Anti-Mask League, which demanded a repeal of the ordinance and the resignation of the mayor and health officials. They cited a lack of scientific evidence and violation of their constitutional rights. Upon his arrest, one League member told the judge he was “not disposed to do anything not in harmony with my feelings.” Sentenced to five days in jail, he responded “That suits me fine. I won’t have to wear a mask there.” Read more about the deadly Spanish flu pandemic a century ago in On the Shore (1917-1925), a tale of conflict between generations in a Lower East Side immigrant family (see NOVELS).