Author Archives: Suzanne Loebl

Dr. Sigmund Freud, Uncle Alex and the Centenary of World War I

Posted on September 18, 2014 by Suzanne Loebl

A hundred years ago, when World War I was in its infancy, Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria called up my great-uncle-in-law Alexander Loebl, Esq. and asked him to serve in his army. Uncle Alex had just graduated from law school, and though … Continue reading →

Posted in family stories | Tagged anxiety, austria, austrian jews, family, family stories, family story, freud, jewish history, nazi germany, sigmund freud, talk therapy, vienna, war, world war i, world war ii | 2 Comments

Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford Revisited: Colt Revolvers, a Cradle and the Connecticut’s Charter Oak

Posted on August 28, 2014 by Suzanne Loebl

A family wedding was the excuse for visiting Hartford’s Wadsworth Atheneum, one of America’s finest and oldest museums, predating New York’s Metropolitan and Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts by thirty-three years. The Atheneum still uses its original building, built in … Continue reading →

Posted in Art review | Tagged a everett chick austin, american art, american art museums, art, art museums, baroque art, charles de wolf brownell, charter oak, chick austin, colt revolvers, connecticut art, connecticut charter oak, connecticut history, elizabeth jarvis colt, george balanchine, hartford, joseph wadsworth, modern art, samuel colt, samuel h walker, surrealist art, wadsworth atheneum | 1 Comment

Mrs. Rockefeller’s Garden on Mount Desert Island

Posted on August 15, 2014 by Suzanne Loebl

One of my favorite places in the world is the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Garden in Seal Harbor, Maine. It is open ten or so days a year to a limited number of visitors and I usually manage to be among … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged abby aldrich rockefeller, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Garden, Beatrix Farrand, eyrie, gardening, gardens, landscapes, landscaping, maine, mdi, mount desert island, rockefeller family, rockefeller foundation, rockefellers, Seal Harbor | 3 Comments

World War I: August 3, 1914: Germany Invades Belgium

Posted on August 1, 2014 by Suzanne Loebl

World War II defined my life, but it was actually a continuation of World War I, whose 100th birthday we “celebrate” this year. The hostilities took a while to get underway. They began with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand … Continue reading →

Posted in family stories, history | Tagged Archduke Franz Ferdinand, battle of yser, belgium, france, german jews, germany, hidden children, history, holocaust, jewish history, nazi germany, Suzanne Daley, world war i, world war i history, world war ii, world war ii history, Yser | 1 Comment

The Hobby Lobby Ruling Shames America

Posted on July 15, 2014 by Suzanne Loebl

A hundred years ago Margaret Sanger distributed five thousand flyers in Brooklyn’s Brownsville neighborhood that read: Mothers! Can you afford to have a large family? Do you want any more children? If not, why do you have them? DO NOT … Continue reading →

Posted in politics | Tagged abortion, anthony comstock, birth control, brooklyn, brooklyn history, contraception, feminism, gregory goodwin pincus, hobby lobby, hobby lobby ruling, margaret sanger, new york city, new york city history, nyc history, reproductive justice, reproductive rights, reproductive rights movement, society for the suppression of vice, supreme court, teen pregnancy, unplanned pregnancies, women's health, women's rights | 1 Comment

The Pleasures and Pitfalls of Being Polyglot

Posted on June 26, 2014 by Suzanne Loebl

In April 2014 my husband and I decided to vacation in France. We spent a few days in Paris, visited with some friends in Normandy and then boated up the Rhône and Saone in the Buri, owned by Viking River … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged belgium, columbia university, family stories, first language, german jews, hidden children, holocaust, immigrants, immigration, immigration stories, jewish history, judaism, languages, multilingual, multilingualism, nazi germany, new york city, polyglot, second language, third language, viking river cruises, world war ii, writing | 3 Comments

The Gay World as Navigated by a Straight Mom (www.gaykids-straightmom.com)

Posted on June 19, 2014 by Suzanne Loebl

I am launching a new blog entitled The Gay World as Navigated by a Straight Mom. Following the tradition of my Branching blog, I intend to publish a new piece every week or two. I hope that some of my regular … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged blogging, blogs, coming out, coming out process, david, family, gay, gay children, gay community, lgbt, lgbt allies, lgbt community, lgbt family, lgbtq, news, parents of gay children, parents of lgbt, parents of lgbt children, pflag, straight allies, straight ally, writing | Leave a comment

D-Day, June 6, 1944: Seventy Years Later

Posted on June 5, 2014 by Suzanne Loebl

Listening to the BBC radio was strictly illegal in Nazi-occupied Belgium. Still, within hours everyone in Brussels knew that the Allied Forces had finally debarked in Normandy on June 6th. We had been waiting for that day for more than four … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged allies, d-day, german jews, hidden children, history, holocaust, june 6, normandy, world war ii, world war ii history | 9 Comments

Winnie-the-Pooh Bear at the NYPL: Print books versus the Internet

Posted on May 29, 2014 by Suzanne Loebl

The current exhibit at the New York Public Library is entitled The ABC of It: Why Children’s Books Matter (through September 7, 2014). The show explores 300 years of best-loved children’s books. My favorite display is of the original Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged aa milne, children's books, dolly parton, harold grinspoon foundation, imagination library, israel, maktabat al-fanoos, middle east, middle east conflict, new york public library, ny public library, nypl, pj library, sifriyat pijama, winnie the pooh | 1 Comment

The British Pre-Raphaelites (Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Edward Burne-Jones, William Morris, others) in a Micro-Exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Posted on May 22, 2014 by Suzanne Loebl

Small art shows are good for the soul. The current Pre-Raphaelite exhibition familiarizes the public with the Met’s small collection of the the neglected movement that galvanized Britain during the second half of the twentieth century. The members of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Art review | Tagged art, art exhibits, art museums, british art, burne-jones, dante gabriel rossetti, delaware art museum, edward burne-jones, european art, ford madox brown, gustave courbet, lady lilith, metropolitan museum of art, nyc art exhibits, prb, pre-raphaelite art, pre-raphaelite brotherhood, pre-raphaelites, rossetti, samuel bancroft, the love song, william morris | Leave a comment