It is a vanity project and a writing closet, a treasure chest for news, views and reviews.

More prosaically, it provides a store house for my writing. Some of it is quirky – poems, sayings and asides. There are movie and book reviews, profiles and other articles from my past and present sojourn as a journalist. Plus my new book — The Dream Machine: A Novel of Future Past!

Lester Jacobson in black without glasses
The Dream Machine
Novel

The Dream Machine: A Novel of Future Past

A thrilling, highly imaginative and tautly written journey back in time to find “the tool to unrule” a post-American fascism.

“Brilliant,” says National Book Award winner and MacArthur Genius Fellow Charles Johnson of “The Dream Machine: A Novel of Future Past.”

“A great tale, brilliantly told,” says violist and international recording artist Roger Chase. “There are surprises on every page, and the end, which comes only too soon, is a coda of marvelous drama, invention and imagination.”

Deep impact

It’s one of the central conundrums of our existence that those who tread lightest usually leave the least impression, while those who stomp through life

Continue Reading »

3/17/14 Dream

The night before I am to receive an important and potentially serious medical diagnosis, I dream of being in the front of a crowded train

Continue Reading »

Richard Young and the Art of the Deal

“Don’t play the notes. Play the meaning of the notes.” – Pablo Casals

When Richard Young was invited to join the Vermeer Quartet in 1985, he felt he had reached the pinnacle of the chamber music world. Just 39, he had played professionally for 13 years, first with the New Hungarian Quartet and then the Rogeri Trio. But the Vermeer was in a different, more elevated class, one of the top performing ensembles in the world. Based in Chicago since its founding by Israeli violinist Shmuel Ashkenasi in 1969, the Vermeer had recorded and performed throughout North and South America, Europe, Australia and the Far East. Their records and performances routinely drew rave reviews. “The superlative playing of the Vermeer Quartet has to be heard to be believed,” said the San Francisco Chronicle. “Their performance was magnificent; majestic in style, technically without flaw, and utterly persuasive,” wrote Melbourne’s The Age. “The Vermeer Quartet’s interpretations seem so nearly ideal that one can more easily appreciate music as universal harmony,” said the Polish music magazine Ruch Muzwczny. . . .

Continue Reading »