Life Happens

April 3, 2006
Pulitzer Prize-winning Cleveland Plain Dealer columnist Schultz has been compared to Anna Quindlen and Molly Ivins, but as this collection of dozens of her columns shows, she's not a pale imitator; her focus is local (her family, her marriage, her state), but her observations resound across the country. Organized topically, the book's sections include "Love in the Middle Ages," about her marriage to Ohio congressman Sherrod Brown; "Family Values," with tales about her loving but complex family and background; and "Keeping the Faith," a selection of liberal religious columns best summed up by one of the columns' headlines: "It's Not Christian to Champion Hate." The most powerful work is culled from Schultz's columns on the war in Iraq and its effects as felt in Ohio. Attending a mass for a fallen Marine, Schultz writes, "We stand near the lifeless remains of our beloved, so grief-stricken we can barely breathe when, suddenly, we look up and behold the face of someone we can't quite believe took the time to find us in our darkest hour." Schultz's humor and eloquence, along with her anger with-and affection for-contemporary America, make this collection an intelligent and affecting read.

May 15, 2006
In a first collection, containing pieces that originally appeared in her syndicated, twice-weekly column, Schultz, a Pulitzer Prize -winning columnist for Cleveland's "Plain Dealer" and the wife of Ohio congressman Sherrod Brown, tackles issues (both personal and political) that many of us confront every day. The columns are arranged thematically, with new introductions. Schultz touches on topics she knows from her own life, such as raising children or her divorce and remarriage, as well as timely political issues, such as the debate over gay marriage and the locally felt impact of the Iraq War. The author invariably incorporates her opinions into her writing, and those who disagree with her seemingly Democratic political standpoint might be put off. Yet the stories are written in such a down-to-earth manner, as if Schultz were speaking directly to the reader, that one feels one knows her and her family and friends. Recommended for larger public libraries." -Leigh Mihlrad, Albert Einstein Coll. of Medicine of Yeshiva Univ., Bronx, NY"

Copyright 2006 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2006
Following an editor's advice, Schultz, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for the " Plain Dealer" in Cleveland, began to inject her own life in her commentaries on the elements of everyday life. In this collection, she offers a broad spectrum of commentary on marriage, divorce, single parenthood, a parent's death, career, and remarriage. She tackles middle-aged romance, recalling her courtship and eventual marriage to Ohio congressman Sherrod Brown; religious beliefs; Ohio's blue-collar economy; family values; and a host of "head-shaking" moments in life passed on by her avid readers. She reflects on a policeman whose son died after inhaling a spray cleaner, a quiet lesson in taking things for granted following the report of the terrorist attack on a Russian school, throwing the first pitch in a major league baseball game and sparking envy in every man she knows, and Ohio legislators reconsidering a law banning breast-feeding in public. These are short but deeply engaging glimpses of everyday life offered by a keen observer.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)