Forever Learning


I love the air shaft views in my bedroom. They just say “New York” to me. I imagine the view might get depressing on the lower floors, but on the top floor I have the combination of dark and sky.  The best of both worlds.

So, I’m writing a proposal for my next book, about making up for the science education I lack. What stops me every time I start to work on this proposal is the realization that I will actually have to learn science.

I’m still scared I can’t.  I’m trying to tell myself it will be an absorbing way to spend the next few years, and when I’m done I will have a better understanding of so many things.


I will be better off than I was before.

AND, they say that learning staves off dementia and Alzheimers.  HEY.  Maybe I should pick a new career and write about learning how to do whatever it is I chose.

I started a Things I Want to Do list the other day, which included things I might write about:

– embed with military in Afghanistan and write about it.
– write about science.
– live in a different city for a while.
– See:  Alaska, India, Scotland, and take a tour of obscure, barely inhabited islands.
– Places I’d like to work: the Medical Examiners Office, New York Public Library, Municipal Archives, National Archives.

Oh, I just remembered another idea I was toying with, when I realized I didn’t want to do anything that meant leaving the cats behind, something to do with exploring New York, but it’s not very full formed yet, so I want to wait before posting about it.

Stacy Horn

I've written six non-fiction books, the most recent is Damnation Island: Poor, Sick, Mad, and Criminal in 19th-Century New York.

View all posts by Stacy Horn →

One thought on “Forever Learning

  1. I am way late responding to this, and you probably have already made up your mind about the science writing, but, remember, Alan Alda, after MASH went off the air, spent 11 years hosting Scientific American Frontiers. He, too, knew nothing about science, but he went into it as such, and ended up being the surrogate for the audience. If they could make him understand what they were talking about, then the audience could understand.

    Maybe you should try to do the book in that kind of mind frame.

    Of course, this Is 6 months after you posted this, so I may just be whistling into the wind, but I thought it was worth a shot.

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