Happy new year!

Some highlights from last year and a look at what's coming next.

Welcome to my new subscribers! I’m glad you’re here. This email comes out once a month. Otherwise, find me on Twitter (still), Instagram, or (if you must) Facebook.

What I’m working on

This newsletter has covered a lot of Anne Frank-related material over the past year! A few highlights:

• “Anne Frank in Amsterdam,” in which I investigated the truism that biographers must visit the places important to their subjects—and what we might (and might not) find there

• “Meyer Levin’s obsession with Anne Frank,” about the novelist and documentary filmmaker who become so convinced that his interpretation of the diary was the only correct one that he eventually sued Otto Frank over it

• “The Betrayal of Anne Frank,” in which I looked at the controversy over Rosemary Sullivan’s book about the new investigation into the identity of the anonymous person who may have tipped off the police to the location of the Annex (spoiler alert: all the evidence is circumstantial)

• “The Diaries of Anne Frank,” explaining how Anne rewrote her diary from scratch after hearing a Dutch culture minister call for citizens to preserve their letters and diaries from the war years

My most popular post was the most recent one, a remembrance of Hannah Pick-Goslar, one of Anne’s earliest and closest friends, who died in October at age 93—the same age Anne would be now, if she were still alive. Pick-Goslar was one of the last people to see Anne alive, but I decided not to interview her, as I explained here:

I couldn’t imagine asking her the kinds of questions a biographer normally does, seeking information to realistically describe a scene or achieve insight into someone’s state of mind. When Anne screamed to you over the fence, what exactly did she say? Tell me what she looked like, with as much detail as possible. Can you sketch a map of the camp and show me where you were standing? Even for a biographer, there are limits. I wish I could know the answers to those questions. But I think it was right not to ask them.

Some topics I plan to address in upcoming newsletters:

• A Small Light, a new TV series slated for the spring focusing on the story of Miep Gies, one of the “helpers” who sustained the residents of the Annex, and starring Liev Schreiber as Otto Frank

• the Christian take on Anne Frank, including this book by an evangelical candidate for U.S. House representative—from Texas, naturally—imagining Anne’s conversion to Christianity in the camps (he lost, which may or not prove the existence of a Jewish God)

• the idea that regularly surfaces regarding Anne and “white privilege,” of which this tweet isn’t even the worst example

On the bright side, this tweet was actually voted “Worst Tweet of 2022.”

I’d also really like to feature some of your questions! I’ve gotten a few already and am hoping for more. If you’re a teacher, I’m happy also to answer your students’ questions about Anne Frank.

What I’m reading

Lately I’ve been listening to the “Best of Both Worlds” podcast, in which Laura Vanderkam, a productivity expert, and Sarah Hart-Unger, a doctor and blogger, discuss techniques for managing both a robust career and life with kids. (As a paper-planner devotee, I also enjoy Sarah’s solo podcast, “Best-Laid Plans.”) On a recent episode, Laura discussed her practice of undertaking a year-long reading project: she’s done War and Peace, one chapter a day, and all of Shakespeare’s plays, and this year she plans to read all of Jane Austen. Inspired, I cast an eye over my bookshelves and came up with the perfect project for me: Robert Caro’s The Years of Lyndon Johnson, four volumes of which are now available. At around 3000 pages, at an average of 8 pages a day, I’ll finish by the end of the year. Maybe volume 5 will be out by then!

I already have the first three volumes. Yes, I’m embarrassed that I haven’t read them.

I’ll be tweeting about this project using the hashtag #caroin2023. Please join me!

Ruth Franklin @ruth_franklin

Who is with me for #caroin2023? If you start today and read 7-8 pp a day, you can finish The Years of LBJ by the end of the year. Below: my favorite tidbit from today’s reading. Remind you of anyone?

Some housekeeping

This newsletter in its current form will remain free. However, starting at some point in 2023, the archives will become accessible to paid subscribers only. Other extras for paid subscribers will include the occasional bonus posts as well as (at higher subscription levels) opportunities for project consultation with me. Please let me know if there are other “perks” you would be interested in.

My primary goal remains to increase the reach of my work. To that end, I would be exceedingly grateful if you’d forward this newsletter to someone who might be interested in my writing—maybe a teacher who uses Anne Frank in class, or that friend from your childhood who was obsessed with the diary. Please help me get the word out!

As the new year opens, please know how much I appreciate you—my readers. Some of you have been with me since the early Shirley Jackson days; others are new here. I’m grateful for your attention, your camaraderie, and your support; and I wish you health, happiness, and productivity in 2023.

As ever,

Ruth

“No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are considered, by some, to dream.”—Shirley Jackson, The Haunting of Hill House