David Macfarlane

Writer. @doubledayca. “Likeness” coming Spring 2021. Non-fiction. Co-writer and performer The Door You Came In @DoorYouCameIn

[David Macfarlane @DBMacfarlane]

Split City. Thanks old twitter pals, but this place is just too awful. Ciao.

[Massimo @Rainmaker1973]

#OTD in 1996, Carl Sagan died: 27 years without Carl

«When my husband died, because he was so famous and known for not being a believer, many people would come up to me ― it still sometimes happens ― and ask me if Carl changed at the end and converted to a belief in an afterlife.

They also frequently ask me if I think I will see him again. Carl faced his death with unflagging courage and never sought refuge in illusions. The tragedy was that we knew we would never see each other again. I don't ever expect to be reunited with Carl.

But, the great thing is that when we were together, for nearly twenty years, we lived with a vivid appreciation of how brief and precious life is. We never trivialized the meaning of death by pretending it was anything other than a final parting.

Every single moment that we were alive and we were together was miraculous-not miraculous in the sense of inexplicable or supernatural. We knew we were beneficiaries of chance.

That pure chance could be so generous and so kind. That we could find each other, as Carl wrote so beautifully in Cosmos, you know, in the vastness of space and the immensity of time. That we could be together for twenty years. That is something which sustains me and it’s much more meaningful.

The way he treated me and the way I treated him, the way we took care of each other and our family, while he lived. That is so much more important than the idea I will see him someday. I don't think I'll ever see Carl again. But I saw him. We saw each other. We found each other in the cosmos, and that was wonderful».

― Ann Druyan

[David Macfarlane @DBMacfarlane]

@StephenKing Yet another reason to like Stephen King

[Literary Review of Canada @reviewcanada]

“I have expanded the protocol of guest preparation to include putting examples of dreadful design away — as away as possible without involving flames.”

From the December issue: An essay by @DBMacfarlane on putting things away, especially bad design.
https://t.co/BIP8yiJXPF

[Simon Deane-Johns @sdjohns]

Brilliant 😂

[Michael Spicer @MrMichaelSpicer]

if art critics talked like football pundits

[Irish Literary Times @IrishLitTimes]

begin your weekend here

[David Macfarlane @DBMacfarlane]

Ever the optimist

[David Macfarlane @DBMacfarlane]

That Beatles video is really something

[Zara Gladman @zanyzaz]

POV: your flatmate is a Scottish news reporter

[Ian Brown @BrownoftheGlobe]

Just when there has never been a greater need for deep reporting, stylish writing and original journalism, the Banff Centre cancels its renowned Literary Journalism program. A serious loss and an idiotic decision. To say nothing of the loss of @charlotte_gill

[the henrys @don_rooke]

New record coming Oct 19 on Bandcamp, ‘Bloom.’ Kevin Breit and Don Rooke with David Piltch. dig only

[David Macfarlane @DBMacfarlane]

Who knew trucks backed up so much?

[David Macfarlane @DBMacfarlane]

Traffic horrible. TTC hopeless. But by foot or by crook get yourself across Toronto to The Master Plan at Crow’s Theatre. Bravi to the whole company and Bravo @healeytypes
#TheMasterPlan

[David Macfarlane @DBMacfarlane]

@michaelwinter34 Hate to say it, but the best blueberry pie I’ve ever had is a Martha Stewart recipe

[David Macfarlane @DBMacfarlane]

The trees are very Blow Up right now

[Nick Hune-Brown @nickhunebrown]

Anyhow, please read for big questions about Power and Democracy or for a small scene in which Mark Saunders awkwardly attends Bangladesh Festival 2023, thank you. https://t.co/lQP1jE1VKe

[The American Scholar @TheAmScho]

Robert Gottlieb, publishing giant and longtime editor of biographer Robert Caro, died yesterday. In our Summer issue, Eric Wills writes about a film by Gottlieb’s daughter that portrays Gottlieb, Caro, and the grand old art of editing.

https://t.co/TW4waw9Qw6

[David Macfarlane @DBMacfarlane]

Breaking.
I don’t think that word (Breaking) means what you think it means

[David Macfarlane @DBMacfarlane]

One of those great Canadian spring evenings when your beer gets colder as you barbecue