It is 1836 and the room is full of cigar smoke and pomp. We are at a party thrown by Daniel Stern, a well known author, and as well known authors do-- they invite other well-known authors to their fancy…

I was, and still very much am, obsessed with history. When I was in school — and I think this was a normal thing, right? — I wondered what it was like to “live through history.” I looked at these…

Today’s tonic is “A.” Which stands for Robert “A” Schumann. Born in Zwickau, then Saxony, now Germany to Johanna Christine and August Schumann, Robert was better than you, composing by the age of 7. He “possessed rare taste and talent…