I started to write a monthly column for the local English-language magazine, Istanbull...* because I felt the need for a venue in which to give voice to feelings and insights into the nature of everything that had been occasioned by my experience here in the city of Istanbul.  My being here at all is still something of a shock for me because, you see, I never intended to come.  I had other plans, and the way it all happened was as if another force beside myself was working out an intricate design in some fabulous carpet that was certainly not of my own making.  The column was my way of giving vent to my reactions.  From the beginning I’ve received an enormous email response from readers.  It turns out that many people actually resonate with what I write.  One of the great things about these columns is that although they are indeed deeply personal and often very philosophical they also function to convey something of what life in Turkey is like.  Since this is one of the most misunderstood countries in the world today, I consider that very important indeed.  Turkish culture is incredibly complex and so are the Turkish people, and what you read in newspapers and in magazines like Time and Newsweek doesn't come close to honoring that. Turkey is much, much more than the Blue Mosque, the Bosphorous, the covered bazaar, and all those other things you see if you come here as a tourist. Of course, the column is only a map of the territory, but it does help provide a way into the deeper realities of a country that really is a hidden treasure. 

*NOTE: Istanbull... ceased publication in September 2001.

Since writing this column was truly a labor of love, I very much missed writing it and began exploring alternatives. Kismet led me to Nurdogan Sengüler, who graciously invited me to continue the column on his wonderful website, Istanbul Life, http://www.istanbullife.org/ No. 17 April 2002 was written for them.