Richard Goodman is the author of the books French Dirt: The Story of a Garden in the South of France; A New York Memoir; The Soul of Creative Writing; and The Bicycle Diaries: One New Yorker’s Journey Through 9/11. He has written for The New York Times, Creative Nonfiction, Harvard Review, River Teeth, French Review, and Michigan Quarterly Review. He is an assistant professor of English at the University of New Orleans. Photo by John Hazlett