Essays, Articles, Other Publications
LaPlante’s essay “18,260 Breakfasts,” from Why I’m Still Married: Women Write Their Hearts Out on Love, Loss, Sex, and Who Does the Dishes (Penguin, 2006), was reprinted in The Aims of Argument, a Rhetorics textbook (McGraw-Hill, 2008, 2010). Her essay “America’s White Slaves” appeared in Washington's Rebuke to Bigotry: Reflections on Our First President’s Famous 1790 Letter to the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, Rhode Island (Facing History & Ourselves, 2015). The introduction to her biography American Jezebel was reprinted in Shaun O’Connell’s anthology Boston: Voices and Visions (UMass Press, 2010). “Just as Hawthorne dug into the dark history of his ancestry, which reached back both to the original Boston settlement of the 1630s and the Salem Witch Trials of the 1690s, so too did LaPlante trace family members who were rooted in the same eras,” O'Connell wrote. “Hawthorne took shame upon himself for the misdeeds of his Puritan ancestors, and LaPlante offers praise for her forebears who testified against Puritan repression. As her prefaces to these biographies, a kind of spiritual autobiography, show, Anne Hutchinson and Samuel Sewall were not the dark Puritans many imagined them to be. They remain living presences, even models of rectitude, into the twenty-first century.”
LaPlante’s articles have appeared in the following periodicals:
(travel and food stories)
The Atlantic Monthly
“The Riddle of TLE.” Nov. 1988 (medicine)
Beliefnet.com
“Out of Sight, Out of History.” Jul. 2, 2004 (on Anne Hutchinson)
The Boston Globe
“Traveling for the Birds: A Bird’s-eye Attention to Details in Texas.” May 29, 2016 (travel)
“Family Reunites for Italian Holiday: A Mother-Daughter Journey.” Mar. 29, 2015 (travel)
“Born to Party.” Nov. 2, 2008 (Ideas cover story on biopolitics)
“The Opposite of Thanksgiving.” Nov. 18, 2007 (Ideas cover story on Puritan thanksgivings)
“A Heretic’s Overdue Honor.” Sep. 7, 2005 (op-ed on Anne Hutchinson)
“First Steps at Speedskating.” Feb. 19, 2004
“Visiting ‘The Dead’ in Dublin.” Jan. 20, 2002 (travel)
“What’s in a Name?” Jan. 18, 1994
“St. John: Almost Private Isle.” Jan. 27, 1991 (travel)
“Exile of a Polish Revolutionary.” Apr. 7, 1984
Boston Globe Sunday Magazine
“A Wealth of Knowledge.” Oct. 12, 1986 (first major-magazine profile of economist Larry Summers, who later ran the U.S. Treasury, Harvard University, and the White House National Economic Council)
Boston Herald Sunday Magazine
“Dying Words: The Irish Language.” Feb. 10, 1985 (cover story)
Boston Magazine
“Rattle & Strum.” Nov. 2000 (music)
“Autumn Leavings: Sweet Pickings.” Oct. 2000 (travel and food)
“Pay Dirt.” Sep. 2000 (travel and food)
“Edible Complex.” Sep. 2000 (art)
“Flour Power.” Sep. 1999 (art)
“The Secret Life of Language: High School Semiotics.” Nov. 1983 (education)
Brainchild
“Divorce: The Damage (Not) Done.” Spring 2002 (essay/book review)
Christian Science Monitor
“Mother’s Day: Why we should be thanking Louisa May Alcott and Marmee.” May 6, 2013
Country Living
“Alyson’s Orchard.” Sep. 2002 (travel and food)
“Hidden Cape Ann.” Sep. 2000 (travel)
“Seeking Charlotte and Wilbur.” Sep. 1999 (travel)
Gourmet
“Good Living: Dead Set in Dublin.” Dec. 2002 (travel and food)
“Still Life With Jelly.” Jan. 2002 (art)
Hartford Courant
“The University That Misogyny Built.” Jan. 29, 2005 (op-ed on Anne Hutchinson); reprinted in Anchorage Daily News, Canton (OH) Repository, South Coast (MA) Today, and West Hawaii Today
Harvard Magazine
“Illinois Jacquet: A lot of Lovin’ in Front.” Sep./Oct. 1983 (music)
History Magazine
“A Judge of Character: The Reformation of a Salem Witch Judge.” Oct. 2011 (on Samuel Sewall)
Jewish Daily Forward
“A Jewish Art Paradise at the Vatican." May 26, 2015 (travel)
“Discovering Louisa May Alcott’s Jewish History on Portuguese Tour.” June 7, 2013 (travel)
Ladies’ Home Journal
“The Baby-sitter.” March 1998
The New York Times
“Our Lady of the Hutch.” Sep. 18, 2004 (op-ed on Anne Hutchinson)
“Keeping the Landscape Hurdle-Free: Walking in Ireland.” Jul. 8, 2001 (travel)
“Bread, Tea, and Prayer.” Apr. 7, 1996 (travel)
Parents
“The Perfect Family Size.” Jul. 1998
Working Woman
“Five Career Ruts You Can’t Afford.” Nov. 1987
Yankee
“C.B. Fisk’s Monumental Creations.” Dec. 1985 (music)
Each of LaPlante’s biographies includes a travelogue: “Exploring the America of Abigail & Louisa May Alcott” (Marmee & Louisa, 2012); “Exploring Samuel Sewall’s America and England” (Salem Witch Judge, 2007); and “Exploring Anne Hutchinson’s England and America” (American Jezebel, 2004)
LaPlante’s articles have appeared in the following periodicals:
(travel and food stories)
The Atlantic Monthly
“The Riddle of TLE.” Nov. 1988 (medicine)
Beliefnet.com
“Out of Sight, Out of History.” Jul. 2, 2004 (on Anne Hutchinson)
The Boston Globe
“Traveling for the Birds: A Bird’s-eye Attention to Details in Texas.” May 29, 2016 (travel)
“Family Reunites for Italian Holiday: A Mother-Daughter Journey.” Mar. 29, 2015 (travel)
“Born to Party.” Nov. 2, 2008 (Ideas cover story on biopolitics)
“The Opposite of Thanksgiving.” Nov. 18, 2007 (Ideas cover story on Puritan thanksgivings)
“A Heretic’s Overdue Honor.” Sep. 7, 2005 (op-ed on Anne Hutchinson)
“First Steps at Speedskating.” Feb. 19, 2004
“Visiting ‘The Dead’ in Dublin.” Jan. 20, 2002 (travel)
“What’s in a Name?” Jan. 18, 1994
“St. John: Almost Private Isle.” Jan. 27, 1991 (travel)
“Exile of a Polish Revolutionary.” Apr. 7, 1984
Boston Globe Sunday Magazine
“A Wealth of Knowledge.” Oct. 12, 1986 (first major-magazine profile of economist Larry Summers, who later ran the U.S. Treasury, Harvard University, and the White House National Economic Council)
Boston Herald Sunday Magazine
“Dying Words: The Irish Language.” Feb. 10, 1985 (cover story)
Boston Magazine
“Rattle & Strum.” Nov. 2000 (music)
“Autumn Leavings: Sweet Pickings.” Oct. 2000 (travel and food)
“Pay Dirt.” Sep. 2000 (travel and food)
“Edible Complex.” Sep. 2000 (art)
“Flour Power.” Sep. 1999 (art)
“The Secret Life of Language: High School Semiotics.” Nov. 1983 (education)
Brainchild
“Divorce: The Damage (Not) Done.” Spring 2002 (essay/book review)
Christian Science Monitor
“Mother’s Day: Why we should be thanking Louisa May Alcott and Marmee.” May 6, 2013
Country Living
“Alyson’s Orchard.” Sep. 2002 (travel and food)
“Hidden Cape Ann.” Sep. 2000 (travel)
“Seeking Charlotte and Wilbur.” Sep. 1999 (travel)
Gourmet
“Good Living: Dead Set in Dublin.” Dec. 2002 (travel and food)
“Still Life With Jelly.” Jan. 2002 (art)
Hartford Courant
“The University That Misogyny Built.” Jan. 29, 2005 (op-ed on Anne Hutchinson); reprinted in Anchorage Daily News, Canton (OH) Repository, South Coast (MA) Today, and West Hawaii Today
Harvard Magazine
“Illinois Jacquet: A lot of Lovin’ in Front.” Sep./Oct. 1983 (music)
History Magazine
“A Judge of Character: The Reformation of a Salem Witch Judge.” Oct. 2011 (on Samuel Sewall)
Jewish Daily Forward
“A Jewish Art Paradise at the Vatican." May 26, 2015 (travel)
“Discovering Louisa May Alcott’s Jewish History on Portuguese Tour.” June 7, 2013 (travel)
Ladies’ Home Journal
“The Baby-sitter.” March 1998
The New York Times
“Our Lady of the Hutch.” Sep. 18, 2004 (op-ed on Anne Hutchinson)
“Keeping the Landscape Hurdle-Free: Walking in Ireland.” Jul. 8, 2001 (travel)
“Bread, Tea, and Prayer.” Apr. 7, 1996 (travel)
Parents
“The Perfect Family Size.” Jul. 1998
Working Woman
“Five Career Ruts You Can’t Afford.” Nov. 1987
Yankee
“C.B. Fisk’s Monumental Creations.” Dec. 1985 (music)
Each of LaPlante’s biographies includes a travelogue: “Exploring the America of Abigail & Louisa May Alcott” (Marmee & Louisa, 2012); “Exploring Samuel Sewall’s America and England” (Salem Witch Judge, 2007); and “Exploring Anne Hutchinson’s England and America” (American Jezebel, 2004)