Five Minutes explores five minutes of a life in one hundred words. Five minutes is edited by Susanna Baird, with editorial support from managing editor Maria s. picone, newsletter editor kate meen, and founding reader bobbi lerman, plus our rotating team of guest readers, who you can meet in the latest newsletteR. Five Minutes was founded in October 2020, with the Salem (Mass.)-based writing group Carrot Cake Writers supplying the journal’s first pieces. We’d love to read your five. Submit here

Joseph Heller

When his novel “Catch-22” was all the rage, Joseph Heller visited my college. I was obsessed, too awed to speak up. I followed behind the clinging crowd as he walked to his car, sure he’d never know I was his most devoted fan. His car was so far the walkers gradually thinned. I caught up, and we were alone when we reached his car. We exchanged comments, then I told him I had a crush on him and he reminded me of my father. “It sounds like the beginning of a very healthy relationship,” he said, smiling, then drove away.

Nancy Bulger is a writer, teacher, and entrepreneur in Salem, Massachusetts.

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