Your first click on www.persimmontree.org takes you to our “portal” page, which—since we’re a magazine providing you with lots of fascinating fiction, nonfiction, poetry, commentary, music, and art—is a Table of Contents (we refer to it fondly, in the alphabet -speak so beloved by bureaucrats, as the TOC). As you probably know, a click on any highlighted item in the TOC will take you to that item.
Did you also know that to find the work of one of the illustrators in the issue, you can scroll to the end of the TOC for a clickable list of these talented visual artists? And, you can access our regular “back-of-the-book” service pages (such as About Us, the page introducing you to the women who produce and edit Persimmon Tree, and Submissions, where you can discover everything you need to know in order to submit your own work) using the links that are on the menu bar at the top of the TOC page (and at the top of every page in the magazine)?
Nor are those the only ways to navigate through the website. Just for fun, click from the TOC to, say, one of the nonfiction pieces. Once there, you will want to stop to admire the art and read the article, scroll down to the foot of the page to check out the bios of the writer and illustrator, and then perhaps scroll down a bit further to leave a Comment about the work, and read Comments other readers have posted. After doing all that, scroll up just a little bit. Above the Comments and below the bios, you’ll see, on almost every page, a set of (mostly) orange words. It should look something like this:
These links are shortcuts allowing you to navigate to other pages in the magazine. Click on “Home” and you’ll be back at the TOC; click on “Archive” and you’ll be in a magical space where all the prior issues of the magazine continue to co-exist; click on the title in the second line and you’ll be at the next page of the current issue.
The fourth link, which in the current issue says, Issue: Winter 2026, will also take you back to the TOC. But, if you are reading something in one of our earlier issues, this link will take to the TOC for that issue.
(I’ll save a tour of the Archive for another time. This valuable asset is currently undergoing an update, so more to come when it is closer to completion.)
On the righthand side of most of the pages in the Persimmon Tree website (including this one), you’ll see a column of tiny icons, starting with . Those icons enable you, with just a click or two, to share Persimmon Tree with your family, friends, neighbors, colleagues, acquaintances, and anyone else who ought to be reading Persimmon Tree—which, as you might imagine, we believe is Everyone.
Click on one of these icons: Facebook, perhaps. Or are your friends mostly on Instagram, BlueSky, X, or Reddit? Try those, too. One of the best things about the icons is that the page you are on when you click on the link is the very one that will post on Facebook or BlueSky, or as the message for you to send on the social apps. You really loved that story you just finished reading? Post it to Facebook! What! You wrote or illustrated one yourself? Post that page right away to every social media app in the column! (And, by the way, congratulations!)
Our request: Use these icons. Often. Let everyone know about this great magazine and all the strong, wise, talented women over 60 whose work is in it.
One of the many perks of being a subscriber to Persimmon Tree (which you can become, if you aren’t already, by clicking here) is you’ll get a newsy email from us every week—especially if you add Persimmon Tree to your contacts so that our mailings don’t wind up in your Junk or “promotions” folder. Please do add us to your contacts.
Of course, that’s easier said than done. The other day, when I realized I’d missed an email I’d wanted, only to discover it in “spam,” I also realized I didn’t actually know how to add the sender’s name to my contact list, at least not in a way that would ensure the next email from that sender would go to my inbox. So, I looked it up, and here is how it’s done:
- Open the email from Persimmon Tree.
- Hover your mouse over the Persimmon Tree name/email address in the “from” line at the top of the message.
- A small card appears; click the “Add to contacts” button (often a person icon with a plus sign).
- Verify details and save.
- Open the email from Persimmon Tree.
- Right-click Persimmon Tree’s name or email address in the “from” line at the top of the message.
- Select “Add to Outlook Contacts” or similar.
- Fill in any extra info and click “Save & Close”.
- Open the email from Persimmon Tree.
- Right-click the sender’s email address in the “from” line at the top of the message.
- Choose “Add to Contacts” or “Add Sender to Contacts” from the menu.
That is enough about websites and email and the internet for now. If you have any questions, or want to comment, on anything I’ve discussed here, you may leave your Comment below or email me at publisher@persimmontree.org
And, remember, you aren’t old till you’ve stopped reading.
Season Lightly With Salt, Poems and Recipes from the Test Kitchens of the San Francisco Wild Writing Women is a joyful and sometimes bittersweet collection of poems and recipes that pays tribute to family, friends and community. Written by the San Francisco Wild Writing Women, poets Angie Minkin, Elise Kazanjian, Heather Saunders Estes, Kathryn Santana Goldman, and anthology editor Robin Michel, this delectable book serves up poems centered around food and family and includes recipes from each poet’s own kitchen.
Preparing and sharing meals with one another nurtures and sustains, comforts and consoles, and heightens our pleasures. We are a nation of immigrants who have brought to America dishes from all over the world. It is more important than ever that we sit at one another’s table and break bread together.
Every palate will find something to satisfy their tastes in these poems and recipes from the various cultures blending in America’s stewpot. You will even learn how to read fortunes in a cup of Armenian Coffee. Available from Raven & Wren Press and select bookstores.
Jean Zorn is publisher of Persimmon Tree and secretary/treasurer of the Board of Directors of Persimmon Tree Inc. She is a lawyer, and retired in March 2018 from the City University of New York School of Law, where she had worked for more than 30 years, primarily as a Professor of Law, and, most recently, as Senior Associate Dean for Administration and Finance. She also taught at the Florida International University College of Law, the Law Faculty of the University of Papua New Guinea, and the University of the South Pacific School of Law in Port Vila, Vanuatu.
Sally Buffington is a writer and photographer. From her home base in southern California, she occasionally migrates back to native ground in Cape Cod, MA. Always aware of sensory experience and memory, Buffington takes you into her thoughts wherever she finds herself. Follow her blog at