Janine, Author at Janine Latus

Zushi

Kevin Chang’s yanagi slide-slices through the fish’s flesh, its blade gliding through geological layers of fat and muscle so alive they’re still swimming. The knife shepherds the sashimi to the side; then Chang lifts it with metal chopsticks to array it on the tray. If he touches it with his hands the warmth from his…

The Method In His Madness

Thirty-five people work at the Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida. They spend all day surrounded by all things Dali. In the bathroom — Dali. In their offices — Dali. In the hallways — Dali. Walking up the stairs, they come face to face with Dali himself, in a Philippe Halsman photo, looking like…

Brave Hearts

More than a decade ago, my youngest sister, Amy, went through a divorce. It was a painful thing — the first in the family — and she was scared. “How will I live on what I earn?” she asked. “How will I manage everything that has to be done?” To me it was obvious. She…

Self Esteem: The Repair Kit

Janine Latus spent years looking for validation in all the wrong places–until the day she discovered it was hers to give all along. In high school I was voted ‘biggest flirt.’ (Look at me! Value me!) I justified it by saying I was being fun. When I got older that clamoring morphed into something more…

The Friendship Game

The first year after I first moved to my block on the south edge of Columbia, Missouri, I only knew my neighbors well enough for a one-finger-off-the-steering-wheel wave as our minivans passed. Maybe we’d nod in the grocery store, or make some kind of acknowledgment across the room in a restaurant. I remember once ducking…