One Hundred Names for Love
After suffering a stroke Diane Ackerman’s husband, the writer Paul West, was afflicted with a loss of language, a condition known as aphasia. After unsuccessful attempts to regain his words using traditional speech therapy, Diane created her own program of word games to help Paul. She challenged him to come up with new pet names for her to replace all those names that had been lost after the stroke. As cataloged in Diane’s new book, One Hundred Names for Love, here are the results:
Share your favorite name for Love on Twitter (#100NamesforLove).
Celandine Hunter • Swallow Haven • Spy Elf of the Morning Hallelujahs • Bow-Ribbon of the August Sky • My Little Spice Owl • The Epistle of Paul to the Rumanian Songthrushers • Summer Veil of Highest Honor • Dream Hobbit • Apostle of Radiant Postage Stamps • Ivory-billed Woodpecker of the First Rainwater • My Snowy Tanganyika • Little Moonskipper of the Tumbleweed Factory • Blithe Sickness of Araby • Divine Hunter of the Cobalt Blue Arena • Pong of the Pavilion Where Sweet Peas Go to Spoon • Parapluie of the Snowy Ecstacy • Golden Little Dreamer • Pavlova of the Morning Dew Line • Avatar of Bright April • My Little Bucket of Hair • Fierce Angel of the Marmalade Valley • Rheostat of Sentimental Dreaming • Southern Carmine Bee-Eater • Belle Dame of the Morning Pavilion • Romantic Little Dew-Sipper • Commendatore de la Pavane Mistletoe • Sugarplum of the August Faery • Edelweiss of the Blizzard Pink • Highest Massage of the Succulent Endearing Poach • Swan Boat of the Imperial Sun • Baby Angel with the Human Antecede Within • Fleet-footed Empress of Sleep • Buoyant Hunter of the Esteemed and Cosmological Tsunami • Hummingbird of the Tricycle Montevideo • Goddess of Abstract Conversation • Terpsichore Deladier • Delicious Pie of the Alternate Sheepfold • My Little Celestial Porcupine • Diligent Weather Sprite • Diligent Apostle of Classic Stanzas • Mistress of Wonderment • Sylvan Grove of the Endless Flare • Stanza Trance • Patient Priestess of Ever-afters • Lovely Ampersand of the Morning • My Billiard Table of the Decaying Gods • Anti-Gravity Drive of the Century • Autobiography of an Almond • Opalescent Rejoicing of an Eel • Salute to the Kitchen of Creation • My Hooray for the Atheist’s Asylum • Super-driver of History Beyond Herodotus • Buoyant Eft • Carmine Postulant of the Pleasant Voice • She for Whom All Flowers Bloom Early • Goddess of Godspell, Saint of African Violets • O Rose of Sharon, I’m All Rosy • Book-Lover of Life’s Infinite Volume • Satrap of the Endless Sky • Chasuble of the Evening-painted Cloak • Plethoric with Broken Limbs • Condor of the Light-footed Ridge • Soft Little Hummingbird Who Waits for Me • My Lawn Raider, Everlastingly Pure • Little Scarab of Delight • Lithe Swan, Why Do You Linger So Long? • Valley of the Uprooted Silver-tongued Nightingale • My Showy Sedum, My Sycamore Tree • O Singing Squirrel of the Antipodes • Elk of Bright Morning • Tumultuous Wren, Say When, When, When! • Dark-eyed Junco, My Little Bunko • Black-capped Chickadee Who Puts on Robes for Me • Skylark of the Perfect Trance • O Little Titmouse, Here in My House • Jocund Sprite of the Dew • Historic Shaman Sent to Propitiate • Moon Swivel • Flotation Ninja • My Poetic Little Starfish • Umbrella of Light • Celestial Elf • Delicate Frisson Enclosed in a Warm Bunnycuddle • Uxorious Bountiful • Inertia Canceled • Sweet Opalescent Centrifuge • My Remains of the Day, My Residue of Night • Star Equerry • Blessed Little Smile • Queen of Purple Emotions, Starlike in Their Crescendo • Telephone Fensterhorn • Betelgeuse of Bright Inquiry • My Hopi Planet • Foundling of the Here and Beyond • Pleiades of Starship Mine • Bobby-dazzler of the Golden Morn • My Moon Calf of Perpetual Ceremony • Little Flavanoid Wonder • O Parakeet of the Lissome Star
