Coming in June!
I thought I would let everyone have a peek at the cover art for my next book, which should be out just in time for the Heritage Days Festival in Cumberland in June. I think Stephanie E. J. Long did a great job with it. I definitely looks like it is part of the series. This volume is 150 pages and 47 stories from Western Maryland along with 33 black-and-white photos. It contains stories of lost treasure, train wrecks and successful residents. You’ll also find out where Albert Einstein liked to get away in the summer and the story of Allegany County’s lost automobile manufacturing industry. Looking Back II: More True Stories of Mountain Maryland will retail for $14.95.
A Midnight Walk Through a Jewelry Store
Here’s a fun story I found from Cumberland, MD, in 1875. However, as I wrote it, I found myself wondering if it was the truth. I’m not saying that the newspaper got the story wrong, but when I read the story as reported, I thought that maybe the “sleepwalker” wasn’t telling the whole truth. He successfully entered a jewelry store, or at least the store’s upper levels, after hours. Could he have been trying to rob the store, either consciously of subconsciously while sleepwalking? And for it to take an hour to go down a flight of stairs, out the door, orient himself on a street he would have recognized and walk next door? That sounds a little far fetched, too. Might he have been looking around for a few “souvenirs” before he left and finding none, needed an excuse Read more…
Is History Biased? Should It Be?
I was just reading through an e-mail I received from History News Network called Roundup Top 10 and was once again hit by what I consider historical bias. Now don’t get me wrong. I think the site is a great clearing house for current news and blogs about history. However, when I get an e-mail like the Roundup Top 10 that gathers a lot of headlines in one place, you can’t help but see the bias. When trying to classify the different types of bias I see among the historians on this site, I kept coming back to political viewpoint. I don’t mean Republican or Democrat so much as Conservative versus Liberal. Now I’ve never been much interested in history that is picked apart to be analyzed to fit a particular viewpoint. Whether or not the author admits this is Read more…
Lawyers find that the Declaration of Independence was legal
That’s nice to know, isn’t it…235 years after the fact. Also, quite honestly, when you’ve got lawyers talking law, I half expected the decision to be that it wasn’t legal and that the United States still belongs to the British. I ran across this article yesterday and have been thinking about it since then. You’ve got British barristers and American lawyers debating the legality of Declaration of Independence. If the United States had tried to win its freedom in the courts, we would probably still be tied up in appeals. A couple of points hit me in this article: It is assumed that the British were the rightful owners of the country when the Declaration of Independence was written. If the group had found the Declaration of Independence illegal, then there probably would have needed to be a follow-up debate Read more…
Eddie Plank: Gettysburg’s Legendary Lefty
P is for Plank The arm of the A’s; When he tangled with Matty Games lasted for days. – Lineup for Yesterday by Ogden Nash Though he was known as Gettysburg Eddie, his real name was Edward Stewart Plank. He was a hero to many, but not because he had fought and survived on Gettysburg’s battlefield. Gettysburg Eddie fought on a different battlefield. He held a mound of earth surrounded by a diamond-shaped field. He held it week after week, year after year, and he did it by hurling a baseball. Gettysburg Eddie was the first left-handed pitcher in baseball history to win 200 games and then the first to win 300 games. Even today, he has the third-most wins among left-handed pitchers—326—and ranks 11th among all pitchers. Plank was born on August 31, 1875, on his family’s farm north Read more…
My Bookshelf: Satan’s Circus by Mike Dash
Satan’s Circus had a cover and title that caught my eye in Border’s. They made me think about The Devil in the White City, which is a favorite book of mine. The book is also set around the same time that The Devil in the White City is set. The book is specifically about the New York City Police Officer Charley Becker’s rise, fall and eventual execution. However, it also does a great job of drawing a picture of a corrupt city and corrupt police department. It’s a dark story about an area of Manhattan called Satan’s Circus where vice and crime ruled. Becker began as an honest cop who came from a farming community. However, his years on the force surrounded by cops who were nearly as bad as the men they arrested changed him into one of them. Read more…
My Bookshelf: Washington's Secret War by Thomas Fleming
Washington’s Secret War: The Hidden History of Valley Forge is the first book I’ve read by Thomas Fleming. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I learned a lot from reading it and found it was more than simply a story about survival during the winter of 1776-1777. Behind that story is the story of the political machinations of men. You had a faction of Congress that believed that a weak federal government was the best course for the states and worked toward this goal behind the scenes. George Washington was seen as a symbol of a strong federal government and because of this Congress worked to weaken his position. Washington found himself fighting a secret war to maintain his position and his army while he fought the public war against the British. I also have to say I was surprised at Read more…
Living in Gettysburg
I’ve been to the annual Gettysburg battle re-enactment once in my five years living here and I enjoyed it. Even though I don’t go each year, I still enjoy this time of year. How could I not being a history buff? I can see how many people still appreciate history by the turnout and I do attend many of the other events associated with the re-enactment. I’ll visit encampments, talk to re-enactors and attend demonstrations from Civil War cooking to loading a rifle. So much of my time is spent researching history that it is nice to get out and take a step back in time to get a feel for how history was lived. It helps me get a sense of things as I write. I learn about the little details that can add richness and authenticity to my Read more…
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