Treasures From a Library Used Book Sale! Does It Get Much Better?

The other day I got to do one of my favorite things, go to a used book sale at the library. The visit was made even better because I The Things They Carriedgot to do it on the first day of the sale, when there were still a lot of books there! Typically, I’m there on the last day and sometimes during the last hour or so of the sale. When I went into the sale I decided that I was going to look, not for the typical mysteries that I usually go for, but for a few books that may be a more on the literature side. Read More

The Music of Malian Strings leads to Explorations of Malian Problems.

Toumani-and-SidikiOne of the genres of music that I started to listen to more over the last several years is World Music. There is so much good music out there made in countries that we as Americans don’t know about. One of the countries whose music I have really come to enjoy is Mali. I was first introduced to the music of Mali through the album One Night on Earth:Music from the strings of Mali by Derek Gripper.I explored his music last November 14th, which is  Gripper’s birthday. Here is the link to the post about the album, Gripper and the music of Mali. Yesterday in Music -Nov 14, 1977 – Derek Gripper is born and leads to the discovery of the Music of Mali!! Read More

October 12, 1945 – The Medal of Honor is Awarded to a Conscientious Objector for the first time. Desmond Doss!

This morning as I looked over the list of events that happened on this date in history, I came to 1945 and on October 12 of that year,  the Medal DossDesmondT_USArmyof Honor was issued to a conscientious objector for the first time. The recipient was Private First Class Desmond Doss.  In total only three such Medals of Honor have been awarded. The other two went to Thomas W. Bennett and Joseph G. LaPointe, Jr.  Doss was a Corporal (Private First Class at the time of his Medal of Honor heroics) in the U.S. Army assigned to the Medical Detachment, 307th Infantry, 77th Infantry Division. Read More

On This Date – October 11, 1809 – Meriwether Lewis commits suicide or is murdered on the Natchez Trace!

On the morning of October 11, 1809 the innkeeper at Grinder’s Stand on the Natchez Trace about 70 miles southwest of NashvilleMeriweather Lewis heard gunshots. Soon servants found  Meriwether Lewis badly injured from gunshot wounds, including one to the head. Lewis died shortly after sunrise that morning. Lewis had stopped at the inn the day prior, according to a Thomas Jefferson on October 18th. Lewis was on his way to Washington where he hoped to settle issues regarding payment of drafts he had drawn against the War Department while serving as governor of the Upper Louisiana Territory. Lewis also carried his journals with him for delivery to his publisher. From Wikipedia: Read More

This Date in Music – October 11, 1919 Jazz Drummer Art Blakey was born!! Album of the Day – Indestuctible!

 
So among today’s birthdays is the great Art Blakey.(October 11, 1919 – October 16, 1990)  In honor of his birthday, I listened to the 1965 release Indestructible_ArtBlakeyfrom Art & the Jazz Messengers,  Indestructible. As I listened to the album, I kept thinking how great the trumpet was, after listening I discovered that the trumpet player was Lee  Morgan and the saxophone player was Wayne Shorter. others playing on the album include: pianist Cedar Walton,  Curtis Fuller on trombone, and bassist Reggie Workman.  Thom Jurek at AllMusic writes this about the album: Read More

Exploring John Hay – 37th US Secretary of State – leads to a list of the Ten Best Secretaries of State!

The subject of this morning’s featured article at Wikipedia was John Hay an American statesman and official whose careerJohn_Hay,_bw_photo_portrait,_1897 in government stretched over almost half a century. His service in government stretched from the Lincoln administration through that of Theodore Roosevelt, yet I doubt that many Americans recognize his name or know of his accomplishments. Read More

October 6th – Happy German-American Day and Thoughts About My German Ancestry!

Today October 6th is German-American Day! From Wikipedia:

German-American Day is a holiday in the United States, observed annually on October 6. The holiday, which celebrates German American heritage, commemorates the date in 1683 when 13 German families from Krefeld near the Rhine landed in Philadelphia. These families subsequently founded Germantown, Pennsylvania, the first German settlement in the original thirteen American colonies.[1] Originally celebrated in the nineteenth century, German-American Day died out in World War I as a result of the anti-German sentiment that prevailed at the time. The holiday was revived in 1983. Read More

Michael Koryta’s Those Who Wish Me Dead – A Grade A Thriller – Read it before the Movie!!

Those Who Wish Me Dead are the sadistic and evil Blackwell brothers, who Jace Wilson saw murder a man in a quarry in Those who Wish Me DeadIndiana. Their quest to hunt down and kill Jace leads the Blackwell brothers to the mountains of  Montana , where Ethan and Allison Serbin run a summer survival training program for troubled youths. Jace was placed in the program by Jamie Bennett ,who was a former student of Serbin’s, Arriving in a snowstorm, Bennett asks Ethan’s help in getting Jace “off the grid” to protect him, something Bennett does not think she can do by herself. Although both Allison and Ethan have doubts about Bennett, they agree to help for the sake of the boy.  Soon the Blackwell brothers arrive, bringing their evil to the mountains. Can Ethan and Allison keep their promise to keep Connor safe?  The task becomes more difficult when Jace, sets out to escape from the brothers, alone!  While the brother’s bring evil and a devastating fire to the mountains, Jace encounters an ex-elite firefighter Hannah Faber, who joins the fight to keep Jace safe.  So begins Michael Kortya’s latest book Those Who Wish Me Dead about which Harlan Coben says….. Read More