Activist priest and Vietnam war protester Daniel Berrigan dies at 94: Daniel Berrigan, a Jesuit priest and peace activist, passed away on Saturday, reports James Martin, SJ, editor-at-large of the Jesuit magazine, America.
I always thought of him when I heard Paul Simon's "Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard": "When the radical priest came to get me released we was all on the cover of Newsweek."
Saturday, April 30, 2016
Friday, April 29, 2016
Jenny Diski, R. I. P.
The New York Times: Jenny Diski, a British writer who channeled the turmoil of her early years, which included suicide attempts and confinement in mental hospitals, into a stream of richly observed and mordant novels, memoirs and essays, died on Thursday at her home in Cambridge, England. She was 68.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Phil Kives, R. I. P.
Manitoba - CBC News: Winnipeg businessman Phil Kives, who brought you everything from hamburger patty stackers to hit music records with his company K-Tel International, died on Wednesday. He was 87.
Hat tip to Deb.
Hat tip to Deb.
FFB: The Last Talk with Lola Faye -- Thomas H. Cook
Thomas H. Cook is one of those writers who's so good that you wonder why he's not better known. Often, as in the case of The Last Talk with Lola Faye, they're about crimes in the past that have an effect on the present, and they're always beautifully written and paced.This one is narrated by Lucas Paige, a man who escaped his Alabama hometown, went to Harvard, and became an author and historian whose books have never been the kind of significant works he'd hoped to write and whose personal life is even less successful.
One night at a book signing in St. Louis, a woman appears. She's Lola Faye Gillroy, originally from Lucas' hometown, and she's traveled there specifically to see him and to get a book signed. But that's not the only reason. She's there to have a talk with him, and most of the novel is just that, two people having a talk, one that's filled with flashbacks to the past.
It's quite a past, as we gradually discover, and it involves murder, guilt, blame, and misunderstanding. What we believe to be true about the past might not turn out to be true at all. Cook reveals his secrets carefully and masterfully, creating a great deal of suspense along the way. What does Lola Faye really want? What's her real reason for coming to St. Louis? You should read the book to find out. It's a good one.
Thursday, April 28, 2016
Blackie Sherrod, R. I. P.
Dallas Morning News: Blackie Sherrod, the greatest Texas sportswriter of his generation or any other, now and forevermore, died Thursday afternoon at age 96.
John D. and Me
You may have noticed that the Sarasota Herald-Tribune has been publishing a series of columns entitled "John D. and Me" to celebrate the centenary of John D. MacDonald's birth. I've linked to most of them. So naturally I've been waiting for the call or the e-mail from Sarasota with a request for me to do one of those columns. It's finally dawned on me that the call or e-mail isn't going to come, so I figured I'd just write the column, anyway.The first JDM book I remember seeing on the newsstand, or rather the little paperback rack in my local drugstore, is The Damned. That book came out in 1952, so I was ten or eleven years old when I saw it. It caught my attention because of the title. You didn't see titles like that in little East Texas towns in 1952. And then there was that bold line in the middle of the cover: "I wish I had written this book" -- Mickey Spillane. I had no idea who Mickey Spillane was at that time, but the name stuck in my head, as did that book and its cover. I knew it had to be a good book if some other guy said he wished he'd written it.
Years passed. The first JDM book I remember reading is The Girl, the Gold Watch, and Everything, a fantasy novel that was recommended to me by a friend who doesn't like fantasy novels. That should've been a clue that JDM's work was something special, but I wasn't hooked immediately. The next book I read was Murder in the Wind, which I also liked a lot but which also didn't hook me. At the time I was reading almost nothing but spy novels, so that's probably why.
Then I picked up A Deadly Shade of Gold. Why? Probably for a couple of reasons. For one thing, it was a Gold Medal Book, and I'd been reading a good many Gold Medal spy novels by Donald Hamilton, Edward S. Aarons, Philip Atlee, and Stephen Marlowe (the Chester Drum books had just started looking more like spy novels). Also, the cover said something about a hunt for an Aztec idol. That sounded great. So I read the book, and this time I was hooked. I went back and read all the other Travis McGee books. This was in 1965, so there were only three or four at the time.
Judy and I moved to Austin in 1966, and I discovered that there were stores selling used books all over the city. It was in one of them that I ran across the first printing of Murder for the Bride, which looked a good bit different from the printing I'd read. So I decided I'd get the first printings of all the JDM paperbacks. The result of that was, well, does the saying "Down that road lies madness" ring a bell?
First it was just the JDM books, though, and I even won second place in a student book-collecting contest at The University of Texas at Austin for my collection of those. Yes, I have Weep for Me (both printings). I became one of the charter subscribers to The JDM Bibliophile, too, and, well, does the saying "Down that road lies madness" ring a bell? My subscription to that publication led directly to my involvement in mystery fandom, my contributions to many mystery fanzines (including Jeff Meyerson's estimable The Poisoned Pen), my membership in DAPA-em (thanks, Steve Lewis!), and my eventual attendance at the 1980 Bouchercon and many subsequent ones.
John D. MacDonald's not the only influence on my reading and writing life, but he's certainly one of the biggest. My greatest regret regarding him is that I didn't go to the Bouchercon in 1983 when he was guest of honor. We'd just moved to Alvin at considerable expense, and the week we arrived, only a couple of months before the Bouchercon, we went through Hurricane Alicia. We just weren't up to the trip to New York. I figured that I'd get to meet MacDonald some other time. It didn't happen, so I never got to tell him how much I owed him. This post will have to do.
Paris Hilton Update
Paris Hilton puts a brave face on as she steps out in London following 'split'
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Wednesday, April 27, 2016
Written in Dead Wax (The Vinyl Detective #1) -- Andrew Cartmel
The vinyl detective isn't made of vinyl. He's a picker, going to thrift stores and boot sales (the setting is England) and anywhere else that he might get lucky enough to find an LP that he can resell for big bucks. One day a lovely young woman shows up at his door and asks him to help her find an American jazz LP that just might be the rarest in the world. She's working for a mysterious employer who's offering an amazing sum for the finder.If this sounds straightforward enough, rest assured that it's not. Other people are looking for the LP, too, and they aren't nice. People start to die.
So who wants this LP? And why? It's complicated, and it gets even more complicated as we go along. Our narrator gets involved with not one but two lovely women, faces death, and . . . there are cats.
There are bits of this you may not buy completely, and you're probably going to be a little frustrated at the inability of the characters to figure out a really simple word puzzle, but Cartmel has a breezy style and plenty of humor, not to mention many details about recordings that I find fascinating. I enjoyed this one, and I'm looking forward to the promised sequel.
“Love Your Characters Before You Kill Them
“Love Your Characters Before You Kill Them, and Other Strategies for Fledgling Crime Writers” (by Katia Lief) | SOMETHING IS GOING TO HAPPEN: Katia Lief’s most recent story for EQMM, “The Orchid Grower” (November 2015), was a finalist for the Short Mystery Fiction Society’s Derringer Award for best long story. The Brooklyn author has also been recognized for her novel-length fiction, with nominations for the Mary Higgins Clark Award and the RT Reviewers Choice Award. Her latest novel is The Money Kill (HarperCollins 2013). She shares her experience writing both short and long fiction with students at classes she teaches at The New School—online in the fall and in the classroom in the spring. In this post she provides a few important tips for aspiring writers.—Janet Hutchings
I Found a Penny in the Walmart Parking Lot
Oldest Viking Crucifix Uncovered in Denmark: The gorgeous pendant was unearthed in March by a hobbyist with a metal detector. Found in a field on the island of Funen, Denmark, the Viking jewelry piece may have been worn by a Viking woman, according to the Viking Museum at Ladby, where the pendant was on display.
Soon We'll Have No Personal Freedoms Left at All
PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. (AP) — Fearing Snapchat could take an ugly turn toward "snap chomp," police are warning people not to take selfies with an alligator in suburban Atlanta.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Tuesday, April 26, 2016
First It Was the Thin Mint Melee . . .
. . . and keep off her lawn!
Staten Island woman accused of hitting boy with hockey stick
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Staten Island woman accused of hitting boy with hockey stick
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Harper Lee Update
Harper Lee’s article for FBI magazine on infamous ‘In Cold Blood’ killings found: Biographer of To Kill a Mockingbird author finds unsigned piece on quadruple murder at centre of Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood
Overlooked Movies: You Never Can Tell
The other day I ran a post on the best ghosts in movies, and Art Scott mentioned You Never Can Tell, which is a movie I love. So I thought I'd rerun this (slightly revised) review from 2011 today in case you missed it back then. Art also e-mailed to tell me that there is now a DVD available on Amazon, but with this statement attached: "When sold by Amazon.com, this product will be manufactured on demand using DVD-R recordable media. Amazon.com's standard return policy will apply." There's no trailer or clip available on YouTube for the movie.
This is another one I saw when I was ten years old and thought was purely wonderful. Obviously my taste for fantasy was already well developed.
King, a German shepherd, is heir to a fortune, and Ellen (Peggy Dow) administers his inheritance. Then King is murdered (poison). Ellen is judged to be responsible.
That's when things get fantastic. The scene is Beastatory, an animal heaven, where King asks an animal jury to allow him to return to earth, investigate the crime, and expose the real killer. He gets what he asks for, and he's reincarnated as Rex Shepard, private-eye (Dick Powell). Rex is accompanied by Goldie (Joyce Holden), formerly a palomino and now Rex's secretary. If you think Rex solves the mystery, you're right, but that's all I have to say. The rest you should discover for yourself, assuming you buy a copy or catch it on TV.
Well, I can't resist a remark about the costuming. It's just great, particularly Goldie's hat and shoes.
One more thing. That last scene. Gets me every time, even thinking about it.
Monday, April 25, 2016
Free App, Free Book
The Brash Books App is Here!: Get Dallas Murphy’s Edgar-Award nominated LOVER MAN absolutely free when you download the FREE Brash App…the best way to buy and read our ebook editions!
Download the FREE Brash Books App on any Android or iOs device and read our books anywhere, anytime… across all of your electronic devices, from iPhones to tablets, laptops to PCs.
Download the FREE Brash Books App on any Android or iOs device and read our books anywhere, anytime… across all of your electronic devices, from iPhones to tablets, laptops to PCs.
Brooklyn Leads the Way
New York Post: Room with a…screw!
The Brooklyn housing market is so hot, a slick realtor is asking half a million dollars for a glorified tool shed in Gravesend.
The Brooklyn housing market is so hot, a slick realtor is asking half a million dollars for a glorified tool shed in Gravesend.
Madeleine Sherwood, R. I. P.
Madeleine Sherwood Dies at 93 -- Vulture: Madeleine Sherwood, who was best known for playing the serious Reverend Mother Superior Lydia Placido, opposite Sally Field, on the 1967–1970 sitcom The Flying Nun, has died at 93. Sherwood made a name for herself on Broadway, solidifying her career with performances in Tennesse Williams's Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (as Mae Pollitt/Sister Woman) and Sweet Bird of Youth (as Miss Lucy), both onstage and in their subsequent film adaptations. Born in Quebec, Sherwood first appeared on Broadway in 1952's The Chase, before taking the role of Abigail in Arthur Miller's The Crucible the year later. Onstage, Sherwood also appeared in Camelot (1961), The Night of the Iguana (1962), Do I Hear a Waltz? (1965) and All Over (1967). Her film credits include Baby Doll (1956), Hurry, Sundown (1967), The Changeling (1980), and Teachers (1984). An active participant in the political movements of her time, Sherwood was blacklisted during the McCarthy era, and later arrested in a civil rights protest in Alabama in the 1960s. In 1989, she retired from acting and returned to her home in Canada.
Hat tip to Deb.
And I have to add here that Sherwood's delivery of the "little no-neck monsters" line in the movie version of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof cracked Judy up and she referred to it for years.
Hat tip to Deb.
And I have to add here that Sherwood's delivery of the "little no-neck monsters" line in the movie version of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof cracked Judy up and she referred to it for years.
In an Age of Privilege
In an Age of Privilege, Not Everyone Is in the Same Boat: “We needed to fill the Haven by getting the right people on the ship,” said Mr. Sheehan, who stepped down as chief executive last year. “When the masses overwhelmed the group in the Haven, they didn’t have the experience they were looking for.”
100 Years Of Movies / 100 Shots
100 Years Of Movies / 100 Shots: A journey through the past 100 years of cinema - the most memorable shot from each year. While many of these shots are the most recognizable in film history, others are equally iconic in their own right.
British Library posts 1m copyright-free images online
Boing Boing: The British Library has posted over a million copyright free images taken from books prior to 1900 on Flickr. That means if you need decorations of virtually any type for a website or book, you’ll find more than you can imagine among these visual riches.
Your stuff is surveilling you
Your stuff is surveilling you: New devices’ latest features can spy on your every move: Your laptop has a video camera built into it. When it’s recording, a little green light blinks on so you’re aware you’re being recorded. But it can be instructed to videotape your activities without the green camera light being on.
I'm not bothered that my stuff is watching my every move. I'm bothered that a professor of electrical engineering and computer science thinks a computer has videotape in it. Good grief.
I'm not bothered that my stuff is watching my every move. I'm bothered that a professor of electrical engineering and computer science thinks a computer has videotape in it. Good grief.
America’s First Supermodel
The Glamorous Life And Tragic Fall of America’s First Supermodel: She’s the face of every famous statue from America’s Gilded Age and the first actress to appear nude in a Hollywood film—but Audrey Munson’s charmed life ended in tragedy.
....
Her “most perfect form” still reigns over New York City and across the United States. You probably already know her, without even knowing you know her. You may have passed her on the street many times, unbeknownst.
This is an amazing story, and I didn't know any of it.
Warning: Nudity
....
Her “most perfect form” still reigns over New York City and across the United States. You probably already know her, without even knowing you know her. You may have passed her on the street many times, unbeknownst.
This is an amazing story, and I didn't know any of it.
Warning: Nudity
Once Again Texas Leads the Way
Bananas Gone Wild's Davonte Wilson set to make $100k a year from personalised bananas
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson, who says that Personalized Bananas WBAGNFARB.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson, who says that Personalized Bananas WBAGNFARB.
Sunday, April 24, 2016
Billy Paul, R. I. P.
NBC 10 Philadelphia: Paul gained his greatest success when he released his 1972 single “Me and Mrs. Jones,” which was written and produced by Gamble and Huff. The song was the number one single on the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B singles chart and received a Grammy Award. The song also received newfound attention decades later when singer Michael Buble released a cover version in 2007.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Multiple Choice Question
You've picked up a brand-new book and started to read the first page, where you encounter this sentence:
"She watched her host for a moment longer, then cast her eyes around the other people in the room."
What do you do?
A. Keep right on reading without a second thought.
B. Say, "Tsk, tsk, whatever happened to editing?"
C. Set the book aside without comment and pick up another one.
D. Hurl the book against the wall.
E. None of the above.
"She watched her host for a moment longer, then cast her eyes around the other people in the room."
What do you do?
A. Keep right on reading without a second thought.
B. Say, "Tsk, tsk, whatever happened to editing?"
C. Set the book aside without comment and pick up another one.
D. Hurl the book against the wall.
E. None of the above.
No
In view of my earlier post about libraries, I'm amazed to hear this.
Do You Suffer from Library Anxiety?: “Seventy-five to 85 percent of students in each class described their initial response to the library in terms of fear or anxiety.”
Do You Suffer from Library Anxiety?: “Seventy-five to 85 percent of students in each class described their initial response to the library in terms of fear or anxiety.”
This Is Depressing
Biomedicine facing a worse replication crisis than the one plaguing psychology.: These cancer studies don’t merely fail to find a cure; they might not offer any useful data whatsoever. Given current U.S. spending habits, the resulting waste amounts to more than $28 billion. That’s two dozen Cancer Moonshots misfired in every single year.
Paris Hilton Update
Newly single Paris Hilton and Ariel Winter kick off second weekend of Coachella
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
World's oldest tree turns 4,847
World's oldest tree turns 4,847 this year and is in a top-secret location: Even if people have laid eyes on the world's oldest tree, there's a good chance they didn't realize it. That's because the United States Forest Service keeps all information about the 4,847-year-old Great Basin bristlecone pine — including its exact location — completely under wraps to protect it from any potential vandals, loggers, and researchers who may be interested in chopping it down.
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