Tom Barnes's Blog: Tom's 'RocktheTower' Blog, page 4
June 2, 2010
HC's Music and John Henry's New Colt
This Week
Doc Holliday – The early years
Writers Notebook: Rejection Letters
Mother Alice, HC's Music and a young colt for John Henry.
Alice Holliday’s health continued to deteriorate, but even so she was determined to do something for HC. The boy had a musical gift that set him apart form most of her other students. Alice was familiar with the Cincinnati Academy of music. One of her early students, Mary Lou Hurley was successful in gaining entry into the Academy and when she graduated at the top of her class, was asked to stay on as an instructor Alice wrote Mary Lou a letter giving HC’s musical background and what she thought his true potential could be with the proper training.
Alice continued to teach even as she suffered her illness, and to preserve her strength she spent much of her time in a small open-air bedroom. One afternoon she was so inspired by the music coming from across the hall Alice moved to the open door nodded and smiled at HC’s originality. She crossed to a chair and enjoyed the original piece. Eventually HC returned to the scales he had started with and ended with a quiet finish.
Alice slapped her hands together applauding the work.
HC turned and grinned through his flashing brown eyes. "I reckon I strayed a little bit off de scale, Miz Alice."
Bursting with pride at HC’s dedication and hard workAlice smiled. "I’d say that was pretty good straying."
A hanging lantern casts shadows against the side of the stall. Major Holliday, Uncle Lew, John Henry and HC looked on as the mare, Lady began to sweat profusely as she entered into hard labor. The worried looks on their faces was not confined to the events in the stall, but extended to the main house where Alice was waging a losing battle with tuberculosis.
They had all accepted the fact that Alice Holliday’s fight for life was near its end, everyone, except John Henry, he still refused to let that notion enter his conscious mind.
“How long will it be, Papa?”
“Any time, son.”
“You won’t go back on your word, will you?”
“No, son if it’s a colt, he belongs to you.”
Then it suddenly happened. When two tiny hooves emerged from the mare Major Holliday and Uncle Lew went into action and moments later the colt took his first breath. Then in no time at all he scrambled to his feet and stood unsteadily on four spindly legs.
Dr. Henderson was at the house almost every day and his recent messages about his patient were not encouraging. He simply said keep her as comfortable as you can. He also admonished, due to the contagious nature of the disease, family members not to spend too much time in her bedroom.
John Henry paid little attention to the doctors’ advice and spent hours sitting at the foot of her bed talking and reading local stories out of the newspaper.
(To Be Continued)
Writers Notebook::
All writers can identify with the writers listed below.
This list of notable writers came to us from onlinecollege.org and their Online College blog.
'Whether you're a struggling writer, or just studying to be one, you probably know that there's a lot of rejection in your future. But don't be dismayed, rejection happens even to the best. Here are a number of well-respected writers who were told no several times, but didn't give up.'
Dr. Seuss: Dr. Seuss' publisher rejected many of his books.
William Golding: William Golding's Lord of the Flies was rejected 20 times before becoming published.
James Joyce: James Joyce's Ulysses was judged obscene and rejected by several publishers.
Isaac Asimov: Several of Asimov's stories were rejected, never sold, or eventually lost.
John le Carre: John le Carre's first novel, The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, was passed along because le Carre "hasn't got any future."
Jasper Fforde: Jasper Fforde racked up 76 rejections before getting The Eyre Affair published.
William Saroyan: William Saroyan received an astonishing 7,000 rejection slips before selling his first short story.
Jack Kerouac: Some of Kerouac's work was rejected as pornographic.
Joseph Heller: Joseph Heller wrote a story as a teenager that was rejected by the New York Daily News.
Kenneth Grahame: The Wind in the Willows was not intended to be published, and was rejected in America before appearing in England.
James Baldwin: James Baldwin’s Giovanni's Room was called "hopelessly bad."
Ursula K. Le Guin: An editor told Ursula K. Le Guin that The Left Hand of Darkness was "endlessly complicated."
Pearl S. Buck: Pearl Buck's first novel, East Wind: West Wind received rejections from all but one publisher in New York.
Louisa May Alcott: Louisa May Alcott was told to stick to teaching.
Isaac Bashevis Singer: Before winning the Nobel Prize, Isaac Bashevis Singer was rejected by publishers.
Agatha Christie: Agatha Christie had to wait four years for her first book to be published.
Tony Hillerman: Tony Hillerman was told to "get rid of the Indian stuff."
Zane Grey: Zane Grey self-published his first book after dozens of rejections.
Marcel Proust: Marcel Proust was rejected so much he decided to pay for publication himself.
Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen: Chicken Soup for the Soul received 134 rejections.
William Faulkner: William Faulkner's book, Sanctuary, was called unpublishable.
Patrick Dennis: Auntie Mame got 17 rejections.
Meg Cabot: The bestselling author of The Princess Diaries keeps a mail bag of rejection letters.
Richard Bach: 18 publishers thought a book about a seagull was ridiculous before Jonathan Livingston Seagull was picked up.
Beatrix Potter: The Tale of Peter Rabbit had to be published by Potter herself.
John Grisham: John Grisham's A Time to Kill was rejected by 16 publishers before finding an agent who eventually rejected him as well.
Shannon Hale: Shannon Hale was rejected and revised a number of times before Bloomsbury published The Goose Girl.
Richard Hooker: The book that inspired the film and TV show M*A*S*H* was denied by 21 publishers.
Jorge Luis Borges: It's a good thing not everyone thought Mr. Borges' work was "utterly untranslatable."
Thor Heyerdahl: Several publishers thought Kon-Tiki was not interesting enough.
Vladmir Nabokov: Lolita was rejected by 5 publishers in fear of prosecution for obscenity before being published in Paris.
Laurence Peter: Laurence Peter had 22 rejections before finding success with The Peter Principles.
D.H. Lawrence: Sons and Lovers faced rejection, and D.H. Lawrence didn't take it easily.
Richard Doddridge Blackmore: This much-repeated story was turned down 18 times before getting published.
Sylvia Plath: Sylvia Plath had several rejected poem titles.
Robert Pirsig: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance faced an amazing 121 rejections before becoming beloved by millions of readers.
James Patterson: Patterson was rejected by more than a dozen publishers before an agent he found in a newspaper article sold it.
Gertrude Stein: Gertrude Stein submitted poems for 22 years before having one accepted.
E.E. Cummings: E.E. Cummings named the 14 publishers who rejected No Thanks in the book itself.
Judy Blume: Judy Blum received nothing but rejections for two years and can't look at Highlights without wincing.
Irving Stone: Irving Stone's Lust for Life was rejected by 16 different editors.
Madeline L'Engle: Madeline L'Engle's masterpiece A Wrinkle in Time faced rejection 26 times before willing the Newberry Medal.
Rudyard Kipling: In one rejection letter, Mr. Kipling was told he doesn't know how to use the English language.
J.K. Rowling: J.K. Rowling submitted Harry Potter to 12 publishing houses, all of which rejected it.
Frank Herbert: Before reaching print, Frank Herbert's Dune was rejected 20 times.
Stephen King: Stephen King filed away his first full length novel The Long Walk after it was rejected.
Richard Adams: Richard Adams's two daughters encouraged him to publish Watership Down as a book, but 13 publishers didn't agree.
Anne Frank: One of the most famous people to live in an attic, Anne Frank's diary had 15 rejections.
Alex Haley: The Roots author wrote every day for 8 years before finding success.
Tom Barnes -- Actor, Writer and Hurricane Hunter.
Check out my website for books, blogs, western legends, a literary icon, reviews and interviews. Also my novels The Goring Collection and Doc Holliday’s Road to Tombstone along with a non fiction remembrance of The Hurricane Hunters and Lost in the Bermuda Triangle.
Www.tombarnes39.com
www.RocktheTower.com
http://thehurricanehunter.blogspot.com
Doc Holliday – The early years
Writers Notebook: Rejection Letters
Mother Alice, HC's Music and a young colt for John Henry.
Alice Holliday’s health continued to deteriorate, but even so she was determined to do something for HC. The boy had a musical gift that set him apart form most of her other students. Alice was familiar with the Cincinnati Academy of music. One of her early students, Mary Lou Hurley was successful in gaining entry into the Academy and when she graduated at the top of her class, was asked to stay on as an instructor Alice wrote Mary Lou a letter giving HC’s musical background and what she thought his true potential could be with the proper training.
Alice continued to teach even as she suffered her illness, and to preserve her strength she spent much of her time in a small open-air bedroom. One afternoon she was so inspired by the music coming from across the hall Alice moved to the open door nodded and smiled at HC’s originality. She crossed to a chair and enjoyed the original piece. Eventually HC returned to the scales he had started with and ended with a quiet finish.
Alice slapped her hands together applauding the work.
HC turned and grinned through his flashing brown eyes. "I reckon I strayed a little bit off de scale, Miz Alice."
Bursting with pride at HC’s dedication and hard workAlice smiled. "I’d say that was pretty good straying."
A hanging lantern casts shadows against the side of the stall. Major Holliday, Uncle Lew, John Henry and HC looked on as the mare, Lady began to sweat profusely as she entered into hard labor. The worried looks on their faces was not confined to the events in the stall, but extended to the main house where Alice was waging a losing battle with tuberculosis.
They had all accepted the fact that Alice Holliday’s fight for life was near its end, everyone, except John Henry, he still refused to let that notion enter his conscious mind.
“How long will it be, Papa?”
“Any time, son.”
“You won’t go back on your word, will you?”
“No, son if it’s a colt, he belongs to you.”
Then it suddenly happened. When two tiny hooves emerged from the mare Major Holliday and Uncle Lew went into action and moments later the colt took his first breath. Then in no time at all he scrambled to his feet and stood unsteadily on four spindly legs.
Dr. Henderson was at the house almost every day and his recent messages about his patient were not encouraging. He simply said keep her as comfortable as you can. He also admonished, due to the contagious nature of the disease, family members not to spend too much time in her bedroom.
John Henry paid little attention to the doctors’ advice and spent hours sitting at the foot of her bed talking and reading local stories out of the newspaper.
(To Be Continued)
Writers Notebook::
All writers can identify with the writers listed below.
This list of notable writers came to us from onlinecollege.org and their Online College blog.
'Whether you're a struggling writer, or just studying to be one, you probably know that there's a lot of rejection in your future. But don't be dismayed, rejection happens even to the best. Here are a number of well-respected writers who were told no several times, but didn't give up.'
Dr. Seuss: Dr. Seuss' publisher rejected many of his books.
William Golding: William Golding's Lord of the Flies was rejected 20 times before becoming published.
James Joyce: James Joyce's Ulysses was judged obscene and rejected by several publishers.
Isaac Asimov: Several of Asimov's stories were rejected, never sold, or eventually lost.
John le Carre: John le Carre's first novel, The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, was passed along because le Carre "hasn't got any future."
Jasper Fforde: Jasper Fforde racked up 76 rejections before getting The Eyre Affair published.
William Saroyan: William Saroyan received an astonishing 7,000 rejection slips before selling his first short story.
Jack Kerouac: Some of Kerouac's work was rejected as pornographic.
Joseph Heller: Joseph Heller wrote a story as a teenager that was rejected by the New York Daily News.
Kenneth Grahame: The Wind in the Willows was not intended to be published, and was rejected in America before appearing in England.
James Baldwin: James Baldwin’s Giovanni's Room was called "hopelessly bad."
Ursula K. Le Guin: An editor told Ursula K. Le Guin that The Left Hand of Darkness was "endlessly complicated."
Pearl S. Buck: Pearl Buck's first novel, East Wind: West Wind received rejections from all but one publisher in New York.
Louisa May Alcott: Louisa May Alcott was told to stick to teaching.
Isaac Bashevis Singer: Before winning the Nobel Prize, Isaac Bashevis Singer was rejected by publishers.
Agatha Christie: Agatha Christie had to wait four years for her first book to be published.
Tony Hillerman: Tony Hillerman was told to "get rid of the Indian stuff."
Zane Grey: Zane Grey self-published his first book after dozens of rejections.
Marcel Proust: Marcel Proust was rejected so much he decided to pay for publication himself.
Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen: Chicken Soup for the Soul received 134 rejections.
William Faulkner: William Faulkner's book, Sanctuary, was called unpublishable.
Patrick Dennis: Auntie Mame got 17 rejections.
Meg Cabot: The bestselling author of The Princess Diaries keeps a mail bag of rejection letters.
Richard Bach: 18 publishers thought a book about a seagull was ridiculous before Jonathan Livingston Seagull was picked up.
Beatrix Potter: The Tale of Peter Rabbit had to be published by Potter herself.
John Grisham: John Grisham's A Time to Kill was rejected by 16 publishers before finding an agent who eventually rejected him as well.
Shannon Hale: Shannon Hale was rejected and revised a number of times before Bloomsbury published The Goose Girl.
Richard Hooker: The book that inspired the film and TV show M*A*S*H* was denied by 21 publishers.
Jorge Luis Borges: It's a good thing not everyone thought Mr. Borges' work was "utterly untranslatable."
Thor Heyerdahl: Several publishers thought Kon-Tiki was not interesting enough.
Vladmir Nabokov: Lolita was rejected by 5 publishers in fear of prosecution for obscenity before being published in Paris.
Laurence Peter: Laurence Peter had 22 rejections before finding success with The Peter Principles.
D.H. Lawrence: Sons and Lovers faced rejection, and D.H. Lawrence didn't take it easily.
Richard Doddridge Blackmore: This much-repeated story was turned down 18 times before getting published.
Sylvia Plath: Sylvia Plath had several rejected poem titles.
Robert Pirsig: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance faced an amazing 121 rejections before becoming beloved by millions of readers.
James Patterson: Patterson was rejected by more than a dozen publishers before an agent he found in a newspaper article sold it.
Gertrude Stein: Gertrude Stein submitted poems for 22 years before having one accepted.
E.E. Cummings: E.E. Cummings named the 14 publishers who rejected No Thanks in the book itself.
Judy Blume: Judy Blum received nothing but rejections for two years and can't look at Highlights without wincing.
Irving Stone: Irving Stone's Lust for Life was rejected by 16 different editors.
Madeline L'Engle: Madeline L'Engle's masterpiece A Wrinkle in Time faced rejection 26 times before willing the Newberry Medal.
Rudyard Kipling: In one rejection letter, Mr. Kipling was told he doesn't know how to use the English language.
J.K. Rowling: J.K. Rowling submitted Harry Potter to 12 publishing houses, all of which rejected it.
Frank Herbert: Before reaching print, Frank Herbert's Dune was rejected 20 times.
Stephen King: Stephen King filed away his first full length novel The Long Walk after it was rejected.
Richard Adams: Richard Adams's two daughters encouraged him to publish Watership Down as a book, but 13 publishers didn't agree.
Anne Frank: One of the most famous people to live in an attic, Anne Frank's diary had 15 rejections.
Alex Haley: The Roots author wrote every day for 8 years before finding success.
Tom Barnes -- Actor, Writer and Hurricane Hunter.
Check out my website for books, blogs, western legends, a literary icon, reviews and interviews. Also my novels The Goring Collection and Doc Holliday’s Road to Tombstone along with a non fiction remembrance of The Hurricane Hunters and Lost in the Bermuda Triangle.
Www.tombarnes39.com
www.RocktheTower.com
http://thehurricanehunter.blogspot.com
May 26, 2010
Young Doc Holliday and The Legend of Ebo Landing
This Week
Doc Holliday – The Early Years
The Legend of Ebo Landing
Writers Notebook: On Conflict
Georgia and Sherman's March to the Sea
Young John Henry enrolled at the Valdosta Institute and rode into town five days a week to attend classes.
Late one afternoon Major Holliday and Alice sat on the veranda discussing the whereabouts of Mary Anne and the children when they heard hoof beats rapidly approaching.
"Somebody's in an awful hurry," Major Holliday declared.
Alice put down her knitting. "Could be John Henry, it's time for him."
Major Holliday got up from his chair walked to the front steps just as John Henry raced into the yard. The youngster reined in his mount and jumped to the ground in front of his father. “Papa we got mail from Aunt Mary Anne postmarked Macon and I got a letter from Mattie.”
John Henry handed Aunt Mary Anne’s letter to his father then sat down on the front steps and opened the letter from his cousin Mattie. John Henry had been corresponding with his favorite cousin since she and her sister entered Saint Vincent’s Academy in Savannah.
Major Holliday opened Mary Anne’s one page letter, took out his specs, and began to read.
"Well Henry, what does Mary Anne say?"
The major continued reading for a moment before he looked up with a wide smile and said, "They're safe."
Alice questioned. "Were they caught up in the fighting?"
"No darlin', their Uncle Philip took them to the farm. But when they came back into town and saw that the house and neighborhood was a complete shambles she joined the refugees moving south and they are presently on their way here."
That’s wonderful, Henry,” Alice said as she glanced at her son. “What does Mattie have to say?”
“She said one of the Sister’s rapped her on the knuckles with a ruler when she referred to the Union Army as those detestable Yankees.” John Henry laughed and said, “I’ll bet that’s not the word she used. Oh, and she said to give Aunt Alice and Uncle Henry a hug.”
Mary Anne eventually arrived with her three young children Theresa, Rosalie and Little James about the same time Sherman moved his troops out of Atlanta on his planned march to the sea.
Major Holliday immediately saw Sherman’s Army as a threat Mattie and Rebecca, presently residing, at St. Vincent’s Academy in Savannah.
When Sherman moved his army out of Atlanta and began his infamous march to the sea Major Holliday took John Henry along, boarded a train, went to Savannah, picked up the girls and brought them back to their mother at the farm.
General Sherman was as good as his word for he plundered his way through Georgia in his march to the sea and spent Christmas in Savannah. Sherman opened the New Year of 1865 by sprinting through South Carolina and heading north.
One day before Sherman was to engage his old nemesis, Joe Johnston at Bentonville, North Carolina General Robert E. Lee surrendered his Army to Union General U.S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse. That was on Sunday afternoon April 9, 1865 and the following Friday night John Wilks Booth assassinated President Abraham Lincoln getting some kind of misguided revenge and at the same time insuring the yoke and hard times for the people of the South.
(To be continued)
Tungee's Gold: The Legend of Ebo Landing
The idea for this historical novel came from an old slave tale, “The Legend of Ebo Landing.” I first heard the story at a Savannah waterfront bar while doing research and writing for my PBS Television Series, “Georgia’s Heritage.” The legend came from a story that tells of a number of West Africans that chose death rather than slavery. It is said that while a number of Ebo’s were debarking the slave ship they simply slipped into the water and drowned. The human tragedy got my attention and I followed up by going to St. Simons Island, the source of the story.
When I got to the island I asked some questions about the legend and was directed to an African-American woman known as the Voo Doo Lady. I located her house and introduced myself and was pleasantly surprised at the reception I got. After I explained what I was doing she led me on a walking tour of the island. Our first stop was a reed-covered estuary on the west side of St. Simons Island, which according to the Voo Doo Lady was the place called Ebo Landing, the scene of the actual tragedy. After that first stop my guide gave me a short history lesson of the place and we walked from one church and cemetery to another with the Voo Doo Lady talking and I taking notes.
At the end of the day I had only one nagging question – why? After a ton of research and ninety thousand words later I found the answer.
For Tungee's Gold excerpts and book page Click Here
Writers Notebook:
Trouble. When I think of that word my first thought usually goes to Meredith Wilson’s Music Man. ‘Trouble in River City…’ and what does that lead to? Conflict. It leads to conflict between traveling salesman Harold Hill and the small town values of River City. And the musical continues to serve up trouble at a very fast pace.
In a Neil Simon comedy it might be a slow boil, but it’s there and Simon is quick to tell you that conflict drives his plots.
Author William Noble believes that good plotting relies on conflict, and there’s no better way to develop it than fastening on one important word: Trouble. Trouble for the characters, trouble for what they seek, trouble for how they go about getting it. If you think of conflict equaling trouble, you’ve got your drama off the ground.
And there you have it. If these good authors are to be believed, it appears that conflict and trouble can find a place in most any good story line.
Tom Barnes -- Actor, Writer and Hurricane Hunter.
Check out my website for books, blogs, western legends, a literary icon, reviews and interviews. Also my novels Tungee's Gold, The Goring Collection and Doc Holliday’s Road to Tombstone along with a non fiction remembrance of The Hurricane Hunters and Lost in the Bermuda Triangle.
Facebook and Twitter
www.tombarnes39.com
www.RocktheTower.com
http://thehurricanehunter.blogspot.com
Doc Holliday – The Early Years
The Legend of Ebo Landing
Writers Notebook: On Conflict
Georgia and Sherman's March to the Sea
Young John Henry enrolled at the Valdosta Institute and rode into town five days a week to attend classes.
Late one afternoon Major Holliday and Alice sat on the veranda discussing the whereabouts of Mary Anne and the children when they heard hoof beats rapidly approaching.
"Somebody's in an awful hurry," Major Holliday declared.
Alice put down her knitting. "Could be John Henry, it's time for him."
Major Holliday got up from his chair walked to the front steps just as John Henry raced into the yard. The youngster reined in his mount and jumped to the ground in front of his father. “Papa we got mail from Aunt Mary Anne postmarked Macon and I got a letter from Mattie.”
John Henry handed Aunt Mary Anne’s letter to his father then sat down on the front steps and opened the letter from his cousin Mattie. John Henry had been corresponding with his favorite cousin since she and her sister entered Saint Vincent’s Academy in Savannah.
Major Holliday opened Mary Anne’s one page letter, took out his specs, and began to read.
"Well Henry, what does Mary Anne say?"
The major continued reading for a moment before he looked up with a wide smile and said, "They're safe."
Alice questioned. "Were they caught up in the fighting?"
"No darlin', their Uncle Philip took them to the farm. But when they came back into town and saw that the house and neighborhood was a complete shambles she joined the refugees moving south and they are presently on their way here."
That’s wonderful, Henry,” Alice said as she glanced at her son. “What does Mattie have to say?”
“She said one of the Sister’s rapped her on the knuckles with a ruler when she referred to the Union Army as those detestable Yankees.” John Henry laughed and said, “I’ll bet that’s not the word she used. Oh, and she said to give Aunt Alice and Uncle Henry a hug.”
Mary Anne eventually arrived with her three young children Theresa, Rosalie and Little James about the same time Sherman moved his troops out of Atlanta on his planned march to the sea.
Major Holliday immediately saw Sherman’s Army as a threat Mattie and Rebecca, presently residing, at St. Vincent’s Academy in Savannah.
When Sherman moved his army out of Atlanta and began his infamous march to the sea Major Holliday took John Henry along, boarded a train, went to Savannah, picked up the girls and brought them back to their mother at the farm.
General Sherman was as good as his word for he plundered his way through Georgia in his march to the sea and spent Christmas in Savannah. Sherman opened the New Year of 1865 by sprinting through South Carolina and heading north.
One day before Sherman was to engage his old nemesis, Joe Johnston at Bentonville, North Carolina General Robert E. Lee surrendered his Army to Union General U.S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse. That was on Sunday afternoon April 9, 1865 and the following Friday night John Wilks Booth assassinated President Abraham Lincoln getting some kind of misguided revenge and at the same time insuring the yoke and hard times for the people of the South.
(To be continued)
Tungee's Gold: The Legend of Ebo Landing
The idea for this historical novel came from an old slave tale, “The Legend of Ebo Landing.” I first heard the story at a Savannah waterfront bar while doing research and writing for my PBS Television Series, “Georgia’s Heritage.” The legend came from a story that tells of a number of West Africans that chose death rather than slavery. It is said that while a number of Ebo’s were debarking the slave ship they simply slipped into the water and drowned. The human tragedy got my attention and I followed up by going to St. Simons Island, the source of the story.
When I got to the island I asked some questions about the legend and was directed to an African-American woman known as the Voo Doo Lady. I located her house and introduced myself and was pleasantly surprised at the reception I got. After I explained what I was doing she led me on a walking tour of the island. Our first stop was a reed-covered estuary on the west side of St. Simons Island, which according to the Voo Doo Lady was the place called Ebo Landing, the scene of the actual tragedy. After that first stop my guide gave me a short history lesson of the place and we walked from one church and cemetery to another with the Voo Doo Lady talking and I taking notes.
At the end of the day I had only one nagging question – why? After a ton of research and ninety thousand words later I found the answer.
For Tungee's Gold excerpts and book page Click Here
Writers Notebook:
Trouble. When I think of that word my first thought usually goes to Meredith Wilson’s Music Man. ‘Trouble in River City…’ and what does that lead to? Conflict. It leads to conflict between traveling salesman Harold Hill and the small town values of River City. And the musical continues to serve up trouble at a very fast pace.
In a Neil Simon comedy it might be a slow boil, but it’s there and Simon is quick to tell you that conflict drives his plots.
Author William Noble believes that good plotting relies on conflict, and there’s no better way to develop it than fastening on one important word: Trouble. Trouble for the characters, trouble for what they seek, trouble for how they go about getting it. If you think of conflict equaling trouble, you’ve got your drama off the ground.
And there you have it. If these good authors are to be believed, it appears that conflict and trouble can find a place in most any good story line.
Tom Barnes -- Actor, Writer and Hurricane Hunter.
Check out my website for books, blogs, western legends, a literary icon, reviews and interviews. Also my novels Tungee's Gold, The Goring Collection and Doc Holliday’s Road to Tombstone along with a non fiction remembrance of The Hurricane Hunters and Lost in the Bermuda Triangle.
Facebook and Twitter
www.tombarnes39.com
www.RocktheTower.com
http://thehurricanehunter.blogspot.com
May 19, 2010
Holliday Family, the War Years and No Triple Crown
This Week
No Triple Crown for 2010
John Henry (Doc) Holliday – The early years
Writers Notebook:
Super Saver Wins Kentucky Derby On a Sloppy Track.
Two weeks later at the Preakness Super Saver proved that there would be no Triple Crown for a 33'rd straight year. The Kentucky Derby winner did give the fans a window of hope during the early going of the Preakness only to tire and drop back to finish in 8th place.
Super Saver and his biggest rival going into the Kentucky Derby, Lookin at Lucky went off as 2-1 co-favorites at the Preakness.
From my point of view it proved again that it takes more than two weeks for a good three year old to shake off the rigors of that tiring mile and one quarter Kentucky Derby race and then get back to form for the Preakness and Belmont.
At the Derby, Lookin at Lucky got a bad draw and a bad start, while Super Saver had a nice trip along the rail and won. Lookin at Lucky hadn't had the hard driving finish in the Derby and as a consequence he hadn't had as far to go in rehab as Super Saver had.
However, hope runs eternal in the horse racing business and who knows how many of the present two year old crop will turn into great three year old's. Something to think about and hopefully they'll provide us lots of good stories for the coming 2011 Triple Crown season.
'Doc Holliday's Road to Tombstone'
The Life and Times of John Henry Holliday
Georgia -- The Early Years
Estate Sale of the late William L. McKey
Griffin, Georgia -- January 6, 1857
Henry B. Holliday was on his way to the sale, and just as he drove his buggy out of the driveway Mother Alice called out with a last minute admonishment. “If you can’t get them all, please make a special effort to get Susan and her little boy.”
Henry called over his shoulder, “ I’ll do that, Alice.”
Papa Holliday wasn’t able to purchase every person on the list, but during the morning session he bought the old man called Uncle Lew. Then later in the day he out bid J.M. Grisham for Susan and her little boy. And from that cold January day in 1857 uncle Lew, aunt Susie and her son HC became a part of the Holliday family.
John Henry and HC were nearly the same age and they immediately became playmates and pals.
Henry Holliday was a military man that had served in the Seminole, Mexican and Civil Wars. However, his military service was cut short during the second year of the Civil War. Due to failing health he was given a medical discharge and sent home.
Holliday’s war record was well known to the folks back in Griffin and the community honored the old veteran by giving him the title of Major.
Major Holliday dabbled in politics and real estate for a while, but in time he became a land speculator. In January of 1864 he purchased some land in South Georgia and liked the area so much, that he made arrangements to move his family from their home in Griffin to a large farm near the town of Valdosta.
The physical move to South Georgia required three freight cars and most of one passenger car. When the Holliday’s arrived in the rough-hewn frontier town of Valdosta only half of the moving job was finished. Major Holliday had planned well though and with extra hired hands they assembled the wagons and carriages, then unloaded the furnishings and livestock and prepared for the trek to the farm.
Major Holliday drove a carriage and led the way. On the drive to the farm Alice squeezed he her husband's hand and said, "Henry, there’s something I must tell you. My health is not as good as I have led you to believe. Dr. Darnell believes I'm in the early stages of tuberculosis. I'm sorry, darling."
"Nothing to be sorry about."
“Not the disease, Henry, the deception. I'm sorry I kept it from you, perhaps I was just hoping it would go away."
"Not to worry, Alice. I have hopes that the climate down here will be good for you." Then Henry pointed. "Look through those trees, Alice there in the distance is our new home.”
It was a house with many gables, a large veranda and as they drew closer to the place you could see other structures that had been an integral part of the old plantation. There was a smokehouse, slave cabins, equipment sheds, horse barns and corrals.
John Henry and his pal HC enjoyed their new surroundings and explored the area by riding fence and boundary lines with Major Holliday. In time they ventured into town and were assigned the chore off delivering and picking up mail at the post office. During those outings they would occasionally stop by the Valdosta Institute, and join the neighborhood boys in a pickup game of round ball.
Major Holliday’s thoughts on the war were prophetic and by late summer word came announcing the fall of Atlanta and his worst fears were realized when the fighting spilled over into Jonesboro. The Major’s first impulse was to go north in search of his brother’s family, but the calm influence of Alice and her straightforward advice kept him at the farm.
(To be continued.)
Writers Notebook:
Words and phrases – the search goes on.
Ever get hung up on a word that’s almost but not quite right?
Peg Bracken has and she gives us some thoughts on the subject. ‘I do a great deal of rewriting. Almost never is a paragraph right the first time or the sixth or seventh time either for that matter. You are always looking for that right word. There’s a grave difference between a B and a B flat. And it matters too where it falls in the measure. I believe there’s only one best word. Of course one doesn’t always find that best word, but it is the thing to aim for.’
Tom Barnes -- Actor, Writer and Hurricane Hunter.
Check out my website for books, blogs, western legends, a literary icon, reviews and interviews. Also my novels Tungee's Gold, The Goring Collection and Doc Holliday’s Road to Tombstone along with a non fiction remembrance of The Hurricane Hunters and Lost in the Bermuda Triangle.
Facebook and Twitter
www.tombarnes39.com
www.RocktheTower.com
http://thehurricanehunter.blogspot.com
No Triple Crown for 2010
John Henry (Doc) Holliday – The early years
Writers Notebook:
Super Saver Wins Kentucky Derby On a Sloppy Track.
Two weeks later at the Preakness Super Saver proved that there would be no Triple Crown for a 33'rd straight year. The Kentucky Derby winner did give the fans a window of hope during the early going of the Preakness only to tire and drop back to finish in 8th place.
Super Saver and his biggest rival going into the Kentucky Derby, Lookin at Lucky went off as 2-1 co-favorites at the Preakness.
From my point of view it proved again that it takes more than two weeks for a good three year old to shake off the rigors of that tiring mile and one quarter Kentucky Derby race and then get back to form for the Preakness and Belmont.
At the Derby, Lookin at Lucky got a bad draw and a bad start, while Super Saver had a nice trip along the rail and won. Lookin at Lucky hadn't had the hard driving finish in the Derby and as a consequence he hadn't had as far to go in rehab as Super Saver had.
However, hope runs eternal in the horse racing business and who knows how many of the present two year old crop will turn into great three year old's. Something to think about and hopefully they'll provide us lots of good stories for the coming 2011 Triple Crown season.
'Doc Holliday's Road to Tombstone'
The Life and Times of John Henry Holliday
Georgia -- The Early Years
Estate Sale of the late William L. McKey
Griffin, Georgia -- January 6, 1857
Henry B. Holliday was on his way to the sale, and just as he drove his buggy out of the driveway Mother Alice called out with a last minute admonishment. “If you can’t get them all, please make a special effort to get Susan and her little boy.”
Henry called over his shoulder, “ I’ll do that, Alice.”
Papa Holliday wasn’t able to purchase every person on the list, but during the morning session he bought the old man called Uncle Lew. Then later in the day he out bid J.M. Grisham for Susan and her little boy. And from that cold January day in 1857 uncle Lew, aunt Susie and her son HC became a part of the Holliday family.
John Henry and HC were nearly the same age and they immediately became playmates and pals.
Henry Holliday was a military man that had served in the Seminole, Mexican and Civil Wars. However, his military service was cut short during the second year of the Civil War. Due to failing health he was given a medical discharge and sent home.
Holliday’s war record was well known to the folks back in Griffin and the community honored the old veteran by giving him the title of Major.
Major Holliday dabbled in politics and real estate for a while, but in time he became a land speculator. In January of 1864 he purchased some land in South Georgia and liked the area so much, that he made arrangements to move his family from their home in Griffin to a large farm near the town of Valdosta.
The physical move to South Georgia required three freight cars and most of one passenger car. When the Holliday’s arrived in the rough-hewn frontier town of Valdosta only half of the moving job was finished. Major Holliday had planned well though and with extra hired hands they assembled the wagons and carriages, then unloaded the furnishings and livestock and prepared for the trek to the farm.
Major Holliday drove a carriage and led the way. On the drive to the farm Alice squeezed he her husband's hand and said, "Henry, there’s something I must tell you. My health is not as good as I have led you to believe. Dr. Darnell believes I'm in the early stages of tuberculosis. I'm sorry, darling."
"Nothing to be sorry about."
“Not the disease, Henry, the deception. I'm sorry I kept it from you, perhaps I was just hoping it would go away."
"Not to worry, Alice. I have hopes that the climate down here will be good for you." Then Henry pointed. "Look through those trees, Alice there in the distance is our new home.”
It was a house with many gables, a large veranda and as they drew closer to the place you could see other structures that had been an integral part of the old plantation. There was a smokehouse, slave cabins, equipment sheds, horse barns and corrals.
John Henry and his pal HC enjoyed their new surroundings and explored the area by riding fence and boundary lines with Major Holliday. In time they ventured into town and were assigned the chore off delivering and picking up mail at the post office. During those outings they would occasionally stop by the Valdosta Institute, and join the neighborhood boys in a pickup game of round ball.
Major Holliday’s thoughts on the war were prophetic and by late summer word came announcing the fall of Atlanta and his worst fears were realized when the fighting spilled over into Jonesboro. The Major’s first impulse was to go north in search of his brother’s family, but the calm influence of Alice and her straightforward advice kept him at the farm.
(To be continued.)
Writers Notebook:
Words and phrases – the search goes on.
Ever get hung up on a word that’s almost but not quite right?
Peg Bracken has and she gives us some thoughts on the subject. ‘I do a great deal of rewriting. Almost never is a paragraph right the first time or the sixth or seventh time either for that matter. You are always looking for that right word. There’s a grave difference between a B and a B flat. And it matters too where it falls in the measure. I believe there’s only one best word. Of course one doesn’t always find that best word, but it is the thing to aim for.’
Tom Barnes -- Actor, Writer and Hurricane Hunter.
Check out my website for books, blogs, western legends, a literary icon, reviews and interviews. Also my novels Tungee's Gold, The Goring Collection and Doc Holliday’s Road to Tombstone along with a non fiction remembrance of The Hurricane Hunters and Lost in the Bermuda Triangle.
Facebook and Twitter
www.tombarnes39.com
www.RocktheTower.com
http://thehurricanehunter.blogspot.com
May 12, 2010
Preakness, Jefferson Davis, Civil War and Destiny
This Week
Super Saver Wins Kentucky Derby
Civil War Journal
Writers Notebook: Memories
Preakness next for Super Saver
A fist pump was all the emotion trainer Todd Pletcher showed after Super Saver came through to give him his first Kentucky Derby win.
The quiet Pletcher let the others do the shouting after Super Saver and jockey Calvin Borel beat Ice Box by 2½ lengths.
There was no long night out on the town either. Pletcher headed back to the hotel and joined friends and family for dinner — before heading to bed.
By Sunday morning it was back to work. That's the way it's always been for the D. Wayne Lukas protege. Less than 12 hours after Super Saver's triumph, Pletcher was in the barn checking on his newest star and thinking about the Preakness.
Trainer Nick Zito isn't sure Ice Box, who finished a hard-charging second, will be ready to run on such a short layoff. The Florida Derby winner took six weeks off before running under the twin spires.
Pletcher isn't ready to talk about winning the Triple Crown. He simply answered "no" on Sunday when asked if he's thinking about what lays ahead over the next five weeks. Yet he has high praise for his agile, well-rested horse. The Derby was the third race of the year for Super Saver. That was part of the plan all along, one that could benefit him in the weeks ahead.
"He's the kind of horse that makes his own trip," Pletcher said. "He's not at the mercy of what's going on around him."
Bob Baffert, trainer of Lookin at Lucky waited a week to see how his colt bounced back from his troubled trip in the Kentucky Derby before opting to head to Pimlico. So it's on to Baltimore. Baffart also said his luck can't get any worse in the Preakness than it was in the Derby. Lookin At Lucky will only have to deal with a 14-horse field at Pimlico so it could be a better trip.
There will also be a jockey change, Garrett Gomez, who has been on board for all nine of Lookin At Lucky's starts, will instead ride Dublin for trainer D. Wayne Lukas in the Preakness. Baffert said Martin Garcia will likely get the call on Lookin At Lucky on Saturday.
Yet no jockey in the Preakness is hotter than Calvin Borel, who has won three of the last four Triple Crown races and isn't backing off his claim that he and Super Saver can become the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978.
Super Saver is due to arrive in Baltimore on Thursday and has been established as the early 5/2 favorite with Lookin at Lucky 4/1 and Patty O'prado 6/1.
The probable entry list stands a 15 today but could be down to 13 after the post position draws on Thursday.
The backstretch and barn area is just beginning to come alive as some of the Preakness contenders arrive by van.
Civil War Journal
May 12, 1861
Washington – President Lincoln's blockade of the Federal coastline is beginning to take form. Ten war steamers were reported on blockade service as of yesterday.
Balloons Go to War
Providence, R.I. – Balloons are joining the war effort, presumably for reconnaissance work.
Governor William Sprague of Rhode Island has ordered two of them sent to Washington. They are in charge of an experienced astronaut and will be used, when necessary, under the orders of General Winfield Scott, the Union Army Commander.
Two More Secede.
The Legislatures of Tennessee and Arkansas voted Monday to join the Confederacy.
Pensacola, FL – The Commander of the Confederate forces here, Brig. General Braxton Bragg, has reported to Montgomery that he lacks essential munitions and therefore is powerless to stop Union Operations in and around Ft. Pickens.
Montgomery, AL – Jefferson Davis is being handed more and more power to govern the people of the South. And like any other new state or form of government, the easiest way not to have too many heads is simply to have one.
Writers Notebook:
Charles Bronson, Perry Como, Rita Hayworth, Charlton Heston, Burgess Meredith, Ronald Reagan, Sugar Ray Robinson and Norman Rockwell.
Destiny wrote the play that gave us this notable cast of characters, and destiny's name is -- Alzheimer's.
A review you'll not soon forget.
Memories are Precious: Alzheimer’s Journey: Ruth’s Story
By Fran Lewis
Reviewed by Dr. Maxine Thompson
Where does the love go when one has Alzheimer’s Disease? This is the question posed in Fran Lewis’ moving memoir, Memories are Precious: Alzheimer’s Journey: Ruth’s Story. Of course, the love goes nowhere; it just changes forms. The main place it remains is in the “precious memories” and in the hearts of the loved ones.
Lewis wrote this book as a tribute to her mother’s life before and after she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Ruth had once been a vibrant, loving woman who was the matriarch of the family, and a friend to many in her community.
Memories are Precious: Alzheimer’s Journey: Ruth’s Story, shares the journey of the author’s mother, Rush Swedloff, who has lived with the disease for the past six years. It also shows the impact of Alzheimer’s Disease on the family and on the community. According to http://www.alz.org/documents_custom/r... Alzeimher’s Disease affects 5.3 million people and is the seventh leading cause of death.
In a panoramic sweep,Fran examines the life of her mother, Ruth Swerdloff, through the eyes of those who love her, through her mother’s blog before the Alzheimer’s disease progressed, and at one point, through the point of view a toy bunny, which was at her mother’s side during a serious surgery.
Memories are Precious is an eclectic collection of photos, letters, and poems from Ruth’s grandchildren, from her adult children, from her neighbors.
The book changes voices throughout the story, which gives the book a fresh human twist. The collection of journal-sounding entries, poems, and memories from others who have been affected by the disease adds layer to this true human story.
The book opens with Ruth’s own words. We learn about her life as a child, then as a young woman, and as an older woman. She tells how she experienced the early signs of the disease, from forgetting things, to eventually getting sick. She provides insights into the disease that many people are still mystified by.
In turn, Francine relates what she saw as changes in her mother’s behavior, from forgetting to wandering to getting lost.
The story tells some of the medical challenges her mother went through before the Alzheimer’s set in. One of my favorite sections is how, in 1993, Francine flew her mother on a private jet to have surgery in California. There were a series of mishaps, but they made it. The author went through the proverbial hell and high water to make sure her mother got the best of medical care, and it worked. Subsequently, with her mother’s strong spirit and Francine’s advocacy, Ruth lived through this critical operation.
Another favorite letter in the book was one written from Ruth’s granddaughter. It showed the granddaughter’s memories of how her grandmother stuck by her side through a childhood accident.
The book provides a guide as to signs of Alzheimer’s Disease, tips for how to survive as a caregiver, and resources both online and offline that can help family members provide care.
As painful of a subject as this book covers, I read it twice. Why? Not only is this book a cry for scientists to try to find a cure for the disease, it is also a shining example of what family can be.
Too often, society writes off people when they are ill. Friends no longer visit. Sometimes even family shuns the sick person. As a result, many people are shuttled away to nursing homes where they may or may not get adequate care.
For me, Memories are Precious speaks to the power of love and family to overcome any problem.
This book shows what lengths a family will go to help their loved one when they are sick. After all, what is family for?
Tom Barnes -- Actor, Writer and Hurricane Hunter.
Check out my website for books, blogs, western legends, a literary icon, reviews and interviews. Also my novels Tungee's Gold, The Goring Collection and Doc Holliday’s Road to Tombstone along with a non fiction remembrance of The Hurricane Hunters and Lost in the Bermuda Triangle.
Facebook and Twitter
www.tombarnes39.com
www.RocktheTower.com
http://thehurricanehunter.blogspot.com
Super Saver Wins Kentucky Derby
Civil War Journal
Writers Notebook: Memories
Preakness next for Super Saver
A fist pump was all the emotion trainer Todd Pletcher showed after Super Saver came through to give him his first Kentucky Derby win.
The quiet Pletcher let the others do the shouting after Super Saver and jockey Calvin Borel beat Ice Box by 2½ lengths.
There was no long night out on the town either. Pletcher headed back to the hotel and joined friends and family for dinner — before heading to bed.
By Sunday morning it was back to work. That's the way it's always been for the D. Wayne Lukas protege. Less than 12 hours after Super Saver's triumph, Pletcher was in the barn checking on his newest star and thinking about the Preakness.
Trainer Nick Zito isn't sure Ice Box, who finished a hard-charging second, will be ready to run on such a short layoff. The Florida Derby winner took six weeks off before running under the twin spires.
Pletcher isn't ready to talk about winning the Triple Crown. He simply answered "no" on Sunday when asked if he's thinking about what lays ahead over the next five weeks. Yet he has high praise for his agile, well-rested horse. The Derby was the third race of the year for Super Saver. That was part of the plan all along, one that could benefit him in the weeks ahead.
"He's the kind of horse that makes his own trip," Pletcher said. "He's not at the mercy of what's going on around him."
Bob Baffert, trainer of Lookin at Lucky waited a week to see how his colt bounced back from his troubled trip in the Kentucky Derby before opting to head to Pimlico. So it's on to Baltimore. Baffart also said his luck can't get any worse in the Preakness than it was in the Derby. Lookin At Lucky will only have to deal with a 14-horse field at Pimlico so it could be a better trip.
There will also be a jockey change, Garrett Gomez, who has been on board for all nine of Lookin At Lucky's starts, will instead ride Dublin for trainer D. Wayne Lukas in the Preakness. Baffert said Martin Garcia will likely get the call on Lookin At Lucky on Saturday.
Yet no jockey in the Preakness is hotter than Calvin Borel, who has won three of the last four Triple Crown races and isn't backing off his claim that he and Super Saver can become the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978.
Super Saver is due to arrive in Baltimore on Thursday and has been established as the early 5/2 favorite with Lookin at Lucky 4/1 and Patty O'prado 6/1.
The probable entry list stands a 15 today but could be down to 13 after the post position draws on Thursday.
The backstretch and barn area is just beginning to come alive as some of the Preakness contenders arrive by van.
Civil War Journal
May 12, 1861
Washington – President Lincoln's blockade of the Federal coastline is beginning to take form. Ten war steamers were reported on blockade service as of yesterday.
Balloons Go to War
Providence, R.I. – Balloons are joining the war effort, presumably for reconnaissance work.
Governor William Sprague of Rhode Island has ordered two of them sent to Washington. They are in charge of an experienced astronaut and will be used, when necessary, under the orders of General Winfield Scott, the Union Army Commander.
Two More Secede.
The Legislatures of Tennessee and Arkansas voted Monday to join the Confederacy.
Pensacola, FL – The Commander of the Confederate forces here, Brig. General Braxton Bragg, has reported to Montgomery that he lacks essential munitions and therefore is powerless to stop Union Operations in and around Ft. Pickens.
Montgomery, AL – Jefferson Davis is being handed more and more power to govern the people of the South. And like any other new state or form of government, the easiest way not to have too many heads is simply to have one.
Writers Notebook:
Charles Bronson, Perry Como, Rita Hayworth, Charlton Heston, Burgess Meredith, Ronald Reagan, Sugar Ray Robinson and Norman Rockwell.
Destiny wrote the play that gave us this notable cast of characters, and destiny's name is -- Alzheimer's.
A review you'll not soon forget.
Memories are Precious: Alzheimer’s Journey: Ruth’s Story
By Fran Lewis
Reviewed by Dr. Maxine Thompson
Where does the love go when one has Alzheimer’s Disease? This is the question posed in Fran Lewis’ moving memoir, Memories are Precious: Alzheimer’s Journey: Ruth’s Story. Of course, the love goes nowhere; it just changes forms. The main place it remains is in the “precious memories” and in the hearts of the loved ones.
Lewis wrote this book as a tribute to her mother’s life before and after she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Ruth had once been a vibrant, loving woman who was the matriarch of the family, and a friend to many in her community.
Memories are Precious: Alzheimer’s Journey: Ruth’s Story, shares the journey of the author’s mother, Rush Swedloff, who has lived with the disease for the past six years. It also shows the impact of Alzheimer’s Disease on the family and on the community. According to http://www.alz.org/documents_custom/r... Alzeimher’s Disease affects 5.3 million people and is the seventh leading cause of death.
In a panoramic sweep,Fran examines the life of her mother, Ruth Swerdloff, through the eyes of those who love her, through her mother’s blog before the Alzheimer’s disease progressed, and at one point, through the point of view a toy bunny, which was at her mother’s side during a serious surgery.
Memories are Precious is an eclectic collection of photos, letters, and poems from Ruth’s grandchildren, from her adult children, from her neighbors.
The book changes voices throughout the story, which gives the book a fresh human twist. The collection of journal-sounding entries, poems, and memories from others who have been affected by the disease adds layer to this true human story.
The book opens with Ruth’s own words. We learn about her life as a child, then as a young woman, and as an older woman. She tells how she experienced the early signs of the disease, from forgetting things, to eventually getting sick. She provides insights into the disease that many people are still mystified by.
In turn, Francine relates what she saw as changes in her mother’s behavior, from forgetting to wandering to getting lost.
The story tells some of the medical challenges her mother went through before the Alzheimer’s set in. One of my favorite sections is how, in 1993, Francine flew her mother on a private jet to have surgery in California. There were a series of mishaps, but they made it. The author went through the proverbial hell and high water to make sure her mother got the best of medical care, and it worked. Subsequently, with her mother’s strong spirit and Francine’s advocacy, Ruth lived through this critical operation.
Another favorite letter in the book was one written from Ruth’s granddaughter. It showed the granddaughter’s memories of how her grandmother stuck by her side through a childhood accident.
The book provides a guide as to signs of Alzheimer’s Disease, tips for how to survive as a caregiver, and resources both online and offline that can help family members provide care.
As painful of a subject as this book covers, I read it twice. Why? Not only is this book a cry for scientists to try to find a cure for the disease, it is also a shining example of what family can be.
Too often, society writes off people when they are ill. Friends no longer visit. Sometimes even family shuns the sick person. As a result, many people are shuttled away to nursing homes where they may or may not get adequate care.
For me, Memories are Precious speaks to the power of love and family to overcome any problem.
This book shows what lengths a family will go to help their loved one when they are sick. After all, what is family for?
Tom Barnes -- Actor, Writer and Hurricane Hunter.
Check out my website for books, blogs, western legends, a literary icon, reviews and interviews. Also my novels Tungee's Gold, The Goring Collection and Doc Holliday’s Road to Tombstone along with a non fiction remembrance of The Hurricane Hunters and Lost in the Bermuda Triangle.
Facebook and Twitter
www.tombarnes39.com
www.RocktheTower.com
http://thehurricanehunter.blogspot.com
May 5, 2010
Tungee's Gold, Horse Racing and Abraham Lincoln
This Week
The Legend of Ebo Landing
Kentucky Derby and Triple Crown
Civil War Journal May 1861
Writers Notebook
Georgia's Heritage and Ships of the Sea
Savannah, Georgia
New book Ideas – Where do They Come From?
Writers don't usually question where the idea comes from as long as it works for the plot. The idea for my latest historical novel came from an old slave tale, 'The Legend of Ebo Landing.' I first heard the story at a Savannah waterfront bar while doing research and writing for my PBS Television Series, 'Georgia’s Heritage.' The legend came from a story of, strong willed, West Africans that chose death over slavery. It is said that while that group of Ebo’s was debarking the slave ship they simply slipped into the water and drowned. The human tragedy got my attention and I followed up by going to St. Simons Island, the source of the story.
When I got to the island I asked some questions about the legend and was directed to an African-American woman known as the Voo Doo Lady. I located her house and introduced myself, and was pleasantly surprised at the reception I got. After I explained what I was doing she led me on a walking tour of the island. Our first stop was a reed-covered estuary on the west side of St. Simons Island, which according to the Voo Doo Lady was the place called Ebo Landing, the scene of the actual tragedy. After that first stop my guide gave me a short history lesson of the place and we walked from one church and cemetery to another with the Voo Doo Lady talking and I taking notes.
At the end of the day, after thanking my guide, I had only one nagging question – why? Several years of research and ninety thousand words later I found the answer.
Kentucky Derby
After nine years and 24 starters - trainer Todd Pletcher finally got his first Kentucky Derby victory. Saturday afternoon on a sloppy track a three year old named Super Saver, ridden by Calvin Borel, skimmed the rail to win the 136th Derby by 2 1/2 lengths in front of Ice Box.
Pletcher let out a whoop and slapped his hands together after his colt crossed the finish line, snapping a skid the Eclipse Award-winning trainer was eager to end.
He seemed to have a lock on his first Derby win until expected favorite Eskendereya was withdrawn last weekend with a swollen leg. That left Pletcher with four horses in the race, but none as highly regarded. His other finishers were: Mission Impazible, ninth; filly Devil May Care, 10th; and Discreetly Mine, 13th.
Pletcher's only other Triple Crown race victory was in 2007 at Belmont with the filly Rags to Riches.
“It's the one thing that was important to me,” he said. “The one thing I wanted to do while my parents were still here to see it.”
Super Saver and the second place finisher Ice Box probably had the best pedigres in the race. Super Saver qualified on dosage and he's an X-factor horse since his mom, Supercharger, is a double copy mare.
Good thing horses can't read their press notices. Monday following the Kentucky Derby the pundits begin their pot shots. Is Super Saver the best three year old this year or is he just a good mudder? And when you factor in Borail, Calvin Borel, it does give you pause.
For you folks that are a bit whimsy in your betting choices you might think about family names. Super Saver saved ground on the rail, there's Borel again. But what about his sire's name – Maria's Mom? What kind of name is that for a boy horse? And while I haven't found a good story about the name I do recall a song that Johnny Cash made famous called 'A Boy Named Sue.' No correlation, just a thought.
All kidding aside though Super Saver has a pedigre filled with horse racing stars that most racing fans will be familliar with: A.P. Indy, Bold Ruler, Northern Dancer, Secretariat, Seattle Slew and a super stud named Mr. Prospector.
But we'll have to wait and see if enough of his ancestors genes have been passed along to make Super Saver a threat to win the Triple Crown.
Next race is the Preakness at the Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore on May 15, 2010.
Civil War Journal
Wednesday, May 1, 1861
President Lincoln in his walks around the Capitol always listened to what was being said by the people, and as he loved to talk made a few comments. This morning he was talking to some of the new arrivals in Washington, men of the New York 7th.
Lincoln critics are as easy to find as pebbles on the beach. He said, 'The government now needs to do three things; defend Washington, blockade the Southern ports, and retake government property. All possible dispatch is to be used in these matters, and it would be well if the people would cordially assist in this work before clamoring more.
The proclamation for calling out the troops is only two weeks old; no other people on earth could have surpassed what we have done in that length of time.'
News Headlines:
Army's Grow.
North and South continue to pour men into the Washington-Richmond area this week while beginning another buildup along the Mississippi River.
Added resignations.
Joseph E. Johnston quits; Lee's Son Out, Too.
Flurry of resignations of Union Army Officers who intend to join the Confederate forces.
Writers Notebook:
Product of last week's exercise.
I worked using Hemingway’s idea and here is one of the stories I came up with. It’s called: 'The Gin House Fire'
I yawned and opened my eyes from a deep sleep. The room was as bright as day, and I could see Uncle Marvin tapping on the window.
The cause of the bright light was somewhere in the distance. I opened the window and Uncle Marvin said, “The gin house is on fire.”
I woke my brother George and we quickly jumped into our clothes and joined a group of neighbors that had gathered in our back yard.
We all stood silently watching as the flames, fueled by the old wooden building, reached toward the sky.
And in less than half an hour the structure weakened and fell, along with the flames as the fire finally burned itself out.
The next day when we took a closer look, ashes were all that remained of a part of our little towns’ heritage -- ashes and our memories of the men, mules and cotton wagons from out of the past.
Tom Barnes -- Actor, Writer and Hurricane Hunter.
Check out my website for books, blogs, western legends, a literary icon, reviews and interviews. Also my novels Tungee's Gold, The Goring Collection and Doc Holliday’s Road to Tombstone along with a non fiction remembrance of The Hurricane Hunters and Lost in the Bermuda Triangle.
Facebook and Twitter
www.tombarnes39.com
www.RocktheTower.com
http://thehurricanehunter.blogspot.com
The Legend of Ebo Landing
Kentucky Derby and Triple Crown
Civil War Journal May 1861
Writers Notebook
Georgia's Heritage and Ships of the Sea
Savannah, Georgia
New book Ideas – Where do They Come From?
Writers don't usually question where the idea comes from as long as it works for the plot. The idea for my latest historical novel came from an old slave tale, 'The Legend of Ebo Landing.' I first heard the story at a Savannah waterfront bar while doing research and writing for my PBS Television Series, 'Georgia’s Heritage.' The legend came from a story of, strong willed, West Africans that chose death over slavery. It is said that while that group of Ebo’s was debarking the slave ship they simply slipped into the water and drowned. The human tragedy got my attention and I followed up by going to St. Simons Island, the source of the story.
When I got to the island I asked some questions about the legend and was directed to an African-American woman known as the Voo Doo Lady. I located her house and introduced myself, and was pleasantly surprised at the reception I got. After I explained what I was doing she led me on a walking tour of the island. Our first stop was a reed-covered estuary on the west side of St. Simons Island, which according to the Voo Doo Lady was the place called Ebo Landing, the scene of the actual tragedy. After that first stop my guide gave me a short history lesson of the place and we walked from one church and cemetery to another with the Voo Doo Lady talking and I taking notes.
At the end of the day, after thanking my guide, I had only one nagging question – why? Several years of research and ninety thousand words later I found the answer.
Kentucky Derby
After nine years and 24 starters - trainer Todd Pletcher finally got his first Kentucky Derby victory. Saturday afternoon on a sloppy track a three year old named Super Saver, ridden by Calvin Borel, skimmed the rail to win the 136th Derby by 2 1/2 lengths in front of Ice Box.
Pletcher let out a whoop and slapped his hands together after his colt crossed the finish line, snapping a skid the Eclipse Award-winning trainer was eager to end.
He seemed to have a lock on his first Derby win until expected favorite Eskendereya was withdrawn last weekend with a swollen leg. That left Pletcher with four horses in the race, but none as highly regarded. His other finishers were: Mission Impazible, ninth; filly Devil May Care, 10th; and Discreetly Mine, 13th.
Pletcher's only other Triple Crown race victory was in 2007 at Belmont with the filly Rags to Riches.
“It's the one thing that was important to me,” he said. “The one thing I wanted to do while my parents were still here to see it.”
Super Saver and the second place finisher Ice Box probably had the best pedigres in the race. Super Saver qualified on dosage and he's an X-factor horse since his mom, Supercharger, is a double copy mare.
Good thing horses can't read their press notices. Monday following the Kentucky Derby the pundits begin their pot shots. Is Super Saver the best three year old this year or is he just a good mudder? And when you factor in Borail, Calvin Borel, it does give you pause.
For you folks that are a bit whimsy in your betting choices you might think about family names. Super Saver saved ground on the rail, there's Borel again. But what about his sire's name – Maria's Mom? What kind of name is that for a boy horse? And while I haven't found a good story about the name I do recall a song that Johnny Cash made famous called 'A Boy Named Sue.' No correlation, just a thought.
All kidding aside though Super Saver has a pedigre filled with horse racing stars that most racing fans will be familliar with: A.P. Indy, Bold Ruler, Northern Dancer, Secretariat, Seattle Slew and a super stud named Mr. Prospector.
But we'll have to wait and see if enough of his ancestors genes have been passed along to make Super Saver a threat to win the Triple Crown.
Next race is the Preakness at the Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore on May 15, 2010.
Civil War Journal
Wednesday, May 1, 1861
President Lincoln in his walks around the Capitol always listened to what was being said by the people, and as he loved to talk made a few comments. This morning he was talking to some of the new arrivals in Washington, men of the New York 7th.
Lincoln critics are as easy to find as pebbles on the beach. He said, 'The government now needs to do three things; defend Washington, blockade the Southern ports, and retake government property. All possible dispatch is to be used in these matters, and it would be well if the people would cordially assist in this work before clamoring more.
The proclamation for calling out the troops is only two weeks old; no other people on earth could have surpassed what we have done in that length of time.'
News Headlines:
Army's Grow.
North and South continue to pour men into the Washington-Richmond area this week while beginning another buildup along the Mississippi River.
Added resignations.
Joseph E. Johnston quits; Lee's Son Out, Too.
Flurry of resignations of Union Army Officers who intend to join the Confederate forces.
Writers Notebook:
Product of last week's exercise.
I worked using Hemingway’s idea and here is one of the stories I came up with. It’s called: 'The Gin House Fire'
I yawned and opened my eyes from a deep sleep. The room was as bright as day, and I could see Uncle Marvin tapping on the window.
The cause of the bright light was somewhere in the distance. I opened the window and Uncle Marvin said, “The gin house is on fire.”
I woke my brother George and we quickly jumped into our clothes and joined a group of neighbors that had gathered in our back yard.
We all stood silently watching as the flames, fueled by the old wooden building, reached toward the sky.
And in less than half an hour the structure weakened and fell, along with the flames as the fire finally burned itself out.
The next day when we took a closer look, ashes were all that remained of a part of our little towns’ heritage -- ashes and our memories of the men, mules and cotton wagons from out of the past.
Tom Barnes -- Actor, Writer and Hurricane Hunter.
Check out my website for books, blogs, western legends, a literary icon, reviews and interviews. Also my novels Tungee's Gold, The Goring Collection and Doc Holliday’s Road to Tombstone along with a non fiction remembrance of The Hurricane Hunters and Lost in the Bermuda Triangle.
Facebook and Twitter
www.tombarnes39.com
www.RocktheTower.com
http://thehurricanehunter.blogspot.com
April 28, 2010
Kentucky Derby, Triple Crown and the Sixth Sense
This Week
The Kentucky Derby
Triple Crown Winners
Civil War Journal – Headline News
Writers Notebook: Using the Sixth Sense.
Kentucky Derby and Triple Crown
To horse racing fans, the first Saturday in May is filled with excitement and anticipatation. The gold standard in horse racing is set at Churchill Downs with the Kentucky Derby when the best of American three year olds are tested over a mile and a quarter dirt course.
The Derby has a hundred and thirty five year old tradition and attracts more fans every year. A bonanza for Las Vegas and betting interests all over the world. But the real excitement on derby day is generated at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. Ladies hats, mint juleps, odds makers, touts and con men are all part of that great celebration of horse racing.
The Kentucky Derby is also the first leg of the Triple Crown racing series where the winner of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes becomes a champion of champions.
The Triple Crown got its start in 1919 when an unlikely three year old named Sir Barton was entered into the race. The horse had a solid pedigree and had quick early speed but little else to make him look like a potential champion.
Following is a list of the eleven Triple Crown winners: will there ever be another? We'll just have to wait and see.
Sir Barton, 1919
Although he failed to win a race as a 2-year-old, Sir Barton became the first horse to win the Triple Crown. He won the Kentucky Derby by five lengths, the Preakness by four lengths and the Belmont by five, an American record time -- 2:17 2/5.
Gallant Fox, 1930
In the year of his Triple Crown win, Gallant Fox set a single-season earnings record that stood for 16 years. He's also the only Triple Crown winner to sire another Triple Crown winner (Omaha). Jockey Earl Sande came out of retirement to ride Gallant Fox. Under Sande's excellent handling, Gallant Fox won the Wood Memorial, Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and the Belmont Stakes by three or four lengths each.
Omaha, 1935
After winning the Kentucky Derby Omaha won the Preakness by six lengths and easily won the Belmont Stakes.
War Admiral, 1937
War Admiral won all eight starts as a 3-year-old, including the Triple Crown races. In the Belmont, War Admiral stumbled near the start and sustained a hoof injusy, but despite the injury he won by 3 lengths and equaled the track record.
Whirlaway, 1941
Not only did Whirlaway capture the Triple Crown, he won horse of the year twice.
Count Fleet, 1943
In 15 starts as a 2-year-old, Count Fleet was never out of the money. And he did even better as a 3-year-old, winning the Kentucky Derby by 3 lengths, the Preakness by 8, and the Belmont by 25, all with John Longden aboard.
Assault, 1946
Assault, who raced for 6 years, won the Kentucky Derby by eight lengths, the Preakness by a neck and the Belmont by three lengths over Natchez.
Citation, 1948
The first horse to earn more than a million dollars, Citation still holds the record for earning the most stakes races in a year, with 17 in 1948. Citation, was ridden by Eddie Arcaro.
Secretariat, 1973
Secretariat won horse of the Year at 2 and 3, Secretariat in '73 became the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years. He set track records in each of the three classics, including coming from last place to win the Kentucky Derby; coming from last to first on the first turn of the Preakness; and winning the Belmont by 31 lengths.
Seattle Slew, 1977
Seattle Slew was 'a real stud' in every sense of the word. On the track, he was a champion at 2, 3 and 4, and won the Triple Crown in '77.
Affirmed, 1978
It was one of horse racing's greatest rivalries. Affirmed edged out Alydar in each of the Triple Crown races in 1978.
Will 2010 be the year that produced a Triple Crown champion? The watch and wait game begins this Saturday at Churchill Downs.
Civil War Journal: Headline news for the latter days of April, 1861
Virginia Approves Secession: Richmond, Va. The state convention of Virginia, wealthiest and most populas of the slave states, has voted overwhelmingly for secession.
President Lincoln's Request for 75,000 New Troops is being met.
Lee Accepts Virginia Command: Richmond, Va. Mr. Robert E. Lee, late US colonel of cavelry, has accepted command of Virginia Forces.
Actor John Wilkes Booth Stabbed But Recovers: Albany, NY – Mr. John Wilkes Booth, the Shakespearean Actor is recovering from face wounds suffered at the hands of actress Henrietta Irving. According to one account, the cause stems from unreturned affection.
Writers Notebook:
Following up on last week's writing tip from Shakespeare, Twain and Hemingway.
I’d like to share with you a portion of that tip, that turned into an experience. It had to do with dredging up memories from my childhood. I had often thought about doing it, I would think about a scene from out of the past; which would last for only a fleeting moment and then it would disappear.
Then I thought, what if I could control those moments and make them more consistent. So I decided to do a test and work on my memory project for ten or fifteen minutes in the morning, five or six days a week. I had no idea what would turn up that first morning, maybe a blank, but I was determined to give it a try.
And to my surprise I got something on paper that first morning. Will it happen again tomorrow? As it turned out it did and over a period of three months I came up with the framework of thirty short stories.
I believe what made it work was something I learned from Shakespeare, Twain and Hemingway. How to reach inside yourself and bring something out of your subconscious that your conscious mind wasn't aware of. Some might rather call it your sixth sense, but no matter what you call it, it's there so why not use it.
Hemingway makes it clear in his little book ‘A Moveable Feast’ as he writes about his life in Paris during the 1920’s. He talks about his small room. Quote: “Up in that room I decided to write one story about each thing that I knew about. I was trying to do this all the time I was writing and it was good and severe discipline. It was in that room that I learned not to think about anything that I was writing from the time I stopped writing until I started again the next day. That way my subconscious mind would be working on it.”
I used Hemingway’s routine for my day to day work and in next week's Writers Notebook I'll give you one of the stories I came up with, 'The Gin House Fire.'
Tom Barnes -- Actor, Writer and Hurricane Hunter.
Check out my website for books, blogs, western legends, a literary icon, reviews and interviews. Also my novels Tungee's Gold, The Goring Collection and Doc Holliday’s Road to Tombstone along with a non fiction remembrance of The Hurricane Hunters and Lost in the Bermuda Triangle.
Facebook and Twitter
www.tombarnes39.com
www.RocktheTower.com
http://thehurricanehunter.blogspot.com
The Kentucky Derby
Triple Crown Winners
Civil War Journal – Headline News
Writers Notebook: Using the Sixth Sense.
Kentucky Derby and Triple Crown
To horse racing fans, the first Saturday in May is filled with excitement and anticipatation. The gold standard in horse racing is set at Churchill Downs with the Kentucky Derby when the best of American three year olds are tested over a mile and a quarter dirt course.
The Derby has a hundred and thirty five year old tradition and attracts more fans every year. A bonanza for Las Vegas and betting interests all over the world. But the real excitement on derby day is generated at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. Ladies hats, mint juleps, odds makers, touts and con men are all part of that great celebration of horse racing.
The Kentucky Derby is also the first leg of the Triple Crown racing series where the winner of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes becomes a champion of champions.
The Triple Crown got its start in 1919 when an unlikely three year old named Sir Barton was entered into the race. The horse had a solid pedigree and had quick early speed but little else to make him look like a potential champion.
Following is a list of the eleven Triple Crown winners: will there ever be another? We'll just have to wait and see.
Sir Barton, 1919
Although he failed to win a race as a 2-year-old, Sir Barton became the first horse to win the Triple Crown. He won the Kentucky Derby by five lengths, the Preakness by four lengths and the Belmont by five, an American record time -- 2:17 2/5.
Gallant Fox, 1930
In the year of his Triple Crown win, Gallant Fox set a single-season earnings record that stood for 16 years. He's also the only Triple Crown winner to sire another Triple Crown winner (Omaha). Jockey Earl Sande came out of retirement to ride Gallant Fox. Under Sande's excellent handling, Gallant Fox won the Wood Memorial, Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and the Belmont Stakes by three or four lengths each.
Omaha, 1935
After winning the Kentucky Derby Omaha won the Preakness by six lengths and easily won the Belmont Stakes.
War Admiral, 1937
War Admiral won all eight starts as a 3-year-old, including the Triple Crown races. In the Belmont, War Admiral stumbled near the start and sustained a hoof injusy, but despite the injury he won by 3 lengths and equaled the track record.
Whirlaway, 1941
Not only did Whirlaway capture the Triple Crown, he won horse of the year twice.
Count Fleet, 1943
In 15 starts as a 2-year-old, Count Fleet was never out of the money. And he did even better as a 3-year-old, winning the Kentucky Derby by 3 lengths, the Preakness by 8, and the Belmont by 25, all with John Longden aboard.
Assault, 1946
Assault, who raced for 6 years, won the Kentucky Derby by eight lengths, the Preakness by a neck and the Belmont by three lengths over Natchez.
Citation, 1948
The first horse to earn more than a million dollars, Citation still holds the record for earning the most stakes races in a year, with 17 in 1948. Citation, was ridden by Eddie Arcaro.
Secretariat, 1973
Secretariat won horse of the Year at 2 and 3, Secretariat in '73 became the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years. He set track records in each of the three classics, including coming from last place to win the Kentucky Derby; coming from last to first on the first turn of the Preakness; and winning the Belmont by 31 lengths.
Seattle Slew, 1977
Seattle Slew was 'a real stud' in every sense of the word. On the track, he was a champion at 2, 3 and 4, and won the Triple Crown in '77.
Affirmed, 1978
It was one of horse racing's greatest rivalries. Affirmed edged out Alydar in each of the Triple Crown races in 1978.
Will 2010 be the year that produced a Triple Crown champion? The watch and wait game begins this Saturday at Churchill Downs.
Civil War Journal: Headline news for the latter days of April, 1861
Virginia Approves Secession: Richmond, Va. The state convention of Virginia, wealthiest and most populas of the slave states, has voted overwhelmingly for secession.
President Lincoln's Request for 75,000 New Troops is being met.
Lee Accepts Virginia Command: Richmond, Va. Mr. Robert E. Lee, late US colonel of cavelry, has accepted command of Virginia Forces.
Actor John Wilkes Booth Stabbed But Recovers: Albany, NY – Mr. John Wilkes Booth, the Shakespearean Actor is recovering from face wounds suffered at the hands of actress Henrietta Irving. According to one account, the cause stems from unreturned affection.
Writers Notebook:
Following up on last week's writing tip from Shakespeare, Twain and Hemingway.
I’d like to share with you a portion of that tip, that turned into an experience. It had to do with dredging up memories from my childhood. I had often thought about doing it, I would think about a scene from out of the past; which would last for only a fleeting moment and then it would disappear.
Then I thought, what if I could control those moments and make them more consistent. So I decided to do a test and work on my memory project for ten or fifteen minutes in the morning, five or six days a week. I had no idea what would turn up that first morning, maybe a blank, but I was determined to give it a try.
And to my surprise I got something on paper that first morning. Will it happen again tomorrow? As it turned out it did and over a period of three months I came up with the framework of thirty short stories.
I believe what made it work was something I learned from Shakespeare, Twain and Hemingway. How to reach inside yourself and bring something out of your subconscious that your conscious mind wasn't aware of. Some might rather call it your sixth sense, but no matter what you call it, it's there so why not use it.
Hemingway makes it clear in his little book ‘A Moveable Feast’ as he writes about his life in Paris during the 1920’s. He talks about his small room. Quote: “Up in that room I decided to write one story about each thing that I knew about. I was trying to do this all the time I was writing and it was good and severe discipline. It was in that room that I learned not to think about anything that I was writing from the time I stopped writing until I started again the next day. That way my subconscious mind would be working on it.”
I used Hemingway’s routine for my day to day work and in next week's Writers Notebook I'll give you one of the stories I came up with, 'The Gin House Fire.'
Tom Barnes -- Actor, Writer and Hurricane Hunter.
Check out my website for books, blogs, western legends, a literary icon, reviews and interviews. Also my novels Tungee's Gold, The Goring Collection and Doc Holliday’s Road to Tombstone along with a non fiction remembrance of The Hurricane Hunters and Lost in the Bermuda Triangle.
Facebook and Twitter
www.tombarnes39.com
www.RocktheTower.com
http://thehurricanehunter.blogspot.com
April 21, 2010
Wichita, Winds of War and Famous Writers
This Week
The Goring Collection
Civil War Journal
Writers Notebook: Shakespeare, Twain and Hemingway
Jacob Meyers talks with ex CIA agent
During the long bus ride Jacob was haunted by one decision he had made, that of leaving Luke, his CIA contact, out of the process. They had established a good working relationship over the years and Jacob was sure that Luke would have provided him with a safe house, but even with his best intentions the case would eventually be taken out of the agents hands and wind up on some bureaucrats’ desk at Langley. He did not trust bureaucrats or their decision-making process. So instead of taking that chance, Jacob decided to call Tom Brannan an ex CIA connection he had maintained for more than a decade. They first met when Tom Brannan picked him at the Reno, Nevada airport and flew him to a clandestine meeting in Northern Idaho, a hunting lodge, near the Canadian border. And from that first mission a cordial and trusting relationship had developed between the two men.
Jacob stepped off the bus in Oklahoma City, and immediately called the ex CIA man in Wichita and set up a meeting for the following day. Jacob got a warm and sympathetic reception from Tom Brannan. Their talks and planning sessions leading to Jacob’s new identity, which included a social security card reflecting his original name, lasted for more than two weeks.
It was August of 1974 and the weather was hot in Wichita, but not nearly so hot as it was in Washington, D.C. Richard M. Nixon had just resigned the presidency and the picture on Tom Brannan’s television was of the ex president waving to the press as he boarded a helicopter on the South Lawn of the White House. The picture of Nixon with his arms up in a V seemed to freeze in place as Tom hit the TV off button and turned to
Jacob. “Well, they finally got him, the lefties. Maybe he should have burned those damned tapes.”
“Maybe,” Jacob said, “but if you ask me, Nixon got too wrapped up in his own importance, got a bit too arrogant.”
“I won’t disagree with that,” Tom Brannan said. “Now, Jacob let’s get back to your problem. That resume we made up might get you a teaching job and possibly a place on the lecture circuit, however I suspect that much travel might give you a little too much exposure.”
Jacob grinned soberly. “That’s my thinking, Tom.”
Tom Brannan pursed his lips and said, “I have an idea. It just so happens that I know a group of patriotic activist in New York that is in the process of forming a political watchdog group. And I have a feeling, Jacob that you might fit very nicely into their program.”
Civil War Journal:
With 33 hours of continuous pounding Fort Sumter was almost reduced to rubble. The irony however, was that to the man the garrison had survived without a fatality.
Without resupplies Major Anderson and his men could hold out no longer and on the afternoon of the second day arrangements were made for Anderson and his men to leave Sumter the following day with their arms, personal baggage and a last salute to the US flag.
Headline News.
As Major Robert Anderson prepares to evacuate this afternoon President Lincoln and his cabinet ready a call for troops to suppress “rebellion.”
The naval expedition sent by President Lincoln to aid Sumter failed: the Baltic, Harriet Lane arrived as the shooting began, but neither moved in, awaiting the others; the Pawnee initially refused to move in, changed its mind, then was dissuaded. The tug Uncle Ben was driven by a storm into Wilmington, North Carolina. Winds buffeted the tug Yankee past Charleston to Savannah. The Tug Freedom never left New York because squeamish owners and Secretary of State Seward altered its course and sent the tug to Fort Pickens, a fact unknown to the Sumter relief force.
Cahos and the prevailing winds of war were in full view.
The Sabbath fell on the third day of hostilities and on that Sunday morning South Carolina was filled with a kind of feverish activity – no one knew what that cannon exchange between US and Confederate forces would lead to. Everyone was anxious to know what Washington's reaction was going to be?
Writers Notebook:
Great artist’s and writer’s plumb experience from their subconscious. Mark Twain confided to the world on many occasions that he never worked a day in his life. All his humor and writings were due to the fact that he tapped the inexhaustible reservoir of his subconscious mind.
Shakespeare might not have been aware of the subconscious, but he put it this way. ‘Your thoughts write on the inside, which performs experience on the outside.’
Hemingway goes a step farther in his little book ‘A Moveable Feast’ as he writes about his life in Paris during the 1920’s. ‘… It was in that room that I learned not to think about anything that I was writing from the time I stopped writing until I started again the next day. That way my subconscious mind would be working on it.’
Tom Barnes -- Actor, Writer and Hurricane Hunter.
Check out my website for books, blogs, western legends, a literary icon, reviews and interviews. Also my novels Tungee's Gold, The Goring Collection and Doc Holliday’s Road to Tombstone along with a non fiction remembrance of The Hurricane Hunters and Lost in the Bermuda Triangle.
Facebook and Twitter
www.tombarnes39.com
www.RocktheTower.com
http://thehurricanehunter.blogspot.com
The Goring Collection
Civil War Journal
Writers Notebook: Shakespeare, Twain and Hemingway
Jacob Meyers talks with ex CIA agent
During the long bus ride Jacob was haunted by one decision he had made, that of leaving Luke, his CIA contact, out of the process. They had established a good working relationship over the years and Jacob was sure that Luke would have provided him with a safe house, but even with his best intentions the case would eventually be taken out of the agents hands and wind up on some bureaucrats’ desk at Langley. He did not trust bureaucrats or their decision-making process. So instead of taking that chance, Jacob decided to call Tom Brannan an ex CIA connection he had maintained for more than a decade. They first met when Tom Brannan picked him at the Reno, Nevada airport and flew him to a clandestine meeting in Northern Idaho, a hunting lodge, near the Canadian border. And from that first mission a cordial and trusting relationship had developed between the two men.
Jacob stepped off the bus in Oklahoma City, and immediately called the ex CIA man in Wichita and set up a meeting for the following day. Jacob got a warm and sympathetic reception from Tom Brannan. Their talks and planning sessions leading to Jacob’s new identity, which included a social security card reflecting his original name, lasted for more than two weeks.
It was August of 1974 and the weather was hot in Wichita, but not nearly so hot as it was in Washington, D.C. Richard M. Nixon had just resigned the presidency and the picture on Tom Brannan’s television was of the ex president waving to the press as he boarded a helicopter on the South Lawn of the White House. The picture of Nixon with his arms up in a V seemed to freeze in place as Tom hit the TV off button and turned to
Jacob. “Well, they finally got him, the lefties. Maybe he should have burned those damned tapes.”
“Maybe,” Jacob said, “but if you ask me, Nixon got too wrapped up in his own importance, got a bit too arrogant.”
“I won’t disagree with that,” Tom Brannan said. “Now, Jacob let’s get back to your problem. That resume we made up might get you a teaching job and possibly a place on the lecture circuit, however I suspect that much travel might give you a little too much exposure.”
Jacob grinned soberly. “That’s my thinking, Tom.”
Tom Brannan pursed his lips and said, “I have an idea. It just so happens that I know a group of patriotic activist in New York that is in the process of forming a political watchdog group. And I have a feeling, Jacob that you might fit very nicely into their program.”
Civil War Journal:
With 33 hours of continuous pounding Fort Sumter was almost reduced to rubble. The irony however, was that to the man the garrison had survived without a fatality.
Without resupplies Major Anderson and his men could hold out no longer and on the afternoon of the second day arrangements were made for Anderson and his men to leave Sumter the following day with their arms, personal baggage and a last salute to the US flag.
Headline News.
As Major Robert Anderson prepares to evacuate this afternoon President Lincoln and his cabinet ready a call for troops to suppress “rebellion.”
The naval expedition sent by President Lincoln to aid Sumter failed: the Baltic, Harriet Lane arrived as the shooting began, but neither moved in, awaiting the others; the Pawnee initially refused to move in, changed its mind, then was dissuaded. The tug Uncle Ben was driven by a storm into Wilmington, North Carolina. Winds buffeted the tug Yankee past Charleston to Savannah. The Tug Freedom never left New York because squeamish owners and Secretary of State Seward altered its course and sent the tug to Fort Pickens, a fact unknown to the Sumter relief force.
Cahos and the prevailing winds of war were in full view.
The Sabbath fell on the third day of hostilities and on that Sunday morning South Carolina was filled with a kind of feverish activity – no one knew what that cannon exchange between US and Confederate forces would lead to. Everyone was anxious to know what Washington's reaction was going to be?
Writers Notebook:
Great artist’s and writer’s plumb experience from their subconscious. Mark Twain confided to the world on many occasions that he never worked a day in his life. All his humor and writings were due to the fact that he tapped the inexhaustible reservoir of his subconscious mind.
Shakespeare might not have been aware of the subconscious, but he put it this way. ‘Your thoughts write on the inside, which performs experience on the outside.’
Hemingway goes a step farther in his little book ‘A Moveable Feast’ as he writes about his life in Paris during the 1920’s. ‘… It was in that room that I learned not to think about anything that I was writing from the time I stopped writing until I started again the next day. That way my subconscious mind would be working on it.’
Tom Barnes -- Actor, Writer and Hurricane Hunter.
Check out my website for books, blogs, western legends, a literary icon, reviews and interviews. Also my novels Tungee's Gold, The Goring Collection and Doc Holliday’s Road to Tombstone along with a non fiction remembrance of The Hurricane Hunters and Lost in the Bermuda Triangle.
Facebook and Twitter
www.tombarnes39.com
www.RocktheTower.com
http://thehurricanehunter.blogspot.com
April 14, 2010
Civil War begins at Charleston and Jacob Turns
This Week
Civil War Journal
The Goring Collection
Charleston Harbor April 12, 1861
4:30 am
Fire leaped from the ten inch mortar, silhouetting the grim faced Confederate Officers and men who had just pulled the cork from a bottle of bitters that had brewed for more than thirty years. The first shell burst with resounding authority a hundred feet above Fort Sumter. All the dialogue and speeches from the pot bellied stove affairs to the sacred senate chambers in Washington had come down to this dawnless morning in Charleston Harbor.
Every living thing seemed to stir not quite awake and still not quite in sleep. The robin stirred on a moss covered oak limb and cocked his head in the direction of this man made fury.
But for the flashes of light exploding from guns around the harbor ; the day, with the help of haze and patchy ground fog, almost resists beginning. The dark gives way to light so grudgingly that one would have thought nature had grown too old and forgot time was one of her responsibilities.
The day did come, however, and out of the crumbled and dusty insides of Fort Sumter came the US answer to the Confederate gunners. At 7:30 am the Sumter silence was broken and Major Anderson's men gave back the fire in kind.
The guns from both sides were fired in a methodical manor with what seemed to be a deliberate lake of speed and accuracy.
As the day wore on telegraph keys began to click out the news to the countryside both north and south US and Confederate.
The news in some places was received in stony silence while in others there was wild jubilation.
And while there was some damaged and fires caused by the guns in the immediate harbor area there was little the worse for ware except for human emotions.
Mrs. Chestnut wrote in her diary, 'Do you know – after all that noise – and our tears and prayers, nobody's been hurt. Sound and fury signifying nothing, a delusion and a snare!'
As a crimson sunset changes into night dark clouds form in the west and by mid evening rain drops began pelting down on Charleston.
The guns from both sides borrow from nature's rhythm, and continue to pound out an overture to a war.
'The Goring Collection'
Excerpt: Jacob's stand at Fisherman's Wharf
And while those words from the Declaration of Independence rang loud and clear, the words of Karl Marx were now sounding hollow and thin. However, the question Jacob needed to answer was not so simple -- what did he intend to do regarding his new feelings about democracy? It was a slow and agonizing process, and while he had not completely renounced communism, he decided that it was time to formulate a plan in the event that he ever made the decision to turn. Then over the next few months Jacob explored a half dozen different scenarios including possible talks with his KGB and CIA contacts. In the end though, he took one central idea and worked a plan out in meticulous detail, which included a checklist of what he needed to take along and what could be left behind.
The irony of it all was that during that period, of evaluation and soul searching, the KGB assigned him a new contact code-name Isaac. Their first meeting was set for Fisherman’s Wharf. When Jacob got there, he broke into a wide smile as he hurried across the room. Then he stood for a moment before grabbing Alexei's hand and pulling him into a bear hug. "How did you arrange this?" Jacob asked. But even before Alexei spoke, he felt a chill in the air. Something was wrong.
"I had nothing to do with the arrangement." Then the heavyset Alexei said bluntly. "Someone higher up suggested that I have a talk with you, Jacob."
"About what?" Jacob asked incredulously.
Alexei sat for a long moment chewing on the stub of an unlit cigar. "Your dedication to the cause, Jacob."
"What? How can you say a thing like that?" Jacob said as his stomach churned and he thought they must have been reading my mind.
"Jacob, I'm only telling you what has been reported to the top. None of us live in a vacuum. We are always watched and monitored. And you, Jacob get extra scrutiny. You are supposed to be the leader in the distribution of socialist ideas."
"You are telling me something I don't already know," Jacob, said irately, "that is my mission."
“Yes, well there are reports that your lectures both in the classroom and on the circuit are becoming something less than effective.” Alexei chuckled, “Some believe that the ideology has become contaminated by your Western experience."
"That's an outrageous lie, Alexei," Jacob said without conviction.
"It's not for me to say, Jacob." Then Alexei moved closer. "Now this is not official, but I believe Moscow is very close to a decision."
"A decision? About what?" Jacob demanded.
"To have you recalled to Moscow, for reevaluation, and your pallid lectures are only one part of your problem."
"What do you mean?"
With riveting eyes and a harsh whisper Alexei explained. "There is a rumor floating about that suggests that you may have turned.”
"My God!"
"Well, I wouldn't know any thing about that," Alexei said with mock humor.
Following Alexei's departure Jacob meandered around the wharf for an hour filled with a mixture of anxiety and exhilaration. The shock of a possible recall to Moscow left him with a kind of nervous excitement. Jacob had never been prone to erratic behavior, but Alexei’s words had served as a wake up call and jarred him out of his complacency. Lectures, parties and diplomatic functions had become a comfortable way of life filled with all style and no substance. Deep down Jacob knew he was in a rut and going nowhere. It had become obvious to him that that the Soviet Union and the great socialist experiment had failed. But what weighed heavily on Jacob's mind was the question of his own commitment to a new life. Had he truly renounced the communist system or was he simply jumping ship? Of course he had worked out a plan and everything was in place, with one exception, a timetable. Now, it appeared that Alexei had provided that last element and Jacob made the decision to take advantage of it.
He hurried toward his apartment but stopped on the way, stuffed some coins into a pay phone and dialed the Santa Barbara number. The phone rang and Natalie came on the line. Jacob talked in low tones. “You were right all along, Natalie. I was the stubborn fool.”
“What are you talking about, Jacob?”
“Communism! I’m finished with it.”
Natalie laughed and asked, “What have you been drinking, Jacob?”
“I’m serious, Natalie. I’ve decided to turn and become a bona fide American.”
Then after a quiet sob, and a deep breath, Natalie said with a smile in her voice. “It may not be proper over the phone, but I’d like to propose a toast. Here’s to my brother, the real Jacob Meyers that I always knew was there.” Then she stammered. “Wha…what are you going to do, Jacob?”
“I have a plan worked out and don’t worry about my personal safety. I’ll be all right, but for the time being I need to drop out of sight.”
"I've prayed for this day, Jacob, now please be careful," Natalie said tearfully.
"I'll do my best. Now I've got to run." As soon as he hung up the phone he raced back to the apartment and quickly packed up his papers and an overnight bag, turned out the lights, walked to the dock and took the ferry to Oakland. There he purchased a one-way bus ticket to Oklahoma City.
(To be continued)
Writers Notebook:
This is reinforcement for last week's logline theme.
The next time you prepare to write a query or even an email use the mindset you put in place when writing a log line.
Use the three T’s as an anchor. Tight, Terse, Telling.
You might also think of a slogan Thomas Jefferson used in his everyday writing.
‘The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.’
Jefferson used that advice in the Declaration of Independence, which he wrote:
‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
Tom Barnes -- Actor, Writer and Hurricane Hunter.
Check out my website for books, blogs, western legends, a literary icon, reviews and interviews. Also my novels Tungee's Gold, The Goring Collection and Doc Holliday’s Road to Tombstone along with a non fiction remembrance of The Hurricane Hunters and Lost in the Bermuda Triangle.
Facebook and Twitter
www.tombarnes39.com
www.RocktheTower.com
http://thehurricanehunter.blogspot.com
Civil War Journal
The Goring Collection
Charleston Harbor April 12, 1861
4:30 am
Fire leaped from the ten inch mortar, silhouetting the grim faced Confederate Officers and men who had just pulled the cork from a bottle of bitters that had brewed for more than thirty years. The first shell burst with resounding authority a hundred feet above Fort Sumter. All the dialogue and speeches from the pot bellied stove affairs to the sacred senate chambers in Washington had come down to this dawnless morning in Charleston Harbor.
Every living thing seemed to stir not quite awake and still not quite in sleep. The robin stirred on a moss covered oak limb and cocked his head in the direction of this man made fury.
But for the flashes of light exploding from guns around the harbor ; the day, with the help of haze and patchy ground fog, almost resists beginning. The dark gives way to light so grudgingly that one would have thought nature had grown too old and forgot time was one of her responsibilities.
The day did come, however, and out of the crumbled and dusty insides of Fort Sumter came the US answer to the Confederate gunners. At 7:30 am the Sumter silence was broken and Major Anderson's men gave back the fire in kind.
The guns from both sides were fired in a methodical manor with what seemed to be a deliberate lake of speed and accuracy.
As the day wore on telegraph keys began to click out the news to the countryside both north and south US and Confederate.
The news in some places was received in stony silence while in others there was wild jubilation.
And while there was some damaged and fires caused by the guns in the immediate harbor area there was little the worse for ware except for human emotions.
Mrs. Chestnut wrote in her diary, 'Do you know – after all that noise – and our tears and prayers, nobody's been hurt. Sound and fury signifying nothing, a delusion and a snare!'
As a crimson sunset changes into night dark clouds form in the west and by mid evening rain drops began pelting down on Charleston.
The guns from both sides borrow from nature's rhythm, and continue to pound out an overture to a war.
'The Goring Collection'
Excerpt: Jacob's stand at Fisherman's Wharf
And while those words from the Declaration of Independence rang loud and clear, the words of Karl Marx were now sounding hollow and thin. However, the question Jacob needed to answer was not so simple -- what did he intend to do regarding his new feelings about democracy? It was a slow and agonizing process, and while he had not completely renounced communism, he decided that it was time to formulate a plan in the event that he ever made the decision to turn. Then over the next few months Jacob explored a half dozen different scenarios including possible talks with his KGB and CIA contacts. In the end though, he took one central idea and worked a plan out in meticulous detail, which included a checklist of what he needed to take along and what could be left behind.
The irony of it all was that during that period, of evaluation and soul searching, the KGB assigned him a new contact code-name Isaac. Their first meeting was set for Fisherman’s Wharf. When Jacob got there, he broke into a wide smile as he hurried across the room. Then he stood for a moment before grabbing Alexei's hand and pulling him into a bear hug. "How did you arrange this?" Jacob asked. But even before Alexei spoke, he felt a chill in the air. Something was wrong.
"I had nothing to do with the arrangement." Then the heavyset Alexei said bluntly. "Someone higher up suggested that I have a talk with you, Jacob."
"About what?" Jacob asked incredulously.
Alexei sat for a long moment chewing on the stub of an unlit cigar. "Your dedication to the cause, Jacob."
"What? How can you say a thing like that?" Jacob said as his stomach churned and he thought they must have been reading my mind.
"Jacob, I'm only telling you what has been reported to the top. None of us live in a vacuum. We are always watched and monitored. And you, Jacob get extra scrutiny. You are supposed to be the leader in the distribution of socialist ideas."
"You are telling me something I don't already know," Jacob, said irately, "that is my mission."
“Yes, well there are reports that your lectures both in the classroom and on the circuit are becoming something less than effective.” Alexei chuckled, “Some believe that the ideology has become contaminated by your Western experience."
"That's an outrageous lie, Alexei," Jacob said without conviction.
"It's not for me to say, Jacob." Then Alexei moved closer. "Now this is not official, but I believe Moscow is very close to a decision."
"A decision? About what?" Jacob demanded.
"To have you recalled to Moscow, for reevaluation, and your pallid lectures are only one part of your problem."
"What do you mean?"
With riveting eyes and a harsh whisper Alexei explained. "There is a rumor floating about that suggests that you may have turned.”
"My God!"
"Well, I wouldn't know any thing about that," Alexei said with mock humor.
Following Alexei's departure Jacob meandered around the wharf for an hour filled with a mixture of anxiety and exhilaration. The shock of a possible recall to Moscow left him with a kind of nervous excitement. Jacob had never been prone to erratic behavior, but Alexei’s words had served as a wake up call and jarred him out of his complacency. Lectures, parties and diplomatic functions had become a comfortable way of life filled with all style and no substance. Deep down Jacob knew he was in a rut and going nowhere. It had become obvious to him that that the Soviet Union and the great socialist experiment had failed. But what weighed heavily on Jacob's mind was the question of his own commitment to a new life. Had he truly renounced the communist system or was he simply jumping ship? Of course he had worked out a plan and everything was in place, with one exception, a timetable. Now, it appeared that Alexei had provided that last element and Jacob made the decision to take advantage of it.
He hurried toward his apartment but stopped on the way, stuffed some coins into a pay phone and dialed the Santa Barbara number. The phone rang and Natalie came on the line. Jacob talked in low tones. “You were right all along, Natalie. I was the stubborn fool.”
“What are you talking about, Jacob?”
“Communism! I’m finished with it.”
Natalie laughed and asked, “What have you been drinking, Jacob?”
“I’m serious, Natalie. I’ve decided to turn and become a bona fide American.”
Then after a quiet sob, and a deep breath, Natalie said with a smile in her voice. “It may not be proper over the phone, but I’d like to propose a toast. Here’s to my brother, the real Jacob Meyers that I always knew was there.” Then she stammered. “Wha…what are you going to do, Jacob?”
“I have a plan worked out and don’t worry about my personal safety. I’ll be all right, but for the time being I need to drop out of sight.”
"I've prayed for this day, Jacob, now please be careful," Natalie said tearfully.
"I'll do my best. Now I've got to run." As soon as he hung up the phone he raced back to the apartment and quickly packed up his papers and an overnight bag, turned out the lights, walked to the dock and took the ferry to Oakland. There he purchased a one-way bus ticket to Oklahoma City.
(To be continued)
Writers Notebook:
This is reinforcement for last week's logline theme.
The next time you prepare to write a query or even an email use the mindset you put in place when writing a log line.
Use the three T’s as an anchor. Tight, Terse, Telling.
You might also think of a slogan Thomas Jefferson used in his everyday writing.
‘The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.’
Jefferson used that advice in the Declaration of Independence, which he wrote:
‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
Tom Barnes -- Actor, Writer and Hurricane Hunter.
Check out my website for books, blogs, western legends, a literary icon, reviews and interviews. Also my novels Tungee's Gold, The Goring Collection and Doc Holliday’s Road to Tombstone along with a non fiction remembrance of The Hurricane Hunters and Lost in the Bermuda Triangle.
Facebook and Twitter
www.tombarnes39.com
www.RocktheTower.com
http://thehurricanehunter.blogspot.com
April 10, 2010
From Caribbean to Tokyo Bay
This Week
Pacific War Ends
Neptune replaces Privateer
Masters Field, Miami, Florida
The large board in the operations office was our scorecard as it kept tabs on hurricane activities for the current season. So far we had had one Category 3 hurricane and two Tropical Storms. One storm was spawned in the Eastern Caribbean and two in the West. The third storm listed was the one our crew observed down in the Eastern Caribbean, which had originated on August 1st. When we observed Tropical Storm III on the 2nd of August, we reported winds of 57 mph. That particular storm generated few headlines for just two days later it made landfall on the southern shore of the Dominican Republic where it fell apart and while it produced heavy rains and some flooding, fortunately the storm did little wind damage.
There wasn’t much conversation in the squadron about the war in the pacific. I guess it was generally accepted that we were winning although the Japanese were tenaciously holding on and didn’t seem inclined to give up.
However, things began to change on August 6th when one of our B-29’s dropped an atomic bomb, on the city of Hiroshima in Southern Japan. That was a shock to the world with its power and the devastation it caused. But it took one more atomic bomb delivered to the city of Nagasaki on August 9th to convince the Japanese that it was over.
The following week Time magazine carried on its cover an orange sun crossed out in black. Inside was a three-page section written by James Agee entitled “The Bomb”.
The article read: The greatest and most terrible of wars ended, this week, in the echoes of an enormous event – an event so much more enormous that, relative to it, the war itself shrank to minor significance.
After reading that last line I thought – why that ivory tower horses ass. Tell that to the thousands of families that have lost loved ones in the war.
The fourth event of the season started out as a tropical depression reported on August 17th in the Eastern Caribbean off the Leeward Islands. Squadron 114’s first contact with the storm was made some ninety miles southeast of St. Croix. Once the parameters and direction was established, they flashed warnings to St. Croix, St. Thomas, Puerto Rico and all other stations in the Virgin Island chain.
The following day a second patrol unit intercepted the now designated Tropical Storm IV’s path as it beat its way toward the Southern Bahamas packing winds of sixty miles per hour. The storm continued unabated past Turks Island, Acklins Island and Albert Town where its progress stalled for nearly twenty-four hours. A high-pressure ridge had moved in on a line approximately north northeast and south southwest of George Town. And for some reason¸ possibly having to do with the pressure system and erratic upper winds, the storm lost its forward momentum on August 21st where it stalled and fell apart in the Southern Bahamas.
When that good news arrived I figured we’d have a week or two to enjoy some of Miami’s nightlife. As it turned out though, that idea was short lived because on August 24th news coming out of the west reported a tropical depression had formed in the southern part of the Gulf of Mexico in the Bay of Campeche between the Yucatan Peninsula and Veracruz.
It was an extremely slow moving storm, but eventually that fifth event of the season grew in intensity from tropical depression to become Tropical Storm V. The system made its way into the Gulf of Mexico and continued to churn north on a parallel course about a hundred miles off the east coast of Mexico. Then as it past east of Tampico it began gathering strength and when it moved over the warm gulf waters the storm winds increased in intensity to a Category 2 and it became known as Hurricane V. Then as it continued its northern course about fifty miles east of La Carbonera, over the warm Gulf waters, its wind speed increased to near 150 mph. Fortunately for the towns of Matamoros, Mexico, Brownsville, Kingsville and Corpus Christi, Texas they didn’t get direct hits since the strong right front quarter of the storm stayed over open waters. However, there was plenty of wind and water damage along the coast caused by the storm surge. The slow moving storm lingered over the Texas Coast for several days before making landfall in the vicinity of Lake Jackson. The hurricane winds diminished but the storm continued to drop tons of water on Houston and East Texas. Hurricane V caused the deaths of three people and damage was estimated at 20 million dollars.
While Hurricane V was making life miserable for the folks on the Gulf coast of Mexico and Texas to the south storm number VI was already forming in the Western Caribbean off the coast of Nicaragua near the Island of de San Andres. The storm continued on a northern course skirting the shoulder of Honduras. Then it followed the coastline about one hundred miles at sea with winds reaching 50 miles per hour. It moved along in a west northwesterly direction and made landfall on the coast of Belize, where it breached the sea wall and flooded parts of Belize City. On September 1st the storm decreased to a tropical depression. But while the winds dropped down to gale force the storm carried heavy rains and did some flooding in Northern Guatemala and Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula.
On September 2nd 1945 while Squadron 114 was concentrating on hurricanes’ the eyes of the world were on the USS Battleship Missouri, anchored in Tokyo Bay.
A Japanese delegation arrived to make their government’s unconditional surrender official. The new Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Japan, General Douglas MacArthur, directed the ceremonies. The general made a brief opening statement and then directed the Japanese representatives to sign the official documents.
Once the documents were signed for all practical purposes the Japanese government had accepted the Potsdam Declaration calling for the complete disarmament and surrender of all Japan’s military forces.
General MacArthur said, “We pray that peace be now restored to the world, that God will preserve it always. These proceedings are closed.”
With the documents signed by Japanese representatives and the pronouncement made by General MacArthur World War II had officially ended.
(To be continued)
Lockheed P2V Neptune
The US Navy originally acquired the Lockheed P2V Neptune for use as a patrol bomber and anti-submarine aircraft. The Neptune joined the Hurricane Hunters at NAS Jacksonville in 1952 and slowly replaced the PB4Y-2 Privateer.
The Neptune took over duties as the Hurricane Hunters primary aircraft stayed with the unit until 1958. Unfortunately it was during the Neptune tenure when the Hurricane Hunters experienced it’s only fatality. That loss occurred in 1955 while the plane was penetrating the eye of Hurricane Janet.
During that same year the Navy took delivery of their first Lockheed WC-121N Constellation featuring airborne radar that was far superior to any other radar system at the time.
The Neptune continued to fly missions while the Constellation came on line. The Neptune was phased out in 1958.
Neptune Specifications:
Power plant: Two Westinghouse J34-WE-36 turbojets.
Two Wright R-3350-32W Cyclone Turbo-compound radial engines.
Weight: Empty 49, 548 lbs Max takeoff wt.79, 895
Wingspan: 101 ft 4 in
Length: 91 ft 8 in
Height: 29 ft 4 in
Maximum 403 mph
Service ceiling 22, 000 ft
Range: Combat, 2, 200 mi Ferry, 4, 350 mi
Tom Barnes -- Actor, Writer and Hurricane Hunter: Check out my website for books, blogs, western legends, a literary icon, reviews and interviews. Also my novels Tungee's Gold ,The Goring Collection and Doc Holliday’s Road to Tombstone along with a nonfiction remembrance of The Hurricane Hunters and Lost in the Bermuda Triangle.
Facebook and Twitter
www.tombarnes39.com
www.RocktheTower.com
Pacific War Ends
Neptune replaces Privateer
Masters Field, Miami, Florida
The large board in the operations office was our scorecard as it kept tabs on hurricane activities for the current season. So far we had had one Category 3 hurricane and two Tropical Storms. One storm was spawned in the Eastern Caribbean and two in the West. The third storm listed was the one our crew observed down in the Eastern Caribbean, which had originated on August 1st. When we observed Tropical Storm III on the 2nd of August, we reported winds of 57 mph. That particular storm generated few headlines for just two days later it made landfall on the southern shore of the Dominican Republic where it fell apart and while it produced heavy rains and some flooding, fortunately the storm did little wind damage.
There wasn’t much conversation in the squadron about the war in the pacific. I guess it was generally accepted that we were winning although the Japanese were tenaciously holding on and didn’t seem inclined to give up.
However, things began to change on August 6th when one of our B-29’s dropped an atomic bomb, on the city of Hiroshima in Southern Japan. That was a shock to the world with its power and the devastation it caused. But it took one more atomic bomb delivered to the city of Nagasaki on August 9th to convince the Japanese that it was over.
The following week Time magazine carried on its cover an orange sun crossed out in black. Inside was a three-page section written by James Agee entitled “The Bomb”.
The article read: The greatest and most terrible of wars ended, this week, in the echoes of an enormous event – an event so much more enormous that, relative to it, the war itself shrank to minor significance.
After reading that last line I thought – why that ivory tower horses ass. Tell that to the thousands of families that have lost loved ones in the war.
The fourth event of the season started out as a tropical depression reported on August 17th in the Eastern Caribbean off the Leeward Islands. Squadron 114’s first contact with the storm was made some ninety miles southeast of St. Croix. Once the parameters and direction was established, they flashed warnings to St. Croix, St. Thomas, Puerto Rico and all other stations in the Virgin Island chain.
The following day a second patrol unit intercepted the now designated Tropical Storm IV’s path as it beat its way toward the Southern Bahamas packing winds of sixty miles per hour. The storm continued unabated past Turks Island, Acklins Island and Albert Town where its progress stalled for nearly twenty-four hours. A high-pressure ridge had moved in on a line approximately north northeast and south southwest of George Town. And for some reason¸ possibly having to do with the pressure system and erratic upper winds, the storm lost its forward momentum on August 21st where it stalled and fell apart in the Southern Bahamas.
When that good news arrived I figured we’d have a week or two to enjoy some of Miami’s nightlife. As it turned out though, that idea was short lived because on August 24th news coming out of the west reported a tropical depression had formed in the southern part of the Gulf of Mexico in the Bay of Campeche between the Yucatan Peninsula and Veracruz.
It was an extremely slow moving storm, but eventually that fifth event of the season grew in intensity from tropical depression to become Tropical Storm V. The system made its way into the Gulf of Mexico and continued to churn north on a parallel course about a hundred miles off the east coast of Mexico. Then as it past east of Tampico it began gathering strength and when it moved over the warm gulf waters the storm winds increased in intensity to a Category 2 and it became known as Hurricane V. Then as it continued its northern course about fifty miles east of La Carbonera, over the warm Gulf waters, its wind speed increased to near 150 mph. Fortunately for the towns of Matamoros, Mexico, Brownsville, Kingsville and Corpus Christi, Texas they didn’t get direct hits since the strong right front quarter of the storm stayed over open waters. However, there was plenty of wind and water damage along the coast caused by the storm surge. The slow moving storm lingered over the Texas Coast for several days before making landfall in the vicinity of Lake Jackson. The hurricane winds diminished but the storm continued to drop tons of water on Houston and East Texas. Hurricane V caused the deaths of three people and damage was estimated at 20 million dollars.
While Hurricane V was making life miserable for the folks on the Gulf coast of Mexico and Texas to the south storm number VI was already forming in the Western Caribbean off the coast of Nicaragua near the Island of de San Andres. The storm continued on a northern course skirting the shoulder of Honduras. Then it followed the coastline about one hundred miles at sea with winds reaching 50 miles per hour. It moved along in a west northwesterly direction and made landfall on the coast of Belize, where it breached the sea wall and flooded parts of Belize City. On September 1st the storm decreased to a tropical depression. But while the winds dropped down to gale force the storm carried heavy rains and did some flooding in Northern Guatemala and Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula.
On September 2nd 1945 while Squadron 114 was concentrating on hurricanes’ the eyes of the world were on the USS Battleship Missouri, anchored in Tokyo Bay.
A Japanese delegation arrived to make their government’s unconditional surrender official. The new Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Japan, General Douglas MacArthur, directed the ceremonies. The general made a brief opening statement and then directed the Japanese representatives to sign the official documents.
Once the documents were signed for all practical purposes the Japanese government had accepted the Potsdam Declaration calling for the complete disarmament and surrender of all Japan’s military forces.
General MacArthur said, “We pray that peace be now restored to the world, that God will preserve it always. These proceedings are closed.”
With the documents signed by Japanese representatives and the pronouncement made by General MacArthur World War II had officially ended.
(To be continued)
Lockheed P2V Neptune
The US Navy originally acquired the Lockheed P2V Neptune for use as a patrol bomber and anti-submarine aircraft. The Neptune joined the Hurricane Hunters at NAS Jacksonville in 1952 and slowly replaced the PB4Y-2 Privateer.
The Neptune took over duties as the Hurricane Hunters primary aircraft stayed with the unit until 1958. Unfortunately it was during the Neptune tenure when the Hurricane Hunters experienced it’s only fatality. That loss occurred in 1955 while the plane was penetrating the eye of Hurricane Janet.
During that same year the Navy took delivery of their first Lockheed WC-121N Constellation featuring airborne radar that was far superior to any other radar system at the time.
The Neptune continued to fly missions while the Constellation came on line. The Neptune was phased out in 1958.
Neptune Specifications:
Power plant: Two Westinghouse J34-WE-36 turbojets.
Two Wright R-3350-32W Cyclone Turbo-compound radial engines.
Weight: Empty 49, 548 lbs Max takeoff wt.79, 895
Wingspan: 101 ft 4 in
Length: 91 ft 8 in
Height: 29 ft 4 in
Maximum 403 mph
Service ceiling 22, 000 ft
Range: Combat, 2, 200 mi Ferry, 4, 350 mi
Tom Barnes -- Actor, Writer and Hurricane Hunter: Check out my website for books, blogs, western legends, a literary icon, reviews and interviews. Also my novels Tungee's Gold ,The Goring Collection and Doc Holliday’s Road to Tombstone along with a nonfiction remembrance of The Hurricane Hunters and Lost in the Bermuda Triangle.
Facebook and Twitter
www.tombarnes39.com
www.RocktheTower.com
April 7, 2010
The Declaration of Independence and Schindler's List
This Week
'The Goring Collection,' Jacob begins his turn.
Writers Notebook: Loglines for Schindler's List
Part 2 'The Goring Collection' Prologue Excerpt
Jacob and Natalie Heimann were granted political asylum, taken to the United States, and spent the next two months answering questions at the CIA facility located in Langley, Virginia. The agency looked into Jacob's background and determined that he was a possible KGB plant. However, the timing was right, they needed someone from the Eastern bloc to penetrate the inner circle of the Communist Party on the West Coast. And in spite of some reservations about his possible double agent status, Jacob was hired as a West Coast operative.
The CIA offered Natalie a job with the outfit, but she let them know that she was not interested. Following their stay at Langley, Jacob and Natalie traveled to San Francisco by train and rented an apartment on Clay Street.
Jacob’s KGB contact, code-name David, setup a series of meetings to introduce him to members of the West Coast Communist establishment. The CIA assigned him an agent, code name Luke, and while walking his double agent tight rope Jacob judiciously passed along a stream of dubious information to Luke regarding the communist underground in America.
Jacob spoke perfect English, but with a European accent. And with his German and Russian language skills he quickly became a popular guest at liberal functions. Jacob accepted all the invitations he could work into his schedule and in the early days listened to a diatribe of complaints from the hate America crowd. However, he listened patiently, taking his time, and then with the help of his KGB handlers drew on his credits from Rostock University, Jacob applied for and was offered a professor's seat at the College of California at Oakland.
During the early years in America Jacob’s work with the CIA and KGB, lectures and diplomatic functions took him all over the west with Hollywood recurring most frequently on his schedule. Those Hollywood meetings were the most contentious, and oftentimes he found himself in the middle of black list controversies. Although the House Un-American Activities Committee meetings had taken place in the late forties and early fifties the fall out from those hearings was still evident in Hollywood into the late sixties.
Over time Natalie accepted the American lifestyle and even decided to become a citizen. She begged her brother to join her in the Citizenship Program. Jacob argued, but Natalie was persuasive, and eventually talked her brother into going along.
It was during that period when Natalie met and fell in love with Morton Bromfield, a young intern working at San Francisco General Hospital. When their romance progressed toward a wedding, it was decided that the ceremony would be held at Santa Barbara, the groom's hometown.
Jacob took the train down the day before the wedding and arrived in time to attend the rehearsal and have dinner with the Bromfield family. At the end of the evening he escorted his sister to her bedroom, kissed her goodnight and just before he turned to leave said, “Is the family aware of my political persuasion?”
“Only that you are a professor and speaker and that your politics tilt to the left.” Then Natalie laughed. “And I suppose they will stay that way until I can talk some sense into you.”
Jacob grinned. “You never give up, do you, Sis.” Then he walked outside and down the path toward the guesthouse. The smell of night blooming jasmine mixed with thoughts about the day’s activity and Natalie’s joyous laughter somehow gave him a sense of freedom and a feeling of exuberance that he had never experienced before.
The formal ceremony went off without a hitch and Natalie looked beautiful in her white silk and lace-wedding outfit. Jacob found time at the reception to congratulate the bride and groom. Then he meandered around and studied the guests that had gathered for the occasion. The diversity of the group was puzzling to him. A wide spectrum of politics was represented, extending from the radical left to the extreme right. He spotted one of the Hollywood ten, across the room, talking to a conservative congressman that had voted that group in contempt of congress and sent them off to jail. Jacob shook his head and mused, “Only in America.”
Someone gripped his arm and guided him toward the terrace. "Jacob, dear boy. I need a word with you."
"Tony Rockwell! What a pleasant surprise." Then Jacob stood back and said, "You're looking good."
"Looks can be deceiving, dear boy, but I had to get you alone and thank you --"
"Don't even say it. There's no need," Jacob said ruefully. "I know how you feel and extolling the subject won't change the matter one whit. It was all a bad scene. The Congressional Hearings, the Black List and all the rancor that went with it."
"I expect you're right, Jacob. But please allow me at least one observation. Of the people I've associated with on the Hollywood left, you Jacob are the only one I know that has character and integrity. Which leads me to wonder if you are truly as far left politically as you profess to be."
"I suppose I should accept that as a compliment, although I'm not sure it's deserved," Jacob said as he put his hand on Tony's shoulder and smiled. "Now, we can continue this conversation some other time, my friend, but today is a celebration, so lets go inside and have some champagne."
On his return trip to San Francisco Jacob had time to think and reflect on his experiences of the past three days. What was truly amazing to him was how he had fit right in with the Bromfield family and their friends. Then as he looked out at the California countryside he was reminded of Tony Rockwell’s remark about his political leanings. ‘…Are you truly as far left as you profess to be?’ Jacob was aware that his zest for the Communist Party was not as strong as it once was. But he hadn’t really thought it was that obvious to others.
When Jacob got back to San Francisco, he taught his classes, attended cell meetings, and kept his lecture schedule, but nothing was the same. His feelings about democracy were growing while his passion for the Marxists ideology seemed to be slowly ebbing away. He considered his new attitude toward American Democracy and tried to put a timeline on just how and when he had started to change. As near as he could judge it followed his prescribed course for citizenship, which seemed to be only an appetizer. For when he finished those studies, he began reading biographies on the Founding Fathers, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Federalist papers. Jacob believed that the most profound difference in his thinking was provided by a short phrase written by Thomas Jefferson into the Declaration of Independence:
‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.’
(To be continued)
Writers Notebook:
Loglines have got to be Tight, Terse and Telling. That two or three sentence summary is a must for screenwriters. And it is becoming more clear to me every day that narrative writers could also benefit. From articles to novels and screenplays we need a clear vision about the direction of our work and a well thought out logline could help to keep that vision in focus.
Writer Wendy Moon wrote an excellent article on the subject a few years ago using Schindler's List loglines written with three different approaches. I use Wendy's examples and add a couple of my own to illustrate the difference in word choices that, if you are not careful can lead to a bland result.
As tempting as it is to cram every bit of information you possibly can into two sentences, it's not an effective approach. Here's an example:
SCHINDLER'S LIST, drama: Oskar Schindler is a social-climbing, avaricious businessman and playboy who doesn't seem to care for anyone but himself. But when he witnesses atrocities as the Nazis drive the Jews out of a ghetto, he becomes an unusual humanitarian against his own better judgment. Devoted to ingratiating himself with the Nazi brass in order to get war supply contracts, he still feels that he must protect the Jews by hiring only them for his factory so they can work and not be deported to the camps where they will certainly die. This script is adapted from the true life story of Oskar Schindler who managed to employ around 1,100 Jews and thus saved them from being gassed at the Auschwitz concentration camp. This story will make everyone realize that good exists even in those we don't think about compassion at all. 144 words!! Now, it tells the story but it weakens it by telling us far too much.
Here's one written by Harald Mayr from Internet Movie Database.
SCHINDLER'S LIST, drama: "Oskar Schindler is a vain, glorious and greedy German businessman who becomes unlikely humanitarian amid the barbaric Nazi reign when he feels compelled to turn his factory into a refuge for Jews. Based on the true story of Oskar Schindler who managed to save about 1,100 Jews from being gassed at the Auschwitz concentration camp. A testament for the good in all of us."
This summary cuts out a lot of details and comes in at 66 words. It's good but it could still be shorter, and it lacked a sense of urgency.
Here are a couple of thoughts to keep in mind – enthusiasm and pace.
We've quoted Ernest Hemingway a number of times in Writers Notebook and while working on your logline his terse writing style wouldn't be a bad model to follow.
Here are two short loglines that give us stark examples of word choices: the first comes in at 32 words the second at 38.
Schindler's List, drama: The true story of Austrian industrialist Oskar Schindler, who harbored Polish Jews during WWII by using them as workers in his factory. Schindler saved 1,100 Jews from certain death.
SCHINDLER'S LIST, drama: A playboy manufacturer rescues 1,100 Jews from certain death. Appalled by atrocities in Nazi Germany, he hoodwinks the Nazi brass and converts his factory into a refuge for Jews. Based on Oskar Schindler's true story.
The first, while shorter comes off as bland. The second, although a bit longer, actually reads faster and reflects a sense of urgency by using colorful and compelling word choices.
Now go back and read Thomas Jefferson's famous line from The Declaration of Independance.
Tom Barnes -- Actor, Writer and Hurricane Hunter -- Check out my website for books, blogs, western legends, a literary icon, reviews and interviews. Also my novels Tungee's Gold ,The Goring Collection and Doc Holliday’s Road to Tombstone along with a non fiction remembrance of The Hurricane Hunters and Lost in the Bermuda Triangle.
www.tombarnes39.com
www.RocktheTower.com
http://TheHurricaneHunter.blogspot.com
'The Goring Collection,' Jacob begins his turn.
Writers Notebook: Loglines for Schindler's List
Part 2 'The Goring Collection' Prologue Excerpt
Jacob and Natalie Heimann were granted political asylum, taken to the United States, and spent the next two months answering questions at the CIA facility located in Langley, Virginia. The agency looked into Jacob's background and determined that he was a possible KGB plant. However, the timing was right, they needed someone from the Eastern bloc to penetrate the inner circle of the Communist Party on the West Coast. And in spite of some reservations about his possible double agent status, Jacob was hired as a West Coast operative.
The CIA offered Natalie a job with the outfit, but she let them know that she was not interested. Following their stay at Langley, Jacob and Natalie traveled to San Francisco by train and rented an apartment on Clay Street.
Jacob’s KGB contact, code-name David, setup a series of meetings to introduce him to members of the West Coast Communist establishment. The CIA assigned him an agent, code name Luke, and while walking his double agent tight rope Jacob judiciously passed along a stream of dubious information to Luke regarding the communist underground in America.
Jacob spoke perfect English, but with a European accent. And with his German and Russian language skills he quickly became a popular guest at liberal functions. Jacob accepted all the invitations he could work into his schedule and in the early days listened to a diatribe of complaints from the hate America crowd. However, he listened patiently, taking his time, and then with the help of his KGB handlers drew on his credits from Rostock University, Jacob applied for and was offered a professor's seat at the College of California at Oakland.
During the early years in America Jacob’s work with the CIA and KGB, lectures and diplomatic functions took him all over the west with Hollywood recurring most frequently on his schedule. Those Hollywood meetings were the most contentious, and oftentimes he found himself in the middle of black list controversies. Although the House Un-American Activities Committee meetings had taken place in the late forties and early fifties the fall out from those hearings was still evident in Hollywood into the late sixties.
Over time Natalie accepted the American lifestyle and even decided to become a citizen. She begged her brother to join her in the Citizenship Program. Jacob argued, but Natalie was persuasive, and eventually talked her brother into going along.
It was during that period when Natalie met and fell in love with Morton Bromfield, a young intern working at San Francisco General Hospital. When their romance progressed toward a wedding, it was decided that the ceremony would be held at Santa Barbara, the groom's hometown.
Jacob took the train down the day before the wedding and arrived in time to attend the rehearsal and have dinner with the Bromfield family. At the end of the evening he escorted his sister to her bedroom, kissed her goodnight and just before he turned to leave said, “Is the family aware of my political persuasion?”
“Only that you are a professor and speaker and that your politics tilt to the left.” Then Natalie laughed. “And I suppose they will stay that way until I can talk some sense into you.”
Jacob grinned. “You never give up, do you, Sis.” Then he walked outside and down the path toward the guesthouse. The smell of night blooming jasmine mixed with thoughts about the day’s activity and Natalie’s joyous laughter somehow gave him a sense of freedom and a feeling of exuberance that he had never experienced before.
The formal ceremony went off without a hitch and Natalie looked beautiful in her white silk and lace-wedding outfit. Jacob found time at the reception to congratulate the bride and groom. Then he meandered around and studied the guests that had gathered for the occasion. The diversity of the group was puzzling to him. A wide spectrum of politics was represented, extending from the radical left to the extreme right. He spotted one of the Hollywood ten, across the room, talking to a conservative congressman that had voted that group in contempt of congress and sent them off to jail. Jacob shook his head and mused, “Only in America.”
Someone gripped his arm and guided him toward the terrace. "Jacob, dear boy. I need a word with you."
"Tony Rockwell! What a pleasant surprise." Then Jacob stood back and said, "You're looking good."
"Looks can be deceiving, dear boy, but I had to get you alone and thank you --"
"Don't even say it. There's no need," Jacob said ruefully. "I know how you feel and extolling the subject won't change the matter one whit. It was all a bad scene. The Congressional Hearings, the Black List and all the rancor that went with it."
"I expect you're right, Jacob. But please allow me at least one observation. Of the people I've associated with on the Hollywood left, you Jacob are the only one I know that has character and integrity. Which leads me to wonder if you are truly as far left politically as you profess to be."
"I suppose I should accept that as a compliment, although I'm not sure it's deserved," Jacob said as he put his hand on Tony's shoulder and smiled. "Now, we can continue this conversation some other time, my friend, but today is a celebration, so lets go inside and have some champagne."
On his return trip to San Francisco Jacob had time to think and reflect on his experiences of the past three days. What was truly amazing to him was how he had fit right in with the Bromfield family and their friends. Then as he looked out at the California countryside he was reminded of Tony Rockwell’s remark about his political leanings. ‘…Are you truly as far left as you profess to be?’ Jacob was aware that his zest for the Communist Party was not as strong as it once was. But he hadn’t really thought it was that obvious to others.
When Jacob got back to San Francisco, he taught his classes, attended cell meetings, and kept his lecture schedule, but nothing was the same. His feelings about democracy were growing while his passion for the Marxists ideology seemed to be slowly ebbing away. He considered his new attitude toward American Democracy and tried to put a timeline on just how and when he had started to change. As near as he could judge it followed his prescribed course for citizenship, which seemed to be only an appetizer. For when he finished those studies, he began reading biographies on the Founding Fathers, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Federalist papers. Jacob believed that the most profound difference in his thinking was provided by a short phrase written by Thomas Jefferson into the Declaration of Independence:
‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.’
(To be continued)
Writers Notebook:
Loglines have got to be Tight, Terse and Telling. That two or three sentence summary is a must for screenwriters. And it is becoming more clear to me every day that narrative writers could also benefit. From articles to novels and screenplays we need a clear vision about the direction of our work and a well thought out logline could help to keep that vision in focus.
Writer Wendy Moon wrote an excellent article on the subject a few years ago using Schindler's List loglines written with three different approaches. I use Wendy's examples and add a couple of my own to illustrate the difference in word choices that, if you are not careful can lead to a bland result.
As tempting as it is to cram every bit of information you possibly can into two sentences, it's not an effective approach. Here's an example:
SCHINDLER'S LIST, drama: Oskar Schindler is a social-climbing, avaricious businessman and playboy who doesn't seem to care for anyone but himself. But when he witnesses atrocities as the Nazis drive the Jews out of a ghetto, he becomes an unusual humanitarian against his own better judgment. Devoted to ingratiating himself with the Nazi brass in order to get war supply contracts, he still feels that he must protect the Jews by hiring only them for his factory so they can work and not be deported to the camps where they will certainly die. This script is adapted from the true life story of Oskar Schindler who managed to employ around 1,100 Jews and thus saved them from being gassed at the Auschwitz concentration camp. This story will make everyone realize that good exists even in those we don't think about compassion at all. 144 words!! Now, it tells the story but it weakens it by telling us far too much.
Here's one written by Harald Mayr from Internet Movie Database.
SCHINDLER'S LIST, drama: "Oskar Schindler is a vain, glorious and greedy German businessman who becomes unlikely humanitarian amid the barbaric Nazi reign when he feels compelled to turn his factory into a refuge for Jews. Based on the true story of Oskar Schindler who managed to save about 1,100 Jews from being gassed at the Auschwitz concentration camp. A testament for the good in all of us."
This summary cuts out a lot of details and comes in at 66 words. It's good but it could still be shorter, and it lacked a sense of urgency.
Here are a couple of thoughts to keep in mind – enthusiasm and pace.
We've quoted Ernest Hemingway a number of times in Writers Notebook and while working on your logline his terse writing style wouldn't be a bad model to follow.
Here are two short loglines that give us stark examples of word choices: the first comes in at 32 words the second at 38.
Schindler's List, drama: The true story of Austrian industrialist Oskar Schindler, who harbored Polish Jews during WWII by using them as workers in his factory. Schindler saved 1,100 Jews from certain death.
SCHINDLER'S LIST, drama: A playboy manufacturer rescues 1,100 Jews from certain death. Appalled by atrocities in Nazi Germany, he hoodwinks the Nazi brass and converts his factory into a refuge for Jews. Based on Oskar Schindler's true story.
The first, while shorter comes off as bland. The second, although a bit longer, actually reads faster and reflects a sense of urgency by using colorful and compelling word choices.
Now go back and read Thomas Jefferson's famous line from The Declaration of Independance.
Tom Barnes -- Actor, Writer and Hurricane Hunter -- Check out my website for books, blogs, western legends, a literary icon, reviews and interviews. Also my novels Tungee's Gold ,The Goring Collection and Doc Holliday’s Road to Tombstone along with a non fiction remembrance of The Hurricane Hunters and Lost in the Bermuda Triangle.
www.tombarnes39.com
www.RocktheTower.com
http://TheHurricaneHunter.blogspot.com
Tom's 'RocktheTower' Blog
I do a variety blog and post every Wednesday. I am an actor, writer and hurricane hunter and my subjects are generally written about those fields. During Hurricane Season I do at least one story every
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