Daniel R. Thorne's Blog, page 5
August 13, 2014
As bad as it is, the Kardashian book is not the problem
July 29, 2014
The Scavi – The Vatican Necropolis
July 13, 2014
Advice for Aspiring Authors – #IAD Blog Hop
June 30, 2014
New York, New York (BUT NOT FORGOTTEN – EXCERPT #5)
Barnum’s American Museum
Fire at the museum, July 13, 1865.
Barnum’s first presentation at Niblo’s, indeed his first anywhere, was the exhibition of a woman named Joice Heth, a former slave who he claimed was 161 years old, and if that wasn’t impressive enough, had been personal nanny to George Washington.
Crowds flocked to see the aged specimen who, despite the prestige and regard that one might imagine should have been her due if such distinctions had been valid, was in sincerely poor conditi...
June 29, 2014
New York, New York (BUT NOT FORGOTTEN – EXCERPT #4)
Niblo’s Garden
The Black Crook (1866) at Niblo’s Garden.
One of the producers of William Macready’s fateful Astor Place performance was William Niblo, a man who was already by that time a giant of New York entertainment. The Astor Place Opera House itself had in fact been built, at least in part, to compete with his eponymous Niblo’s Suburban Pleasure Garden (or more often, simply “Niblo’s Garden”), the most popular and glamorous entertainment spot in New York.
The Garden began as just that; a...
June 28, 2014
New York, New York (BUT NOT FORGOTTEN – EXCERPT #3)
“Dis-Astor Place”
Astor Place Riot, May 10th, 1849.
By the middle of the 1800s the Revolutionary War was long over, but in the sixty-six years that had passed between its end and the events of May the 10th, 1849 the tensions and resentment against America’s former rulers had departed the political and the revolutionary realms (the War of 1812 having settled the militaristic question between the two nations once and for all) and, at least among the theatre-going citizens of New York City, had be...
June 27, 2014
New York, New York (BUT NOT FORGOTTEN – EXCERPT #2)
The Old Federal Capital
The inauguration of George Washington.
The years following the end of the American Revolution were a chaotic time to say the least. Though the war had been won in 1783 and a loose government had been set up under the Articles of Confederation, the nation was still struggling to establish itself by the time the Constitution was signed in 1787, and though that document did provide for a district to be set up for the seat of the national government, it failed to specify whe...
June 26, 2014
New York, New York (BUT NOT FORGOTTEN – EXCERPT #1)
New York, New York
Lower Manhattan c. 1850, from a painting by Theodore Muller.
New York City is, though I could hardly be the first to say so, a truly remarkable place. The three little words conjure up hundreds of mythic images in the minds of millions around the globe, immortalized in thousands upon thousands of books, movies, photographs, and songs. Modern New York, Jazz Age New York, vaudeville New York, gangster New York, Broadway New York, business New York, ’20s ’30s ’40s ’50s ’60s ’70s...
Update!
Hey everybody,
Things are going well with the new book, making a lot of progress. This message is just to say that for the next five days, I’ll be uploading some excerpts, the first five sections that I’ve got done for the New York chapter. Hope you’ll all enjoy them, and don’t forget to “like” or subscribe for more.
:)
May 29, 2014
BNF Update! Pictures!
Hi everyone,
So things are going along steadily with But Not Forgotten. The chapter on New York is really taking shape, and I’ve come across some very cool stuff for the lost film section, plus a whole lot the other day about art and art heists. I’m really excited to start posting excerpts once I get these bits finished, but until then I thought I’d post up about a dozen pictures that represent and kind of hint at some of the sections that I’ll be uploading for previews.
Enjoy!
In no particular...
