Issue 35: What’s New

 

Published December 7, 2014

Recent memory of sunset over Hawaiian paradise to warm the spirit as winter approaches…

 

Issue 33 included a piece examining racism in 21^st century America, more specifically the recent glut of homicides committed by white policemen on unarmed African-Americans (The Underlying Cause of Death).  Since then the news has gone from bad to worse as grand juries convened in both Ferguson MO and Staten Island, NY somehow declined to deliver indictments on any charges for these tragic and wrongful deaths.  There is most definitely Something Happening Here… and What It Is, Is All Too Clear.

In the first chapter (Lightning Strikes) of my historical imagining, Happy Smith Goes to Brooklyn , Henry, the marginal, second string outfielder for the hapless Brooklyn Superbas (before they changed their name to the Dodgers) is shocked to find himself called to pinch hit in a critical game situation against the powerful, first-place Chicago Cubs.  After stepping to the plate, in Chapter Two (Eastward Ho), Happy daydreams about his invitation to try out for the Brooklyn ball club and his journey all the way from Oregon.    After a grueling trip, in Chapter Three, Henry finally arrives in New York’s palatial Pennsylvania Station and soon finds himself at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge, where he begins to understand that he’s journeyed a lot more than just 3000 miles and  is about to enter a much more complex and challenging world .  Click here for Chapter 3, The Bridge to the Future.

Peter Stark’s Astoria is the historical account of John Jacob Astor’s attempt to colonize the Pacific Northwest and establish an international fur trading post that would facilitate an unprecedented world-wide trading network at the turn of the 19th century.  Astor’s vision capitalized on the seemingly endless supply of wild game available for the taking and the relatively quick and efficient shipping lanes to the orient where an appetite for furs guaranteed a seller’s market and exorbitant profits.  That was the plan at any rate… (Click here to continue)

 

______________________________________________________________________

 

NEWS FLASH!!  National Millions March for Justice for Michael Brown and Eric Garner.  In NYC marchers are gathering in Washington Sq Park, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014, 2 PM

 

_______________________________________________________________________