I wake up before dawn and heard the ocean outside. The dunes separate the beach house from the sea itself, but not the smell of the ocean, nor the pounding of the surf, a dull thud, without the crackle and sizzle of the foam. The sky is beginning to lighten, I get dressed and grab my camera. It’s … [Read more...] about Eating Poe, Part II: Edgar Allan Poe’s time on Sullivan’s Island and debunking a Charleston myth
People of History
A brief history of St. Patrick: Who was Patrick and what does he have to do with green beer?
How did a Brit of Roman descent find his way to being named the patron saint of Ireland? It seems that every writer and most historians have a different theory on who St. Patrick was and what he did. And they all claim to be right. So let's sort it out a bit. First the orthodox view, handed down by … [Read more...] about A brief history of St. Patrick: Who was Patrick and what does he have to do with green beer?
Deconstructing myths of the American Revolution: Paul Revere’s ride in the words of Paul Revere himself and a travelogue
In the fall of 1774 and the winter of 1775, I was one of upwards of thirty, chiefly mechanics, who formed ourselves into a committee for the purpose of watching the movements of the British soldiers, and gaining every intelligence of the movements of the Tories. We held our meetings at the Green … [Read more...] about Deconstructing myths of the American Revolution: Paul Revere’s ride in the words of Paul Revere himself and a travelogue
Peter Stuyvesant: A citizen of old New Amsterdam, carrying on nearly 400 years later in New York City
Statue of Peter Stuyvesant, St. Marks-Church-In-The-Bowery. Before there was New York, there was New Amsterdam. Founded by the Dutch in 1614, New Amsterdam occupied much of the tip of lower Manhattan, with today's Wall Street taking its name from the outer walls of the settlement. New Amsterdam was … [Read more...] about Peter Stuyvesant: A citizen of old New Amsterdam, carrying on nearly 400 years later in New York City
Tales of Old Stony Brook II: Of William Sidney Mount, spirits and Spiritualism
The Hawkins Mount House. In Richard Matheson's classic novel from the 1970s, Hell House, a team of investigators are sent to spend a week in a haunted house to provide definitive proof of life after death. Almost immediately, a conflict breaks out between the scientist, who while not doubting the … [Read more...] about Tales of Old Stony Brook II: Of William Sidney Mount, spirits and Spiritualism
