Professor,
Communication, Arts, and the Humanities
The University of Maryland Global Campus
How was your Fourth of July? What did you all do? Traditionally, we go to a fun neighborhood block party that includes the usual cookout, outdoor games for the kids, and a parade. It rained cats and dogs all morning, but thankfully, the sun came out right before noon! Our […]
According to my research, Emmett lived at the San Carlos Hotel, on and off between 1913 and 1918, although he gave his permanent address as the J. Walter Kehoe home. Because he spent so much time there, I’ve always been curious about what his room might have looked like. (The […]
Come on. I’ll bet you’ve wondered this about Emmett, too. It was something like this: There’s an well written, interesting site called Vintage Skivvies, which gives you the low down on what was typical underwear back in Emmett’s day. You can learn all about the history of men’s underwear, […]
Have you seen this? The letter is from Kurt Vonnegut to a class of high school students in 2006. The student’s assignment was to write to different authors, comment on the author’s writing, and then ask for advice about the writing life. Several authors were queried. Only one — […]
Now comes the hard part. It’s writing time. I took a break for a few days, and I’m finding it hard to get started today. I don’t think of myself as a natural procrastinator, but some days I just don’t feel like it. The pencils feel like they weigh 50,000 […]
Just curious. What would you classify The Magic School Bus series? Fact? Fiction? Creative non-fiction? If you haven’t seen The Magic School Bus yet, it is a great series of books (and show on PBS) that teaches science to children in way that is completely accessible. My kids love this […]
It has been busy as heck since school let out. Let me tell you. I thought I was ready to have the kiddos home all day (I’m working mostly out of the home office this summer), but even with well thought out activities, it is a lot of stop-and-start. I […]
The central issue that I still struggle with — two years into this research — is this: Can I write a credible biography with only secondary sources? This bothers me, because, well, you know. I want to do the best job I can with Emmett’s story. It isn’t impossible to […]
Eighty years ago today, AA was founded. You can read about it, here. Also, here. I’m lucky to have found AA. It works for me. AA isn’t for everyone; there are also no guarantees when you come into the program. But somehow, I have found that it works for me […]
It is a kind of poetic justice that I would find a trove of information for Emmett’s book in a town bearing his name. I surely did not see that one coming. Emmitsburg, Maryland, is a small college town 10 miles south of Gettysburg, near the state line. What brought […]
Tell my story. 