Somewhere out there, in the universe, I hope Nan Britton is fist-pumping in satisfaction, and telling her now-fellow-spirit detractors who denounced her, calling her a degenerate, a pervert, and a social-climbing wannabe harlot: “Told you so.” I’m talking about a story reported in the news this afternoon, namely that DNA evidence […]
Last week, NPR’s History Department had a great story about flirtation cards. Ever hear of them? The fellow who had to use flirtation cards to meet eligible young ladies strikes me as having been a little desperate, you know? The young man may not have been invited to dances or […]
NPR’s Linton Weeks has a great story on lost American slang from the 1800s, something right up my alley as I write Emmett’s story. Weeks cites James Maitland’s 1891 Dictionary of American Slang, which you can download for your very own, here, via Google Books. It is an awesome read […]
I haven’t posted all that often this month; just a lot going on in and around the writing cave. I’ve been writing a lot on the book. It feels like I’m making progress, but it is really going S-L-O-W-L-Y. The writing process that has always worked for me is to […]
I don’t really give much credence to the little quizzes I see on the Internet at different sites like Playbuzz.com, although I think they are entertaining, even funny. For instance: Which ‘Steel Magnolia’ Are You? (According to the quiz, I’m Clairee Belcher.) Or, Which Addams Family Member Are You? (Results […]
All summer, I’ve had one student who refused to write ‘manpower’ when referring to his employees in ALL of his related class research papers, and would write, instead, ‘man power.’ He has female employees. He got irate at me in a class discussion one week when I pointed out what […]
Last month, I had an article about Great Oaks, a historic house in Greenwood, Florida. There’s an Emmett Wilson connection to it: His sister Dora married a man, W.E. Bryan Smith, whose relatives lived in the home. It is very likely Emmett saw this house, or, visited it in his […]
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, […]
Tell my story. 