It has been a while since I finished reading Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance but I needed time to reflect on it before I commented on it. Surprising to me, much in it was familiar. I too spent some of my life growing up between Dayton and Cincinnati and had neighbors (very nice people) who … Continue reading Review – Hillbilly Elegy
History
Post-Christmas Blues
I'm not really blue, just thinking back on the holiday. I hope that you had a wonderful Christmas. Even if you don't celebrate Christmas yourself American culture tends to sweep everyone into it regardless. I celebrated the day with Pamela's grandchildren and family in Virginia. It is wonderful to see a Christmas morning through the … Continue reading Post-Christmas Blues
National Eggnog Day
Sunday, December 24 is National Eggnog Day. Not surprising as it is also Christmas Eve. Fresh eggnog shows up in our grocery stores only between Thanksgiving and New Years Day. I once tried what was purported to be an eggnog recipe from the writings of George Washington. I cannot tell a lie, it was OK. … Continue reading National Eggnog Day
Review – JUNK on Broadway
The Vivian Beaumont Theater at Lincoln Center has become my go to place to have complicated concepts explained in riveting theater pieces. On my last visit I was thrilled by J.T. Roger's play OSLO which captivated me as it led me through the now doomed negotiations toward the two state solution between Israel and Palestine. … Continue reading Review – JUNK on Broadway
Evacuation Day
Tomorrow, Saturday, November 25, is Evacuation Day here in New York. It commemorates the day in 1783 when the British left Manhattan after the American Revolutionary War when General George Washington returned in a triumphant parade. He had left the city, starting a long strategic retreat, when he abandoned Fort Washington (in my part of … Continue reading Evacuation Day
Review – Time and the Conways
"There is a great devil in the universe and we call it time." One of the defining lines from the Roundabout Theatre's Broadway production of TIME AND THE CONWAYS. Sometimes I can be a lazy theater goer. Back in 1994 I saw a production of AN INSPECTOR CALLS by J.B. Priestly on Broadway. One of … Continue reading Review – Time and the Conways
HALLOWEEN!
Today is Halloween, a holiday initially signaling the end of harvest and approach of winter that goes back to Roman times. Eventually it evolved into the eve before the Christian All Saint's Day on November 1 or All Hallow's Eve - now Halloween. Banned by the Puritans but steadily rehabilitated in the Victorian era, it … Continue reading HALLOWEEN!
Time Travel for Writers
As a playwright I am always obsessed with language. What a character in a certain situation, certain environment, certain time period would or could say. Not every reader is fact checking what I write, but an off tune word or phrase can take an audience out of the moment and is one of the biggest … Continue reading Time Travel for Writers
Recent Reads: Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase to Catch Lincoln’s Killer
James L. Swanson has written an enlightening and engrossing account of the events surrounding the assassination of Abraham Lincoln by John Wilkes Booth. I knew all of the major points and touchstones of the history but this book is an invaluable guide and deep dive into all the details surrounding it. It is astounding how … Continue reading Recent Reads: Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase to Catch Lincoln’s Killer
Fort Tryon Park Medieval Festival review
Last Sunday my favorite (and closest) park in New York City hosted the annual Medieval Festival. It was terrific. Lots of good festival food (a few years ago they added beer and wine), many performance stages, demonstrations of blacksmithing and sword making, multiple themed booths selling baubles and beads, knights jousting, a live chess game, … Continue reading Fort Tryon Park Medieval Festival review
Walter Thinnes 
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