I was hooked on ghost-town photography the instant I viewed my pal’s photographs of Belmont, Nevada—the crumbling old buildings, abandoned mining equipment, dilapidated fire truck, crumbling courthouse, and all manner of detritus scattered through the site. Images flashed through my mind of the town in 1905, when it was fully functional as the county seat […]
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Book Review – Flyboys: A True Story of Courage
Rating – Three Stars As usual, my simple mind is confused. I do not know what to make of this book. It’s not a history of naval aviation in World War II, and it’s not a personal memorial to all the lost fliers “that did not return” to their aircraft carriers. It is a salmagundi […]
Amelia Earhart Died on Saipan Scenario Fiction
The airways and television were abuzz about the “new” photograph that purports to show Earhart and Noonan on Jaluit Atoll in the Marshall Islands in Japanese custody. At 8:00 PM, Sunday, 9 July 2017, the History Channel broadcasted a two-hour show claiming that this photograph solves the mysterious disappearance of the famous aviatrix Amelia Earhart. As a […]
The Disappearance of Amelia Earhart
2 July 1937 At 0843 hours, local time, Amelia Earhart transmitted this in-flight message, “We must be on you but cannot see you…but gas is running low.” Radio operators aboard the USGS Itasca—her guard ship anchored off Howland Island—recorded in the Log Book, “Her voice was loud and clear.” Accordingly, her aircraft, the Lockheed […]
Book Review- Steve Canyon Volume 7: 1959 to 1960 by Milton Caniff
Rating – Two Stars Disappointed again. Perhaps I’m getting too old nowadays to appreciate Caniff’s story-telling art. I recall clearly my thrill as a nipper waiting for the morning paper to see and read new frames of Caniff’s classic “Terry and the Pirates” comic strip—superb in every dimension. I ordered this Steve Canyon book several months […]
Book Review- The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire, 1936-1945
Rating – Five Stars Toland presents in this superb tome a view of the Pacific War (1941-1945) that most of us have never thought about or seen. He writes in a smooth, engaging style. We are engrossed in the narrative of this page-turner. We view the details of this horrendous campaign from the Japanese perspective—it’s […]
Book Review- Killing the Rising Sun
Rating – Five Stars Bill O’Reilly hits a home run with his compendium of the 1940s Pacific War. He writes in an easy, sparse, and empathetic style. He paints the big pictures of the major land and sea battles and tells the stories of the “grunts” that did the fighting and dying. We know these […]
Malaysia Flight 370
Around midnight on 8 March 2014, Malaysia Flight 370 departed Kuala Lumpur for Beijing with 239 souls onboard. About three hours into the flight, it disappeared. Technical analysis of radio, radar, and satellite data indicated that the aircraft crashed into the Indian Ocean about 1,200 miles off Australia’s west coast. In the almost three years of […]
Book Review- Amelia Earhart: The Truth at Last: Second Edition
Rating – Three Stars For the aficionado of the Amelia Earhart disappearance, Campbell’s book is a must-read. He has assiduously reviewed the relevant literature regarding her last flight and, with keen ingenuity, he has compiled a compelling account that purports to unmask the enduring enigma of that flight. From the pertinent publications, he has excerpted eyewitness […]
Book Review- King Tut and the Plagues of Egypt (The Adventures Through Time Series Book 1)
Rating – Five Stars Derrer sets the fantasy scenario for this manuscript in the 25th century. He weaves an intriguing and thoughtfully designed narrative that successfully integrates quantum physics, time travel, and family adventure. The patriarch of the family is Max Planck, who designed a quantum-physics time machine—controlled by the mastermind “Jeeves,” the all-knowing, all-seeing, […]