Writer of Creative Nonfiction, Fiction, Poetry and Master Photographer
On a cold morning in 1871 in Granbury, Texas, a saloon owner went to check on one of his employees who had been extremely sick. The man went by the name John St. Helen. St. Helen had shown up in town four years earlier and kept a low profile. He’d left the town of Glen…
Sometimes we might find ourselves following politics too closely and wonder how things got so bad. They didn’t just get bad — they always have been. I ran across some sources lately for some odd and inflammatory mudslinging from past American politicians. And yes, of course, the Long family of Louisiana is involved: •In the…
History has produced plenty of incompetent generals and plenty of high-ranking traitors, but few combined the two traits as well as General James Wilkinson. When the War of 1812 started, Wilkinson was the senior ranking military officer in the United States. He was also a thief and a con man, who monkeyed around with supply…
The headline of this blog might remind readers of the movie The Free State of Jones or maybe cause a Google search to see if Lynyrd Skynyrd has reissued a greatest hits album. It is much stranger than that. Van Zandt County tried to secede at least two times, first from the Confederacy and later…
Anyone who has been to a military funeral, or served in the military, or even watched a war movie is familiar with the bugle call, “Taps.” It is a distinctive 24-note tune that has tragic origins in the Civil War and involves a story that is heartbreaking and also likely not true — instead, fabricated…
I’m excited to announce some new changes for the website and the blog. At long last, after going through lists and logo ideas and consulting with family, friends, writers, and artists, I’m glad to present History Pie.com — History One Slice at a Time. The plan is to keep the blog going regularly. That’s worked…
It is that time of year when children get excited, parents get stressed and many poor retail seasons are righted ― it is Christmas. Lest you think Christmas controversies are just a product of modern times, let’s look at the evolution of the holiday in America. It’s always been cause for a little carpet…
[Note: Parts of this story first appeared in Michael’s Soapbox column in The Nashville Graphic] I’ve gathered up some good old North Carolina legends. Most of us have heard about the Maco Light, the Brown Mountain Lights and the Devil’s Trampling Ground; locals know The Trestle in Momeyer. Hopefully, this week I’ve got some stories…
[Note: Parts of this story first appeared in Michael’s Soapbox column in The Nashville Graphic] With Halloween approaching, it is a good time to think about scary stories. What’s interesting is that it is not just American culture that has folktales and urban legends that have been around so long people view them as true,…
Politics are rough these days, but 17th century England was no cakewalk. Sir Walter Raleigh, an important figure in North Carolina history, upset the wrong people and it resulted in his untimely death on October 29, 1618. Raleigh was a soldier, explorer, and author and gained significant political power during the reign of Queen Elizabeth,…