I have a Brigadier Gerard short story in an upcoming Sir Arthur Conan Doyle anthology, and the story teams Doyle’s Napoleonic hero with Nikolai Rostov from Leo Tolstoy’s War & Peace. Read on for more information on the story and how to pre-order the collection.
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The Mysterious Shapeshifting USS Surak
If you were to ask a Star Trek fan on the street, “What happened between Star Trek III and Star Trek IV?” you would almost certainly be told, “Not much of anything. Kirk and crew spent their time on Vulcan after Spock’s resurrection on the Genesis Planet.” But a knowledgeable fan will tell you somethingContinue reading “The Mysterious Shapeshifting USS Surak”
The Misadventures of Sherlock Holmes: Making an eBook
Throughout January I worked, off and on, on something of a private project, to make an ebook of Ellery Queen’s long-out-of-print anthology, The Misadventures of Sherlock Holmes. An anthology of Sherlock Holmes parodies, sprinkled with a few genuine pastiches and two play scripts, essentially a survey of non-Doyle Sherlock Holmes literature to mid-century, The MisadventuresContinue reading “The Misadventures of Sherlock Holmes: Making an eBook”
Does Charlie Brown Have a Secret Cousin?
Sunday night I watched Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (And Don’t Come Back!!) and its follow-up animated special, What Have We Learned, Charlie Brown. Given the subject matter and the time (Veterans Day weekend), it seemed appropriate. In the movie and the special, Charlie Brown and three of his friends (Linus, Peppermint Patty, and Marcie) travelContinue reading “Does Charlie Brown Have a Secret Cousin?”
Scenes from the Nationals World Series Parade
Washington DC shut down yesterday for the Washington Nationals’ World Series parade down Constitution Avenue. One month ago I was in the hospital, in the Intensive care ward. I thought there was a real chance I was going to be mostly blind for the rest of my life. Yesterday, I was at the a WorldContinue reading “Scenes from the Nationals World Series Parade”
Saving Minor League Baseball: A Manifesto and a Crusade
Last week Baseball America broke the news that MLB is proposing a radical reconfiguration of the minor leagues, eliminating the lower levels of the minors (Short Season and down), replacing them with a quasi-independent league for undrafted players or encouraging contracted teams to reform as college summer wooden bat teams, and realigning the leagues, classifications (ie,Continue reading “Saving Minor League Baseball: A Manifesto and a Crusade”
Russia, the Primakov Doctrine, and Implications for the 2020 Election
I’ve been doing a great deal of thinking about Russia and the 2020 election, thoughts that are leading me to some chilling places. You may skip over this — “Oh, Allyn’s moaning about Russia again, and it’s all ‘Fake News’ anyway” — but that’s because you’ve never asked yourself the question: “What does Russia want?”Continue reading “Russia, the Primakov Doctrine, and Implications for the 2020 Election”
Negro League Night in York
We will start with a ending, and end with a beginning, as Gandalf says in Rankin-Bass’ underrated yet weird animated adaptation of Return of the King. I went to a York Revolution baseball game last night and came home with a Ross Detwiler game-used jersey. The Revolution were having a Negro League Night. From theContinue reading “Negro League Night in York”
Exploring Mt. Carmel Cemetery
Late last year I had a dream that I found the grave of Captain Thomas Feenhagen, my great-great-great-grandfather. Feenhagen, the father of my my great-great-grandmother Susan and grandfather of my great-grandfather Allyn Gardner, was a sea captain. He commanded a merchant ship, the bark Seneca, in the 1850s and 1860s. From what little I’ve beenContinue reading “Exploring Mt. Carmel Cemetery”
My Armistice 100 Adventure
In mid-September it dawned on me that November 11, 2018 would mark the 100th-anniversary of the armistice that ended World War I. Intellectually, as an historian, I knew this. I knew it in the same way that I know that water freezes at 32 degrees and objects fall to the earth at 32 feet perContinue reading “My Armistice 100 Adventure”