Devil in the White City

Devil in the White City
by Erik Larson

This is the book for this month for by cigar and book club that meets at the La Casa de Habana cigar shop on Monroe St. in Toledo.

About fifteen years ago, I went through a phase when I read a great deal of true crime and serial killer books. My favorite was The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule where she recounted the many nights she sat with the notorious Ted Bundy working a suicide hotline in Seattle.

This book would rank third on my list of true crime novels just below the aforementioned Rule book and Vincent Bugliosi's riveting account of the Tate-LaBianca murders and the prosecution of Charles Manson in Helter Skelter.

The book recounts the carnage unleashed and carried out by America's first documented serial killer, Dr. H.H. Holmes of Chicago. Dr. Holmes killed dozens of young women, a couple of men, and at least three children during his rampage that seemingly started with the advent of the 1893 Worlds Fair in Chicago.

The book tells two parallel stories. The first is about the trials and tribulations of the architect responsible for constructing the Worlds Fair grounds in Jackson Park on the shores of Lake Michigan. The other story is about the evolution of Dr. Holmes from a pathological defrauder of insurance companies into a full-fledged serial killer. Also thrown in for fun is the delusional thoughts and falsified grandeur of the young man who would go on to assassinate the mayor of Chicago because he had not received a patronage job he felt he deserved. This story line, sprinkled in every so often through the pages of this story reminds one very much of the deranged Charles Giteau who would slay President Garfield.

Holmes constructed a hotel near the site of the soon to be opened Worlds Fair to serve tourists. He constructed a chamber of horrors so efficient that it would be admirable in its design if its intent were hot so ghastly. Holmes constructed a gas chamber (gassing his victims in a sealed vault was Holmes favorite method of execution) in his office. From his office, he would send the corpses of his victims careening down a methodically devised shoot to the basement where he would skin and disembowel the corpses. Sometimes he took the time to completely clean his victims and sell the skeletons to medical schools. Sometimes he sold the cadavers to the same customers. Often, he cremated his victims in a specially designed oven in the basement.

He was able to create this "Murder Castle" as it was later dubbed, by employing independent contractors to install separate portions of his murder/corpse disposal system. None of the contractors were aware of the other facilities that Holmes had installed. Had anyone taken the time to examine Holmes macabre architecture, his hobby would have been easily revealed.

Holmes' evil deeds went undetected in 19th century Chicago. He killed with impugnity young women he employed in his drug store and hotel. Most of the women were from small Illinois and Wisconsin towns who answered advertisements Holmes placed in those newspapers. When worried family members would come looking for their lost daughters, Holmes, who was incredibly charming and disarming always had a ready story to explain their absence. The Chicago police remained unaware of Holmes deeds. Most families with lost loved ones employed private investigators who did not communicate with each other. No one realized the magnitude of the monster within their midst.

Holmes also killed at least three wives and collected on their life insurance. This was always a favorite scam of Holmes to enrich himself. He and his partner would steal fresh corpses from cemeteries and burn beyond recognition, then cash in on a life insurance policy of a person who never existed.

Like most serial killers, Holmes was not caught through his evil deeds. Remember that Ted Bundy was caught because he was a lousy driver. Charles Manson was originally arrested for vandalizing state-owned excavation equipment. Holmes was arrested more than two years after he left Chicago in Philadelphia for insurance fraud. A curious Philadelphia detective began looking into the death of Holmes partner who was insured for $10,000. Through his investigation, he found that Holmes had murdered three of his partner's children while traveling through the Midwest and was in the late stages of plotting the murder of his partner's wife and her two remaining children.

Holmes eventually confessed to and was found guilty of 27 murders. Some placed the death toll at more than 200 although most historians seem to doubt that Holmes was quite that prolific. When police searched his hotel, they found the remains of several victims in the crematorium as well as buried in the basement. Holmes claimed that murder came as naturally to him as poetry did to poets. He claimed to be the devil incarnate and that murder was his natural disposition.

Interstingly, many of the people associated with Holmes' arrest, incarceration, conviction, and eventual execution by hanging would fall victim to mishap, illness, or suicide. It seemed that Holmes indeed did command the powers of Hell. He asked that his body be interred in concrete so his corpse would not be stolen and defiled as he had defiled so many corpses as well as ambient beings.

I have to admit, I was ready to put down this book after the first 100 pages. A lot of it was about the bureaucratic trials and tribulations of attracting, designing, and constructing the 1893 Worlds Fair. Bureaucratic obstacles encountered by architects and lawyers make for dull reading. After Holmes constructs his chamber of horrors and gets into full swing, the book takes off and the last 100 pages make for intense reading.

I look forward to reviewing this with the book club participants. We have assembled an incredibly engaging group of physicians, dentists, lawyers, college professors, tobacconists, and one freelance political hack. The club is always interesting and insightful and adds to the pleasure of reading a good book because they often pick up on and point out things I missed in my own reading.

Rush: 2112

Rush
2112
Released 1976

This used to be my favorite Rush album. I have refined my tastes some and have come to appreciate some of Rush's unique brand of progressive/power rock, but the album stands the test of time well.

For those of you not familiar with the album, side one is a mini rock opera about a futuristic society that represses creativity. A young man finds a guitar in a cave and quickly learns to play. He loves the music that comes out of the instrument and is excited to bring this "new" discovery to the priests of society.

The priests reject his newfound relic, telling it's just "another toy that helped destroy the early race of man." In despair, he returns home and has a dream about a oracle who shows him how beautiful society could be with music. He awakens in despair and finally kills himself.

More than one friend of mine stole this story line to write short stories for teachers unschooled in what was then modern rock and roll. It's an interesting tale, but not the strongest music on the album. The "2112 Overture" is the most powerful tune of the mini-opera and still a fan favorite in concert.

Side two is where the really good music is. "Passage to Bangkok" is an excellent tune that tells of the bands travels sampling marijuana from all over the world. Guitarist Alex Lifeson does an excellent mimic of a sitar on in this tune.

"Twilight Zone" pays homage to the great 1950s-1960s television show. The music is haunting as is Geddy Lee who was still in his primal scream phase then. It was one of the few times that effects were used on his voice to give it an eerier sound.

"Lessons" is a great straight forward power rocker where Neil Peart -- perhaps the greatest drummer in music history -- really shines.

"Tears" is an uncharacteristic slow, sappy song. Like so many songs about love gone wrong, the lyrics are sappy. But the music is well executed and serves to establish a mood of melancholia that comes with the breakup of any relationship.

"Something For Nothing" takes Rush back to their early garage-band sound. This song is strictly meat and potatoes rock and roll that has Geddy Lee belting out a vocal track that would make Robert Plant proud.

While 2112 is not Rush's best album, it comes from when the band was at the top of their game. They wrote long songs with several movements. The lyrics actually made sense which is rare for progressive rock. They were still a hard rocking band, but they had a sound and a method of songwriting that set them apart from anything anybody else was doing at the time. Back then, their music was not conducive to air play.

Starting in 1981 with the Moving Pictures album, the band commenced with more commercially viable material. While that music was very good, it lacked the compositional genius of their earlier material.

Thoughts on Weight Loss Surgery

It is no secret that I had weight loss surgery in May 2004. WNWO recorded the surgery and did two sweeps stories on it, so it was anything BUT a secret. Nothing like having your internal organs on display for the public to see.

I opted for the Lap Band as opposed to gastric bypass. The gastric bypass fundamentally alters your digestive tract and is not reversible should complications arise. It is very intrusive and has a much higher rate of complications than does the Lap Band.

My reasons for getting weight loss surgery were the same as anyone who is morbidly obese and wants to change their life. I was ashamed of my appearance and, appearing regularly on television as the port authority's spokesman, I had to look at myself frequently.

My feet hurt constantly. I have small feet and weighing 300 lbs with size eight feet puts a lot of pounds per square inch on the feet. My blood sugar was erratic and I suffered horrible mood swings depending on what I'd eaten that day. I was not comfortable while driving, which is one of my favorite activities. My clothes were expensive and I could only shop in certain stores for clothes. Any sort of physical activity winded me. My life was not a happy existence.

That is the problem with obesity. Most obese people use food as comfort. The fatter you get, the more miserable you are, so the more you eat, and the fatter you get. . . Obesity is no different than alcoholism or drug addiction with one major exception: You can quit drinking or taking drugs. It ain't easy, but it can be done. You can't stop eating. So, even though you are addicted to it and it brings you comfort, you have to do it everyday.

Dr. Thomas Oweis of Northwest Ohio Surgical Associates installed my Lap Band and I was one of their early patients. Weight loss surgery is a huge money maker for surgeons and many will simply staple you up and kick you out without any support. Not NWOSA.

I had to take a psychological profile and be examined by a psychologist before I qualified for the surgery. We had to identify the triggers for my over-eating and find healthy outlets for that stress. I also had to take classes on how to eat with my Lap Band in place and had to follow a regimented diet for awhile.

The procedure was minimally invasive, done with five small incisions. I had no pain at all following the surgery and just some tenderness around my sutures for about two weeks. The weight started coming off quickly and immediately! I spent the night in the hospital and had an upper GI test run the next day to assure that fluid could move through the band. I was put on a liquid diet for three weeks and sent home.

The Lap Band is installed on the upper part of your stomach. It is wrapped around the stomach to create two chambers separated by a stoma. The top chamber is very small and holds about two thirds of a cup of food. It fills quickly. After a while, the food moves through the stoma and into the lower part of your stomach. It is adjustable with a balloon inside the band. I have a port sewn into my stomach muscles where the surgeon can inject fluid into the band and tighten it to reduce the size of the stoma and lengthening the time it takes for food to move through. I have two cc's of fluid in my band and that has served me well.

I have lost approximately 100 lbs since then. If I could avoid my chief vice (chocolate milk) I could probably take off a few more pounds. Liquid calories are the enemy of people with Lap Bands because they flow through the band and do not suspend in the upper chamber.

Overeating is now painful. If I eat too much, the food presses against my esophagus. I can't tell you how painful that is! You don't have to throw up, but your sure as hell want to! I can't eat chips or raw vegetables anymore. The sharp edges hurt going through the band. I can't eat bread anymore because it tends to turn into a doughball in my stomach and clog the band which is also a painful ordeal. I have also given up all carbonated beverages because the gas gets trapped in the lower chamber of the stomach and causes sharp abdominal pain.

It took a lot of trial and error as well as support from my family and the Lap Band support group at St. Lukes Hospital to help be adjust to my new innards. Today, the Lap Band is a part of me and I now eat the way I should without even thinking about it. My blood sugar is normal. My feet don't hurt. I enjoy physical activity, and I can fit comfortably behind the wheel of any car. Those are small luxuries to most people, but not the obese.

My life was saved by that little device and having it done was the smartest decision I ever made.

My Favorite Car

This is a 1977 MGB Limited Edition. I purchased this car shortly before graduating from high school (it was a graduation present from my grandmother) and my father parted with it about two years ago. I've never driven a car I enjoyed more.

Anybody who has ever owned a British Leyland product (MG, Triumph, Austin Healy) knows that the electrical system, the pollution system, and intake systems are junk. I had problems with all three.

The car was equipped with a two barrel Zenith Stromberg carburetor with a hydraulic throttle advance and a bicycle cable for a throttle linkage. Despite two rebuilds, the seals in that hydraulic throttle advance kept wearing out. I replaced it, along with the intake manifold and converted it from a ZS sidedraft carb to a Weber downdraft. Then, I started breaking throttle cables. Keeping an extra bicycle brake cable in the trunk was the solution.

The catalytic converter exploded with a dramatic bang. I replaced the exhaust system and with a properly greased palm, was able to get a system without a catalytic converter. That improved performance with no valve lash with the loss of back pressure.

The electrical system junctioned off of the starter which collects a lot of road grime. I was always replacing electric contacts as they kept wearing out.

However, the 1977 MG had a 12 volt battery (as opposed to two six volt batteries in older MGs) and it had that two barrel carb as opposed to the two single barrel carbs that were always going out of calibration. My father had a 1974 MG Midget (he did a frame-up restoration on it) and was always having trouble calibrating carbs.

With all of these problems, why was this my favorite car?

It was pure fun to drive. The four speed stick transmission had a TIGHT shift pattern which lends itself to performance driving. It was equipped with a 1.8 liter, four cylinder engine with five main bearings and a four bolt main. That little engine was a real performer. It came equipped with large tires (expensive metric tires) that gave great traction. Combine that with its 6" ground clearance and you have the necessary elements for performance driving in southeastern Ohio.

Besides the above improvements, I put a new top on it and new seat covers which increased driving comfort. I'm short, so leg room was not an issue, but MGBs have plenty of leg room. I also added an expensive cherry wood gear shift knob out of pure vanity.

My idea of relaxing or blowing off some steam was pulling the top down on a nice summer day and flying out Ohio State Route 26 (the curviest road in Ohio) in my MGB. The car drove like it was riding on a rail!. The engine accelerated quickly out of turns and that engine had that classic British roadster sound. While it did well on those country roads, it was not good on the interstate. At about 60 mph, the front end would rise with the rush of air under the car, reducing traction in the front end. Not safe! It was completely unstable on the many gravel roads in Washington County.

Flying out those paved country roads, downshifting, upshifting, accelerating out of the bank turns and enjoying the bucolic splendor of Wayne National Forest are precious memories for me. My performance driving days are behind me, but I used to do it as a hobby. I pushed the envelope a lot in this automobile and she never lost traction and never let me down -- except when the damn throttle cable would break!

Unfortunately, after the unmitigated disaster of the Triumph TR-7, British Leyland quit exporting cars to the United States. MGs and Triumphs were once a common sight on American highways. Now they are few and far between.

Someday, I hope to own one of these beauties again. Every car enthusiast has a dream car they hope to own someday. Many times, it was a car from their childhood. This is THE car of my youth and hope to, someday, once again sit behind the wheel of an MG!

For those that our curious, MG is short for Morris' Garage. Morris was an early British car maker who changed the name of his company to MG.

My Adventures in Scale Modeling

When I was a kid, I loved to build models. I always got at least one for my birthday and one for Christmas -- usually cars. I built models into my early 20s, but slowly gave it up as other concerns dominated my life.

I've recently taken up the hobby again and find that it is a tremendous stress reliever for me. My first "new" project is the 1969 Mercury Cougar Eliminator my wife bought for me last Christmas. It has five coats of yellow paint with two coats of clear coat. I burned off the fuzz on some pipe cleaners, disassembled the strands of wire, and used them as spark plug wires. The quality of kits has improved a great deal since I exited the hobby almost 20 years ago.

My current project is a mammoth undertaking. I am building a fully lit, 1/350 scale model of the Titanic. I have been a Titanic buff since I was a kid and the last kit I ever built was this one many years ago.

This time around, I am investing the time, money, and effort to construct a first class model. The kit is by Minicraft and is a well designed, if not historically accurate kit. I have invested about $30.00 in paints and tools, $30.00 in fiber optic cable, and $70.00 in Tom's Model Works etched brass part that replace a lot of the plastic parts with finely detailed brass that can be painted.

So far, I have about 80 hours invested in it and am having a ball. I am making a few of the alterations to the kit to make it historically accurate, but I'm not doing all of them. The kit will be lit with 12 high intensity LEDs which will provide plenty of light to make the skylight over the Grand Staircase glow as brightly as the individual portholes.

I'm no craftsman and my models would never win shows. I look at some of the models at the Titanic Research and Modeling Association and only wish I could be that good. But, I'm proud of my work and look forward to creating a large display of replica Titanic memorabilia to display beside my model that I plan to encase in glass when I'm done.

The Age of Jackson by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.

The Age of Jackson
by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.
Copyright 1946

What is noteworthy about this book is the man whose name and portrait appear on the cover is not a central figure in the narrative. The Age of Jackson is not a biography of the president, but a narrative history of of how Jeffersonian Democracy evolved into Jacksonian Democracy in the party realignment that emerged from the "Era of Good Feeling". It then goes on to describe how Jacksonian Democracy petered out during the Civil War and the Gilded Age that followed.

Many historians, including me,see it as a veiled justification for the programs of the New Deal.

Jeffersonian Democracy embraced the concept of an agrarian society with yeoman farmers tilling their own soil and making their own way. This ideal became less relevant as American manufacturers began to develop in New England and Americans increasingly moved from the field to the factory.

More important to the evolution of Jacksonian Democracy was the American banking system, designed and implemented by Alexander Hamilton. The Second Bank of the United States was the holder of federal deposits and lent money to state banks to centrally control the flow of currency in the expanding United States. In the minds of the newly emerging Democrats, this system of tight money favored the wealthy.

Schlesinger's analysis of the national bank and its operations is illuminating. The story is frequently taught in high school history, but its subtleties and nuances are quite complex.

Schlesinger's description of the battle between Jackson and bank president, Nicholas Biddle, really puts Jackson at the margins. Oddly, Martin Van Buren emerges as the hero of the bank battle. In fact, Schlesinger venerates Van Buren as a champion of classic democratic principles more than Jackson.

The depression that followed the shutdown of the Second Bank and the issue of the Specie Circular is given short shrift in the book, which is telling of Schlesinger's true motives in writing the book. That depression was the deepest and most painful in American history. Instead, he lauds Van Buren's efforts to meet the crisis which were small and futile. It's clear that Schlesinger is a huge fan of House Speaker and future president, James Polk.

Schlesinger is derisive of Whig candidate William Henry Harrison, accurately stating that his "Log Cabin and Hard Cider" campaign was largely a contrivance of politics. He describes the unfortunate and ineffective John Tyler as a Whig who tried to be a Democrat. The Tyler presidency and his alienation of both parties were a boon to Democrats who annointed James Polk as the heir to the Jackson legacy.

Polk is, of course, not known for his economic policies nearly as much as his foreign policy. Nonetheless, Polk's policy of "Manifest Destiny" and the vast territory he added to the United States created new rich in the country and expanded the popularity of the party.

The presidencies of Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore doomed the Whig Party. The issue was not economic, but slavery. The Democrats were fundamentally states rights and willing to allow the South to determine their own policies on slavery. The Whigs were decidedly undecided and that lack of policy principle doomed them. However, the re-emergence of Democrats in the White House sewed the seeds of the destruction of classical democracy.

Franklin Pierce, who was drunk through his entire presidency, alienated anti-slavery Democrats in the north and drove them to the newly formed Republican Party. Meanwhile, James Buchanan did his best Nero impression as the U.S. stood at the brink of Civil War. The upstart Republican Party seized the presidency in 1860 and didn't look back for several decades.

Civil War ended most infighting over economic policy in the United States. In fact, Lincoln chose loyal Tennessee Democrat Andrew Johnson as his 1864 running mate. The ascendancy of Johnson to the presidency would further damage the Democratic brand with the American electorate and Schlesinger is hard on him. There is no doubt that Johnson was intellectually overmatched by the job and Republicans destroyed him and his presidency. It would be the last gasp of classic democratic principles until the emergence of Franklin Roosevelt. There were Democrats in between, but they were not classical Democrats.

It is remarkable that Schlesinger never wrote a biography of Martin Van Buren or James Polk because he is clearly an admirer of both men. Schlesinger is best known for this book as well as his 1000 Days which is a laudatory history of the Kennedy administration.

Schlesinger is the most celebrated of the presidential historians and I don't think he really deserves that honor. His poll of historians that rank the presidents is considered the barometer of presidential performance. However, Schlesinger was a partisan defender of Democratic principles. I think there must be a clear delineation between scholar and partisan.

Lord of Misrule: The Autobiography of Christoper Lee

The Lord of Misrule: The Autobiography of Christoper Lee
Copyright 2005
Orion Books

As a child growing up in Southeastern Ohio, I spent my Friday nights with my friends watching "Double Chiller" with your host, Fritz the Night Owl, on WBNS, Channel 10 out of Columbus. Fritz was a great movie host and he got top flight movies. It was these Friday nights that introduced me to Hammer Studios, Hammer films, and Hammer's most prolific performer, Christopher Lee. For me, Lee, Peter Cushing, and Vincent Price were the Unholy Trinity of horror.

To a younger generation, Lee is best known as Sauramon of "Lord of the Rings" and Count Dokou of Star Wars. To Generation X, he is Dracula and a host of other evil characters.

Lee's autobiography has a lyrical quality to it, as if he dictated it into a tape recorder. This would not work for most authors, but Lee's incredible vocabulary and great story telling makes it a worthwhile read for fans of Hammer horror.

Lee was born in London to a career soldier and a mother descended from Italian nobility. His father left him at a young age and his mother soon remarried. Lee recounts in great detail (perhaps too great detail) his education in private schools and the brutality of the British education system. (Perhaps Roger Waters was justified in his song, Another Brick in the Wall).

He would go on to serve in the British Army during World War II as Army Intelligence and learned to speak many languages in the process. He recounts many interesting stories of his war experience, but never makes himself the hero. He served in North Africa and Italy and saw frequent combat.

What is missing in Lee's account of his life is how he broke into show business. He simply moves on to working in his first movie. He talked about how he had trouble getting parts because of his height (6'4") and his deep voice.

Lee made dozens of films for the British Hammer studios and played Count Dracula in a series of Dracula films Hammer made in the late 1950s and 1960s. He was also famous for playing Fu Manchu in a series of films. His costar was often Peter Cushing who is best known for playing Governor Tarkin in Star Wars. Peter Cushing was his best friend and, for Hammer fanatics such as myself, it would have been great to learn more about Cushing and Lee's relationship with him. Lee states his affection and admiration for Cushing, but gives us little detail of their work together.

Lee was honored to play a Bond villain in "The Man with the Golden Gun." He recounts a humorous story about appearing on Johnny Carson. Customs confiscated the movie prop, believing it could possibly be a weapon although, according to Lee, nobody could have mistaken it for anything but a prop. He was supposed to have the gun with him on the Carson set. He was embarrassed when he showed up empty handed.

We learn that Lee's favorite movie was "The Wicker Man" which he made in 1973. It was remade last year (poorly). We also learn that he desperately wanted to play Gandalf in "Lord of the Rings", but realized that Ian McKellen was better suited for the part. He relished his role in the movie version of his favorite books. It was great to find out that their are others who read those great books once a year, religiously. Lee did.

Lee is also a scratch golfer and relishes telling golfing stories as much as he enjoys telling tales of Hollywood and the British movie industry.

While his commentary on costars Cushing and Vincent Price is somewhat lacking, he is more detailed in describing his relationship with horror greats Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi. His admiration for those pioneers of movie horror is well stated.

Lee tells his life story in anecdotes which seems to be a European style of story telling. His references to European history are often obscure and requires Wikipedia to get the context. The book is obviously a book written by a European for a European audience. Nonetheless, true fans of horror will enjoy the anecdotes and insights of this film legend.

The Life of Andrew Jackson by Marquis James

The Life of Andrew Jackson
copyright 1938
Pulitzer Prize Winner, 1938

I acquired a copy of this book on ebay for just $6.00 and despite the fact that it is a first edition that is 70 years old, the dust jacket is still intact!

Despite the fact that it is dated, it still remains one of the most (if not the most) scholarly examination of the life of the man who invented "retail politics" and the modern presidential campaign.

The book is an amalgamation of two volumes -- Andrew Jackson: Border Captain and Andrew Jackson: Portrait of a President. They won the Pulitzer when they were published in one volume in 1938.

The first volume details Jackson's childhood and early career as a lawyer. Like most politicians, Jackson's law practice suffered because of his obsession of politics. He was firm but fair and not averse to a fist fight after the case was resolved.

As a soldier, his career was spectacular. His victory at New Orleans, which was actually fought after the Treaty of Ghent was signed, was a classic example of soldiers, inspired by their leader, to rise up against adverse conditions to achieve a mission. Jackson and his troops spent their time in New Orleans in swamps and marshes, attacked by the British and their allies, the mosquitos. It was at New Orleans that Jackson achieved his fame.

He started his military career at just 13 as a courier during the American Revolution. He was captured and held as a prisoner of war where a British officer slashed him with a sword, giving him an ugly scar along the right side of his face. That, and the privations of war visited upon his family during the war led him to a lifetime of hatred of the British.

He would earn some short term anger from the Washington political establishment by seizing Florida during the Seminole War. His charge from President Monroe and Secretary of State John Quincy Adams was to prevent the escape of runaway slaves to Spanish Florida. Jackson's solution was to seize the entire territory by taking its capital, Pensacola. He executed to British subjects for spying and destroyed many Seminole villages. He justified his actions by producing evidence that the British were using Florida to encourage Seminole attacks on the United States. JQA used the victory to acquire Florida and achieve a major diplomatic victory.

A native of North Carolina, Jackson moved west as a young man and settled in Sumner County Tennessee where he had a great deal of success in planting. He was a slave owner. But, despite his support of the South's "Peculiar Institution", he was well loved by his slaves. We was also an avid horse breeder and racer. He would later fight a duel (one of several he would fight) over a debt owed on a race, although the honor of his wife was also at stake.

James chronicles in great detail, the relationship and controversial marriage to Rachel Robards Jackson. Rachel had married her first husband when she was just 17. He was an insanely jealous man. Whilst she was separated, but not yet divorced from Captain Robards, she met Andrew Jackson. Having been informed that her husband had obtained the divorce, she married Jackson. It was later determined that the divorce had not yet been finalized. The controversy would haunt Jackson up until Rachel's death.

James provides a rich narrative of the early life of this influential statesman in his first volume. James belies the commonly held belief that Jackson was a hot head giving to shooting first and asking questions later. In fact, he was a calm, rational man who only drew sword or gun when his wife's honor was at stake. He encouraged subordinates to provide advice, brooked dissention and was willing to admit when he made mistakes. These personality traits explain his rise and success in national politics.

We also learn that Old Hickory was prone to respiratory infections his entire life. These infections (probably bronchitis) troubled him horribly during his presidency.

He served as solicitor general for the Tennessee territory and was elected the first U.S. Rep for the State of Tennessee. He served just one term. He also served a partial term in the U.S. Senate. It was his military prowess and the desire of the emerging Democratic Party to seize power from the Federalists as the "Era of Good Feelings" was coming to an end.

Jackson's nomination as the Democratic candidate for the presidency in 1824 was hard fought. The Tennessee delegation nominated him. However, Secretary of the Treasury, William Crawford, who was an exceptionally popular national figure, but had been debilitated by a stroke. However, Jackson would prevail in the vote and was joined on the ticket by Pennsylvania senator, Albert Gallitan.

Tradition in the 18th and early 19th century was an automatic procession of the Secretary of State to the presidency and James Monroe was determined to see Adams -- the architect of the Monroe Doctrine -- ascend to the presidency. House Speaker, Henry Clay, also threw his hat into the ring. The result was a three way split of the vote. Clay and Jackson split the southern and western vote and JQA secured the New England vote. Although Jackson had received a plurality of the vote, no one received the necessary Electoral College votes. With the election sent to the House, Adams prevailed.

The JQA presidency was an unmitigated disaster and the Democrats were eager to seize upon his failures to take the presidency in 1828. Jackson easily won the Democratic nomination and selected Calhoun as his running mate. The campaign between Jackson and Adams was brutal by even modern standards. Jackson's campaign attacked Adams as a dreamy visionary for his "Lighthouses of the Sky" proposal to construct observatories and make other federal investments in the intellectual infrastructure of the United States. The Adams camp called Jackson a "warmonger" and carried out vicious attacks on Jackson's marriage. Jackson and the Democrats ultimately prevailed and a whole new era of American politics was ushered in.

Just a month after the election, Sarah Jackson died. Jackson attributed her death to the stress of the campaign and the withering attacks of the Adams campaign. He never forgave Adams or his subordinates. She was buried on Christmas Eve in the inaugural gown she never got to wear.

Jackson's presidency is formative for a number of reasons. First, he exerted executive leadership like no president before him. While other presidents had moments of strong leadership, Jackson entered the office determined to lead the country with his principles. His first battle was over the recharter of the Second Bank of the United States.

His adversary in this battle was Nicholas Biddle, the Chairman of the Bank. In Biddle, Jackson had an adversary who was coarse, nasty, and politically inept. However, the stakes were high. Jackson portrayed the bank as a tool of the wealthy who restricted economic growth by control of the money supply it lent to state banks. The battle went on for months and the Bank prevailed in Congress. However, Jackson's famous "pocket veto" killed the bank. Without a central banking authority, new banks sprang up overnight, land speculators in the west got rich with the flood of currency in the form of bank notes. Unfortunately, these notes were not backed by specie.

Jackson's second major battle was over the doctrine of nullification, introduced by vice president John Calhoun. Calhoun stated that, if a state did not agree with a federal law or regulation, it could nullify it by vote of the state legislature. Calhoun and other southerners were angry over new tariffs on imported goods they felt hurt southern farmers' efforts to export their wares while favoring the industrial northern states. Prior to the Civil War, this was the greatest constitutional crisis the country had ever experienced. Jackson threatened to send troops to South Carolina to enforce the tariff. With tensions running high, "The Great Compromiser" Henry Clay, was able to negotiate lower tariffs and head off the sectional crisis.

Jackson's personal life in the White House was miserable. He missed his wife terribly. Social events at the White House were often tense. This was due to the presence of Secretary of War, John Eaton and his wife, Margaret. Margaret Eaton was a DC socialite whose first husband had committed suicide. She was brash, flirtatious, and outspoken. She was shunned by other cabinet wives.

Jackson also suffered from debilitating illnesses while in the White House and, on occasion, appeared to be near death with various respiratory ailments. He survived two assassination attempts. While he led with great strength and character, he came to loath the presidency and longed to return to his Tennessee mansion.

Jackson was, by all measures, a successful president. James is quick to give much of the credit for Jackson's political success to Martin Van Buren. Van Buren served in the cabinet and later as vice president. "The Little Magician" was a masterful politician who had survived and won various political battles in the always tumultuous New York. Van Buren's loyalty and political acumen earned him Jackson's unwavering support for the Presidency in 1836.

Jackson was the architect of the modern Democratic Party. He was the first to appeal to the "common man" for his support. He was the first to speak directly to the electorate about issues that affected their lives. His policies were developed not with the business of America in mind, but the lives of common people. The merits of such an approach can be debated (the banking crisis of 1837 was the deepest depression this nation has ever faced, brought about by Jackson's monetary policy), but its success can not. Jackson was a successful president by any measure.


I would recommend James' book over the highly touted The Age of Jackson by the venerated presidential historian, Arthur Schlesinger. James' book is a detailed recounting of the entire life of this important American statesman. I'll save my comments on the Schlesinger book for another review.

John Quincy Adams by Robert Remini

How I wish that Robert Remini would have undertaken a biography of the younger Adams as extensive as Paul Nagel's rather bland treatment of this cantankerous statesman. Remini is much more analytical than is Nagel and his opinions add to his text and make it far superior to the Nagel tome.

I won't rehash the life of JQA as that was done in my earlier review of Nagel's book. What is striking about Remini -- and I found this affirmed in Frances Russell's biography of the Adams family -- is that Abigail Adams was a horrible mother! Abigail holds a high place among our nation's first ladies and David McCullough venerated her as almost a saint. However, Remeni reveals that she was domineering and sometimes brutal to her children and her children-in-laws. Remeni postulates that Abigail made alcoholics of two of her own children and two of her grandchildren -- one of which committed suicide.

History also celebrates JQA's nasty disposition and embracing of unpopular causes. There is some merit in this as is revealed in the film "Amistad". But Adams was often unprincipled and seemed to embrace causes just because they were unpopular. He was a pain in the ass to his House colleagues and was the butt of many jokes. His intellect and quick, biting wit usually left him with the last laugh and many enemies.

His attitude and behavior toward Andrew Jackson is rivaled only by the petulant manner in which Jimmy Carter treated Ronald Reagan. In presidential history, incumbents are usually friendly and deferential to their successors. Not JQA. He did not invite the Jacksons to the White House for the traditional transition tea followed by the trip down Pennsylvania Ave. to the Capitol for the inauguration. JQA left town unnoticed the evening prior and did not bother to attend the inauguration.

This is important because the symbolism of the former president standing behind his successor as he takes the oath is a tradition of which Americans are deeply proud. It shows how, in a culturally superior democracy, the transition of power is always peaceful and done with the consent of the vanquished. Adams was too narcissistic to give America that symbol of peaceful transition.

Although he was a cantankerous, difficult, and mean politician, JQA cherished his children and was deeply wounded when his sons George and John struggled with alcoholism and did not excel in life. He was also a devoted husband to his wife, Louisa who lost child after child to miscarriages.

I've now read three biographies of the Adams and I must say that their intellect astounds me. Their behavior as politicians confuses me. Let it be said that no family -- not even the Kennedys -- have done more to shape the United States as we know it today than any family in U.S. history.

Write it When I'm Gone: Off the Record Conversations with Gerald Ford by Thomas M. DeFrank

This is a book that I've waited for for many years. My fascination with Gerald Ford and his presidency is documented in my earlier review of his autobiography on this blog.

The conversations in this book took place over a thirty year period with journalist Thomas M. DeFrank. Ford made an uncharacteristically glib comment about the state of the Nixon presidency when he was vice president. Ford was able to talk DeFrank out of publishing the statement, thus earning Ford's unguarded trust for many years. Ford's condition was that his comments not be published until after his death.

No politician or president so carefully guarded his own opinions more than Gerald Ford. Some regarded him as intellectually overmatched by the presidency. Many believed that he and Richard Nixon had cut a deal for the pardon. His ambiguous relationship with former presidents Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter have been a mystery to historians. Now, we know the truth about all those things.

Ford was not a Reagan fan. Ford believed that it was Reagan who cost him the 1976 election. It was not just the primary election challenge. In his convention speech, Reagan played to his supporters and made little mention of Ford. On the campaign trail, Reagan was virtually absent in his support of Ford.

Ford also felt that he should have been anointed the nominee to run against Carter in 1980. Unlike Reagan, Ford was unwilling to divide the party and quietly withdrew his name from consideration before the public even knew he was contemplating a run.

Ford thought that Reagan was hopelessly naive and intellectually lazy. He thought his world view was dangerous. However, history would not bear out Ford's conception.

The two never did bury the hatchet as was reported in the media. Ford discusses in great detail the Reagan overture to Ford to join him on the 1980 Republican ticket. Ford was a pipe smoker. To broach the subject, Reagan showed up in the Ford suite at the convention with an expensive Dunhill pipe that Reagan called a "peace pipe". Ford, however, imposed conditions on his vice presidency that he knew would be poison pills for Reagan. He essentially proposed a co-presidency that would make Ford the leader of the country on certain issues. Reagan refused to accept. Ford claims that he made the offer knowing that Reagan would reject it.

The Nixon-Ford relationship has been dissected by historians since the days of Watergate. What Ford finally admits is that a large part of the impetus for the pardon was humanitarian. Ford was receiving reports from San Clemente that Nixon's despondency had put him in a suicidal state. Nixon's near-death crisis with phlebitis alarmed Ford. To spare Nixon's further humiliation and possibly his life, Ford pardoned him and wrecked his own career in the process.

Ford reflects on Nixon as a personally misunderstood man. He genuinely liked Nixon and thought he was warm and engaging. He recounts how he, Nixon, and Carter were on a flight to Israel for the funeral of Anwar Sadet. A flight attendant asked if she could have her picture taken with the three former presidents. He remarked that Nixon was eager to do it. It was Jimmy Carter who pitched a fuss before reluctantly posing.

Ford doesn't entirely spare Nixon. Some anger remains for Nixon's deception of him and the entire country about his culpability in Watergate. Ford staked a great deal of his credibility on Nixon's claims of innocence. Ford believed in him. When Nixon's duplicity was exposed, Ford was put in an awkward position of having to back away from earlier statements but having to continue to support Nixon right up to his resignation.

Ford's attitudes about Carter are remarkable. For many years, Ford was angry with Carter for statements that were made during the 1976 campaign. He also talked about how cold the man was in their meeting at the White House on inauguration day. However, the two talked a great deal near the end of Carter's presidency and afterward and Ford came to respect the man's intellect and character.

Ford is quite hard on his biological father, who his mother divorced when Gerald Ford was a young Leslie King, Jr. He had one meeting with the elder King when he was in college and came away from the encounter bitter. Some of this bitterness leaks into his otherwise vanilla memoirs. That genuine lack of respect and dislike is at the forefront of his recounting for DeFrank.

DeFrank recounts Ford's final days for us. He was wan at the Reagan funeral and made no public statements, indicating his mental faculties were slipping. While he never suffered from dementia, Ford's final days were full of lost memories and confusion.

With the publication of this book, we finally get to know the man who led this country through the most political tumultuous times of the 20th century. He had greater intellect than we ever knew. He had greater passions than we ever knew, and he was a better man than we ever knew. Ford will never get the credit he deserves in history for his quiet, competent leadership in a time of world crises and political instability.

The Late Great Richard Wright

Who is the greatest keyboardist of all time has never inspired the level of debate that exists with guitarists, drummers, or even bassists. Keyboardists often go unnoticed and unknown. However,

Richard Wright

, the keyboardist for Pink Floyd, has to rank in the top three of all time. The man revolutionized the way the instrument was utilized.

Wright died of cancer last week at the age of 65.

Keyboardists in the 1960s generally relied on the Mellotron and played simple melodies or counter melodies. The electric piano with some effects added in were also standard fare. Richard Wright adopted the synthesizer and used it to not only play music, but to establish a mood that said the tone for Pink Floyd's often mystical, sometimes dreary trademark sound.

His early work such as Astronomy Domine on Piper at the Gates of Dawn redefined psychedelic rock. His synth-laden fills on Floyd's landmark achievement Dark Side of the Moon made that album sound like nothing that had ever been recorded before. That album, owned by my mother, was my introduction to rock and roll and it was those synth fills that blew my mind.

Not only did he pioneer the use of synthesizers in rock music, he was an extraordinarily gifted piano player. Wright displays his piano chops to their extreme on Ummagumma's "Sysyphus". His lightly melodic piano counter-melody in Dark Side's "Us and Them" makes it the best song one of rock and roll's greatest albums.

When David Gilmour reconstituted Pink Floyd in 1987, it was Wright's keyboard that carried both of those studio albums.

Wright's death assures that Floyd fans will never see the long-awaited reunion of the original lineup with Roger Waters rejoining the group. I was fortunate to see Pink Floyd twice -- in 1988 and 1994. Seldom are bands able to meld great music with great visuals. Most bands that use visuals rely on them to mask substandard music. However, both Floyd tours I saw were a feast for the ears and eyes. It's something, unfortunately, we'll never see again.

It received little notice, unlike the death's of lesser musicians such as Kurt Cobain, but rock and roll music lost one of the true giants of the genre and one of its most influential pioneers.

X Minus 1

Countdown to blastoff
X Minus 6. . .5. . .4. . .3. . .2. . .X Minus 1
From the far horizons of the unknown come transcribed tales of new dimensions of time and space! These are stories of the future -- adventures in which you will live in a million could-be years in a million maybe worlds.
The National Broadcasting Company in cooperation with Street and Smith -- publishers of Astounding Science Fiction presents X Minus 1!

Each week, the narrator (there were several) introduced this radio sci-fi drama from April of 1955 until January 1958. X Minus 1 was a revival of the very popular (but not successful) Dimension X radio series.

I discovered X Minus 1 after completing the complete 1399 episode run of The CBS Radio Mystery Theater. I found X Minus 1 to be worlds ahead of CBSRMT in its treatment of science fiction and the writers drew from the men (sorry, no women) who laid the bedrock for the sci-fi we all love today. Writers like Ray Bradbury, Phillip K. Dick, Robert Heinlein (who I can't stand, but must give credit), Robert Bloch and Theodore Sturgeon all have stories included in the series.

Writer George Lefferts was tasked with most of the adapting existing stories to radio. However, it is Ernest Kinoy's adaptation of Mars is Heaven that really grabbed me. I've listened to a few adaptations of Bradbury's "Mars is Heaven" and saw the 1979 television miniseries "The Martian Chronicles" that included the story, but I've never heard anything that compared to Kinoy's adaptation. Other Bradbury adaptations include "The Veldt", "Marionettes, Inc.", "To the Future", "Zero Hour", "Dwellers in Silence", and "The Moon Be Still as Bright".

Some of the bigger names in radio can be heard in this show, including Leon Janny, Norman Rose, and Mercedes McCambridge.

It's interesting to listen to these shows from the 1950s and discover the cultural obsession the world had with Mars in the 1950s. Everything evil came from Mars. When mankind needed to flee earth, he went to Mars. He watched Mars, he loved Mars, he feared Mars.

My favorite episode, however, more closely resembles horror or something out of "The Outer Limits" or "Twilight Zone" -- both of which owe much to X Minus 1 and Dimension X. " Dr. Grimshaw's Sanitorium" is radio horror at its best. Leon Janny -- with one of the most sinister voices in the history of radio drama -- stand out, even with his bit part.

Again, as with all OTR, Never buy discs. There are many of us who would be happy to provide you with all of the shows you need for free.

Buatismo de Fuego or I'M NOT A CIGAR SNOB

Just to show people I am not a snob, I decided to review the cigar I smoke more than any other.

The Bautismo de Fuego is a $2.00 cigar that I smoke every day, Monday through Friday, at lunch. It's a great yardwork cigar and a great golf cigar. I don't usually smoke premium cigars outside because you lose so much of the aroma and the cigar itself to the wind.

BDFs are short filler cigars, meaning that instead of long leaves that extend from the foot to the tip of the cigar, its filler contains shorter and longer leaves combined. This means that sometimes the draw is tight and they don't burn especially evenly. But for two bucks, this cigar is top notch and full of flavor.

The BDF is earthy and medium bodied -- typical of Nicaraguan tobacco. They burn cool and finish smooth. I've tasted expensive cigars -- including Padron's shameful product -- that weren't as good.

One Fuego a day keeps the psychiatrist away!

Blackstone Chronicles by John Saul

The Blackstone Chronicles
by John Saul
Copyright 1997
Six Volumes - serialized

Harkening back to the age of Dickens, Stephen King published a serialized novel in 1996 called The Green Mile. Following that success, John Saul tried his own serialized novel called The Blackstone Chronicles. While King is the superior writer and his serialized story is better, Saul makes better use of the serialization process to tell his story.

Saul's story centers around an abandoned asylum in the town of Blackstone. Unspeakable horrors were committed in its 100 year history. Unfortunately, for the mentally ill of the last century, many of Saul's tortures are based in fact.

The first five installments are named for relics from the asylum, delivered to carefully selected Blackstone residents by an unknown and unseen presence that lurks in the abandoned building. Those relics visit upon their recipients the mental illness that afflicted their original owners.

The central character in the story is Oliver Metcalf, publisher of the town newspaper and a direct descendant of the asylum's owner and operator. Each installment opens with the history of the relic and the ultimate demise of its orignal owner.

The first installment is called An Eye for an Eye: The Doll. This package is delivered to the family of the contractor who envisions redeveloping the asylum into a shopping center. Soon after the antique doll is found on their doorstep, his wife miscarries. She soon covets the doll as if it were own child. Her insanity leads to her family's demise.

The next installment is entitled Twist of Fate: The Locket . The locket containing a small lock of hair is delivered to the town banker who plans to finance the conversion of the asylum into a shopping center. The banker is under investigation for not properly collateralizing his loans. The soft-hearted banker hates to repossess belongings and foreclosing on homes. His charity creates problems for his bank. His charitable heart hardens quickly after he finds the locket in the snow outside his house. He starts to believe that his bank employees are scheming against him and his wife cheating on him. As his paranoia grows, he ultimately destroys himself.

Installment three is Ashes to Ashes: The Dragon's Flame. Oliver Metcalf's girlfriend, Rebecca purchases an antique lighter to give to her prodigal cousin who is returning home after her boyfriend left her pregnant and alone in New York City. Rebecca's aunt is extremely religous and does not approve of her daughter being in her home, but feels it is her duty as a mother to guide her daughter back to God. Her daughter doesn't want any part of it and has an abortion. Meanwhile, as she lights more and more cigarettes with the antique lighter, she becomes increasingly hostile and irrational. Fire is her demise.

Book four is entitled In the Shadow of Evil: The Handkerchief. With her aunt and ward dead, Rebecca goes to live with the town librarian and her elderly and domineering mother. Rebecca receives an ornate handkerchief from Oliver who found it in his attic. The spinster librarian -- a cruel and humorlous woman -- takes it from Rebecca and gives it to her elderly mother as a gift. Mom, being every bit the nasty woman that her daughter is, rejects the gift and gives it back to her daughter. Delusions of snakes and insects pursue the librarian through her home and the library until she meets her end in a very difficult position.

The fifth relic arrives in book five entitled Day of Reckoning: The Stereoscope. Attroney Ed Becker, who is handling the legal work to convert the asylum, spots an antique dresser in one of its rooms. He brings it home to restore and finds in one of its drawers an antique stereoscope and six photographs to go with it. All of the photographs are of the interior of his home as it appeared 100 years ago. As Ed enjoys the antique viewer, he begins to feel guilt for his life's work. Once a criminal defense attorney, he had successfully defended more than a dozen clients who went on to murder more people. As the stereoscope provides a window on the past, Ed's past comes to haunt him more and more. The victims of his life's work start to visit and, while Ed survives, his life is dramatically altered for the worse. As Rebecca is leaving the latest scene of horror, she is kidnapped and taken to the asylum to dwell with its lone, evil resident.

The series finale is entitled Asylum. The residents of Blackstone are terrified as tragedy after tragedy has befallen their town over the last five months. Oliver, always frightened by the asylum that loomed on a hill above his house, finally enters the building to find Rebecca and confront the evil perpetrated on him and others in its foreboding rooms. Long forgotten memories of his sister's "accidental" death and his father's psychological practice resruface. Meanwhile, the town constable discovers the clue he needs to identify the entity that dwells within the asylum and moves to get there before Rebecca meets her doom. The story's climax is outstanding.

The reason I think that Saul did much better than King at serializing is because each of Saul's books stood alone as a story where The Green Mile was a continuous story told in installments. Saul -- unlike King -- seldom writes postscripts to his novels. At the end of Blackstone, he describes how he developed the idea of serialization after King's success and the assistance King provided him in publishing over a six month period. Writing serialized books is a challenge because the first part of the story is already in the reader's hands while the author struggles to find the correct ending. It's also easy to make continuity mistakes and Blackstone has a few (as does The Green Mile. Saul acknowledges these and notes that they are corrected in the fully bound edition that came out after the serialization was complete.

Saul's books are usually entirely plot driven. Characters and settings are developed adequately for the purpose of the story, but lack the depth of King's characters, or even Dean Koontz's characters. (Unfortunately, all of Koontz's characters are the same). In his postscript, Saul talks about how he fell in love with Blackstone and its inhabitants as he wrote and it shows in his development of his characters and the town. This makes The Blackstone Chronicles one of Saul's very best works.

I have the six installments as they were orignally published. While the words are the same, I think this is the only way to properly read the story. As I wrote, each book stands as a story on its own. To read it as one book will change that flavor.

Queen: Innuendo

Queen
Innuendo
Release: 1991

This was the last Queen album to be released while Freddie Mercury was still alive and in it, we hear a band that has gone full circle and returned to its roots in rock and roll.

When Queen entered the studio in 1988 to start recording the 1989 release The Miracle, Freddie informed his bandmates that he had AIDS. He swore them to secrecy, then told them that he didn't want to discuss it, he just wanted to make music.

About a year later, when his disease was starting to affect him, he contacted his bandmates and said that he wanted to make one last album. Queen was notorious for their infighting in the studio. They generally did not write songs together. Each member brought songs to the studio with them and the others would offer input. Each would be protective of his songs and each would fight to get his songs on the album. The band nearly split over the infighting that led up to their disasterous 1981 release Hot Space. That infighting would disappear in the making of Innuendo and would result in their best album since 1976's Day at the Races.

While each band member had developed a few ideas, none came to the studio with any songs fully developed, forcing the band to work together to write. They should have gone this route years ago because Queen recaptured their sound that made put them among rock and roll's elite.

The album opens with the title track "Innuendo". The mystical lyrics and deep power chords, along with Freddie's lyrics that essentially ask "why are we here and what is the purpose of life?" was the most introspective writing he ever did. The Spanish guitar riff in the middle is stellar and the operetic break in the middle is the finest vocal work they'd done in years. As the song closes, Freddie issues his challenge to God himself:

If there is any God or justice under the sky
If there is a point -- a reason to live or die
If there is an answer to the questions we feel bound to ask
Show yourself, destroy our fears, release your mask.

This song was Queen reaching back to their roots in mixing religion and heavy metal and coming up with a powerful tune that invokes the same images as Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir".

Camp was always a hallmark of Queen and the next song, "I'm Going Slightly Mad" sees them reaching back to the same silliness that is found in Sheer Heart Attack's "Bring Back Leroy Brown" and "Dreamer's Ball" on Jazz. The song was a result of a drunken conversation Freddie had with some friends about coming up with a number of phrases to describe insanity such as "one wave short of a shipwreck" and "not quite the schilling". It is a synth-laden song that sounds very much like modern Queen.

Headlong was a song Brian May brought to the studio with him. This straight forward hard rocker looks forward as it describes a young man in search of a future. Nostalgia creeps in as Freddie offers a toast to the dreams of youth. Brian May's guitar solo is outstanding. The multi-tracked solo contains chords emmitted from May's homemade guitar and a lead overlay played on a Gibson Les Paul -- that rock and roll staple the Brian May never used before on an album.

"I Can't Live with You" is clearly Brian May's work. This is evident in both the lyrics and the music. May was going through a tumultuous divorce at the time. He was in love with British actress, Anita Dobson, but was reluctant to leave his wife. His indecision and anguish are evident in this song. Queen's unsurpassed backing vocals, absent so long from their work, are on display in this song as well as Brian May's guitar.

The morose and sedate "Don't Try So Hard" sounds as if it came from Freddie Mercury. It is probably the weakest song on the album, but still not bad. Freddie uses falsetto, which he rarely did and that hurts the quality of the song.

Roger Taylor's first contribution to the album is "Ride the Wild Wind". In this song, John Deacon lays down one of the fastest, most upbeat bass lines of his career while Taylor wails away on the drums. Like many motorcycle enthusiasts, Taylor takes to his bike when frustration overwhelms him. This song is about how Taylor releases his frustration by "Living life on the razor's edge". Again, the guitar is vintage hard rock Queen and this song sounds best at a very high volume.

"All God's People" was originally to be released on Mercury's solo album, but he brought it to the studio with him. Blatantly religious in its appeal to "all prime ministers and majesties around the world" to live in peace and harmony, this song harkens back to early Queen songs that found their basis in religion such as "Liar" and "Jesus" on their very first studio release. The band delivers a virtuoso vocal performance in the song's climax.

"The Days of Our Lives" is a retrospective on life and growing up. The lyrics are written by Roger Taylor and represents the deep introspection each member of the band must have been feeling in knowing they were recording together for the last time. Taylor weighs the pros and cons of growing old in the lyrics:

I'd like to go back one time
on a roller coaster ride, when life was just a game.
There's no use in sitting and thinking 'bout what you did
when you can lay back and enjoy it through your kids.
sometimes it seems like, lately, I just don't know
Better sit back and go with the flow.

The video, which included Disney produced animation, was the last appearance of Freddie Mercury on film. He is gaunt and pale and obviously nearing the end stages of the disease.

I can still remember the first time I heard "Delilah". The song is light and bouncy as he describes his love for Delilah as she cuddles up next to him to go to sleep. But, in the next verse when he complains that Delilah "You pee all over my Chippendale Suite", it's obvious its not a women he's singing about. The song is about his beloved cat.

"Hitman" is the heaviest tune on the album with nothing but straight power chords. One would believe this was the work of Brian May who liked to write heavy metal. However, according to May, Freddie brought the rudiments of this song in. Very much a group-write effort. this is probably as heavy as Queen played since the Jazz album.

"Bijou" is a rarity on a Queen album is it is a Brian May guitar solo with just two sentences of lyrics. It is not May's best work, but it is different and he uses the signature sound of his unique guitar to make it work.

The final song on the album is the most powerful song they'd written since "Bohemian Rhapsody" "The Show Must Go On" may have been penned by any of them or all of them.
Freddie sings of depression and longing for death, held prisoner in a darkened room, pondering the failures of his life. Seldom, if ever, do bands get to do a valedictory, and Queen is saying goodbye to its fans here. After a climactic guitar solo, the self-pitying turns to resillience and defiance:

My soul is painted like the wings of butterflies
Fairy tails of yesterday will grow, but never die
I can fly my friends!

I'll top the bill
I'll overkill
I have to find the will to carry on with the show.

It may have very well been Freddie who wrote those lyrics as he waited for certain death of a fatal disease. However, in interviews after his death, the other members of Queen talked about how they felt besieged by England's vicious tabloid press who wanted confirmation of the AIDS rumor. Sworn to secrecy, they did not discuss it even with their spouses. The anguish of Freddie's demise was shared by the four of them in private to the end. Freddie would announce that he had aids on November 23, 1991. He died the next day.

John Deacon has dropped from sight completely. However, May and Taylor have each talked about what a special time this was for the band. As I stated earlier, they bickered and fought each other constantly over creative differences. Confronted with the end of the band they'd been a part of for more than 20 years, they began working together. They rediscovered each other and found their sound again. They also described how Freddie struggled in the final days of recording, only working one hour at a time. After several years of hodge podge, uneven albums, this final studio release was a fitting swan song for one of the most powerful and most influential bands of all time.

A Time to Heal by Gerald R. Ford

A Time to Heal: The Autobiograhpy of Gerald Ford
by Gerald R. Ford
copyright 1979
Harper & Row
442 pages
index

This man has always fascinated me. While Nixon is the first president I remember seeing and hearing, Gerald Ford was the first one I paid attention to -- mostly because women kept trying to kill him and I didn't understand why.

He fascinates me because I regard him as one of the truly great Americans of all time. He was not a great president. His conduct of foreign affairs was uneven and his domestic policy was completely inept. However, there's nothing more American than serving when called upon. Gerald Ford never sought the office of President. He was never elected to it. Yet, when his country needed him, he stepped up and served. When he carried out the most courageous political decision since Truman's firing of Douglas McArthur, we turned on him. After he left the presidency, he largely faded from our view and our memory. Only his death and funeral would make Americans revisit his short presidency and discover what a great American he was.

The book opens with a narrative account of the final days of Watergate. Contrary to what history has told us, Nixon and Ford were close, personal friends and Ford took Nixon at his word when he said there would be no future revelations regarding Watergate. He was devestated and angry when the infamous smoking gun tape was made public and Nixon's fate was sealed.

Ford was the most uncomfortable vice president since John Tyler waited for William Henry Harrison to die. He could say nothing in Nixon's final days. He couldn't defend the indefensable position Nixon was in, but he certainly could not criticize him. All he could do was quietly allow the White House and his own staff establish a transition team. Even that was risky, because had it become public, it would have made Ford look anxious to assume the presidency. Nixon's final day in the Whitehouse and Ford's brilliant inauguration speech where he declared "Our long, national nightmare is over."

Gerald Ford was actually born Leslie King, Jr. in Omaha, Nebraska on July 14, 1913. His father was a wife beater and well known jackass and his mother, Dorothy left him and moved to her parents' home in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She would eventually marry Gerald R. Ford who would rename the young boy Gerald R. Ford, Jr. Ford recounts when he was a teenager, Leslie King, Sr. came to visit him in Grand Rapids. Ford's bitterness is not entirely concealed and says the meeting left him feeling nothing for the man who sired him.

Ford doesn't provide a lot of detail about his childhood except to say he was frequently a hothead and his parents were strict disciplinarians. He did well in school and went to the University of Michigan where he was an All-American Center. While there, he had to work two jobs and sell his blood to get by. Instead of joining the Green Bay Packers, he elected to go to Yale Law School.

While at Yale, the tall, blonde, athletic Gerald Ford worked as a male clothes model as well as working at a diner to get himself through law school. While he always listed his profession as lawyer, Ford spent little time practicing law. Therefore, Ford could be described as the first professional model to serve as President!

Ford won election to the U.S. House of Represenatives in 1948. With this addition, three future presidents (Kennedy, Nixon, and Ford) were serving in the U.S. House. Ford did well in sponsoring legislation, but was not a prolific floor speaker. When the Democrats cemented their large majority in the House in 1964, it was clear to House Republicans they were going to need someone who could schmooze Democrats if the Republicans were going to have any hope of influencing legislation. Ford was well liked on both sides of the aisle and was a natural choice for the few Republicans left in the House.

Ford led the fight against Johnson's Great Society and tried to temper some of the more outlandish spending programs that Johnson proposed. While he was no Everett Dirksen, who was enjoying much more success in influencing legislation in the Senate where Republicans were also in the extreme minority, Ford did manage to stave off some of Johnson's more radical proposals. However, Ford stood with the hawks on Vietnam and supported Johnson's conduct of the war.

After Ford's death, it was revealed that Ford and Nixon were actually close friends. What is so remarkable about that disclosure is the contempt with which Nixon treated both parties in Congress as President. As a man who had served in both chambers, he should have known better. Ford often successfully defended the indefensible positions Nixon put him in as Minority Leader. He continued to support the increasingly unpopular Vietnam War and, against every conservative principle he held, supported Nixon's initiatives to expand government oversight of the environment, worker safety, and government imposed economic controls. Ford was the loyal lieutenant to Nixon.

Ford also staunchly defended Nixon as Watergate developed. As Spiro Agnew's career began to unravel, Nixon became desperate to find a VP who might be able to influence the House as the House Judiciary Committee might be considering impeachment in the near future. Ford was a natural choice.

Here is where we learn of the character of the man who was Gerald Ford. It was not something he wanted to do. He was asked to step up to the number two position in the most embattled administration in 110 years. While he led a squeaky clean life, he did not welcome the scrutiny the vice presidency would bring him. His wife, Betty, was an alcoholic and a drug addict. The scrutiny might have brought that to the public view and the pressure of the office may have aggravated it. Nonetheless, Ford accepted the responsibility.

After Watergate, Ford received a great deal of good will from the country and from congressional Democrats. That would evaporate quickly as he began to lay out his programs for dealing with stagflation that was sapping the American economy. Democrats thwarted his every initiatve.

One initiative that seems laughable today was the WIN (Whip Inflation Now) program. This was little more than a PR campaign (including posters and buttons) to encourage the private sector to voluntarily impose wage and price controls. It was a complete and utter failure and was scoffed at by the media.

Of course, Ford's most profound act was the pardon of Richard Nixon. This would also be his most costly act. Ford struggled with this. His staff was split. His oldest and closest confidants said he had to pardon Nixon to put Watergate behind and move forward. Younger aides counseled that Ford ought to leave Nixon to his own fate and not be tainted with Nixon's misconduct of his office. Ford also had to consider the humanitarian aspect of Nixon's plight. Nixon was horribly despondent and at one point, near death with a blood clot. Emmissaries from San Clemente reported that they thought Nixon was potentially suicidal. After considering all of his options, Ford issued a complete and unconditional pardon to Richard Nixon for any crimes that may have been committed during the Watergate affair.

The reaction was brutal and Ford was pilloried in the press and in Congress. Some congressmen suggested an investigation to determine if there had been a "secret deal" between Ford and Nixon to secure the pardon before Nixon appointed Ford. While nothing came of this, Ford's public approval tumbled overnight and his ability to govern was dramatically diminished. Nothing is more indicative of this than Ford's request to Congress to provide funding and military support to our allies in South Vietnam who were under siege from the North Vietnamese Army. Prior to this, presidents were afforded almost unfettered ability to control foreign policy. This time, Congress asserted itself and denied his request. Ford and the country could only watch helplessly as American allies in Vietnam waited hopelessly on top of the American embassy for help that would never come. Shortly thereafter, Ho Chi Mihn and the North Vietnamese would slaughter hundreds of thousands in South Vietnam.

Politically, Ford's greatest blunder was the appointment of Nelson Rockefeller to be his vice president. Conservative Republicans, already unhappy with the leftist direction the party had taken under Nixon with wage and price controls and other government expanion initiatives, were outraged by what they considered a betrayal in the appointment of the liberal Rocky. It was the appointment of Rockefeller that spurred Ronald Reagan to seek the 1976 Republican nomination.

The battle between Reagan and Ford in 1976 was brutal. Ford entered the convention with a slight lead in delegates. Interestingly, Reagan, who made relatively few political blunders in his career, screwed up big time on the eve of the convention. To force Ford's hand on whether or not Rocky would remain on the ticket, Reagan tried to force Ford to declare his running mate before the convention. Unwisely, Reagan selected the liberal Pennsylvania Senator, Richard Schweiker, as his running mate. Conservatives were devestated and Reagan hurt his base. Ford decided to dump Rocky and selected Sen. Bob Dole of Kansas as his runningmate. Any conservative delegates that were still in play came home to Ford and he won the nomination.

In 1976, Ford demonstrated what a deft campaigner he was. He and Dole came out of the Republican convention 30 points behind Carter/Mondale. Ford worked hard, as did Dole, speaking across the country. Ford was not a brilliant speaker, but his warm and engaging personality frequently won people over. Dole played the role of hatchet man, attacking Carter and Mondale without remorse.

Ford hurt himself badly while debating Jimmy Carter when he uttered the damning sentence "There has never been any Soviet domination of Eastern Europe and there won't be under a Ford administration." Ford himself couldn't believe what he'd said. Conservatives, who were coming home to Ford -- mostly because of Bob Dole -- were once again put off by Ford. Dole didn't help when he alienated independents and moderates with his crack about all the people who'd died in "Democrat wars."

Despite these two major gaffes, Ford had pulled into within five points of Carter on election eve. The media saw it as a tossup. However, Carter took the south which Nixon had used as his Republican base. As Ford watched the election results come in and the southern states going into the Democratic column, he knew he'd lost. His family pleaded with him to wait for results from the west, hoping perhaps California might keep him in the race. However, Ford was smart enough to see that his fight was lost. He conceded to Carter that evening.

Ford was bitter toward Ronald Reagan. Reagan's challenge to him had hurt him. Reagan did more damage at the convention when, instead of extolling the virtues of the president, he instead made an impassioned speech to his conservative base. As Ford campaigned to keep the White House for the Republicans, Reagan remained on the sidelines. It would be four years before the two would speak again.

He also did not think much of Jimmy Carter. This can be detected in Ford's text as he described their transition. He also did not care for Rosalynn Carter who seemed determined to insert herself into the policy discussion between the lame duck and president elect. We've recently learned that Ford's dislike for Carter was actually quite intense. The soon-to-be-published book of private interviews with Ford disclose this. That book should make fascinating reading.

We also learn that,like most successful politicians, Ford relied heavily on the advice of his wife, Betty. Political wives play an important role in the lives of elected officials. They are the only person who cares only about the official. Advisors bring with them their own ambitions and prejudices. Wives care only about their husbands. Betty, even with her substance abuse problems, was a real asset to Gerald Ford. Had Nixon consulted Pat more frequently than he did John Dean and Bob Haldeman, perhaps Watergate would never have happened.

This memoir was the most extensive commentary Gerald Ford ever did about American politics. He granted several interviews over the years, but they were usually short and not very introspective. Ford was perfectly willing to retire from the public eye and concentrate on serving on the boards of directors of various businesses. Unlike most ex-presidents who work hard to achieve elder statesman status to either rehabilitate or firm up their place in history, Ford was satisfied with what he'd done in his years of public service.

Ford's intelligence was often underestimated. While he was never called an "amiable dunce" as Clark Clifford once called Ronald Reagan, he never developed a reputation as a brilliant strategist nor was he gifted with a knack for policy development. However, in reading his memoirs, you find a man very comfortable with himself and his decisions. While their politics, demeanor, and conduct of the office were quite different, Ford very much resembles Harry Truman in his self-confidence. Ford's post presidential conduct very much resembled Harry Truman who left office as one of the most unpopular presidents in history.

America lost a national treasure when it lost Gerald Ford. Carter promised us he'd never lie to us and he almost made it. Ford was also just as honest and forthright in his conduct through his public career and, frankly, was a superior president to Carter. Ford, who never wanted to lead the country, led it through its most difficult constitutional crisis as well as one of its most difficult periods of foreign relations. He will never get the credit he deserves simply because of the shortness of his presidency.

CBS Radio Mystery Theater

I'd sit alone, and watch your light
My only friend, on teenage nights
and everything I had to know
I heard it on my radio

These lyrics from Queen's "Radio Ga Ga" describe my love affair with radio as a young teenager. For some reason (I can't imagine why) that love affair with radio has soured.

However, from 1978-1981, I tuned in, at 11:07 PM to WMOA of Marietta, Ohio to listen to the CBS Radio Mystery Theater. The late night radio drama left me drousy through my entire junior high school academic career. In the 1970s, a television in the bedroom was something very few children had, so radio and books were my only source of entertainment in my room.

The sound of a creaking door greeted listeners before the resonant voice of actor E.G. Marshall greeted listeners "Come in, welcome. I'm E.G. Marshall." What followed was often a tale of horror, mystery, drama, historical drama, and an occasional comedy. These stories were usually engaging and occasionally terrifying.

Scripts were usually original works of staff writers, but frequently included adaptations of famous writers such as Ambrose Bierce, Robert Louis Stevenson, Oscar Wilde, Edgar Allen Poe, and Henry James. Staff writers included Sam Dann, Ian Martin, Arnold Moss (who Star Trek fans will recognize as the actor that played the evil Anton Kerridian in the episode "Conscience of the King), Bob Juhren (my personal favorite), and Elspeth Eric (by far, my least favorite).

The actors were a mix of radio personalities from radio's "golden age", screen actors on their way up or way down, and Broadway performers such as Celeste Holm and Marian Seldes who were subsidizing their wages. Fred Gwynne of Munsters fame was a frequent performer as was John Lithgow. Jerry Orbach of Law and Order did one show as did Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. My favorite voice was that of Norman Rose. Rose would be familiar to most television viewers as the guy who told us about coffee farmer, Juan Valdez. To OTR fans, he was the host of Dimension X -- a very popular sci-fi radio show of the early 1950s.

The show ran from 1974 through 1982 on CBS Radio and a handful of independent stations. Toledo area residents would have heard it on WJR. Actress Tammy Grimes replaced E.G. Marshall as host in early 1982. By that time, the show had really run its course and the quality of writing had deteriorated badly. In its prime, it was as good as anything on television and I enjoyed it more than anything on television.

The show was created by Himan Brown who was already a veteran of radio drama, having written, produced and directed "The Inner Sanctum" in the 1940s and 50s which is probably the most famous of the horror genre radio shows. His introduction of radio drama in 1974 breathed new life, for a time, into this forgotten art.

I quit listening when I got my drivers license and began spending my evenings partying and hanging out with friends. I didn't even notice when the show was cancelled. But I never forgot it. Several episodes stayed in my mind for more than 20 years, and I thought I'd never have the opportunity to hear those great stories like "Hickory, Dickory, Doom" about a haunted clock, "A Horror Story" about a chef with several recipe for human meat, and "A Long Way from Home" which is an adaptation of an Ambrose Bierce story about a Civil War veteran's lost memory. (Bierce Rocks!) I was wrong.

I was a huge user of Napster when it was popular. One evening, while downloading some rock music, I thought about that show and wondered if anybody else was still a fan like me. As it turned out, there were dozens of people sharing recordings of the show and at least one recording existed of each episode.

Himan Brown (the very cantankerous ass is still alive and approaching 100) has never allowed the series to be released on tape. So many of the recordings were made by kids like me who laid a mic by the speaker of their radios and recorded them to listen to later. Many of the shows contained commercials from the 1970s that I'd forgotten about. They also include news broadcasts from stations across the United States. You can relive the final days of Watergate and the Patty Hearst kidnapping as it all unfolded.

As I listened to that creaking door, I was instantly taken back to those formative years between childhood and adulthood and was delighted to discover this relic of my childhood. Something that I loved dearly and thought was lost to me forever was found!

I joined some online fan groups and eventually acquired a complete set in 2000. I dedicated the next three years to listening to all 1399 episodes, culling the best recordings of each, and assembling a master set. Our online group set up a distro and my master set was mailed to 14 countries and most of the states.

Since I completed my master set in 2003, several radio professionals from the 1970s brought forward reel-to-reel tapes they made from the audio feeds from New York. Using these, we were able to upgrade most of our defective recordings. A gentleman from New Mexico has assembled a new master set that is about to start its distribution. I was honored when Ken from New Mexico mailed me his master series before the distro since I'd dedicated so much time to listening and finding defective recordings in my master set project.

For those interested, I recommend you visit these two sites:

http://cbsrmt.mousetrap.net/

http://www.cbsrmt.info/macabre/
I helped develop the database for the former and am a moderator on the latter.

You should never, ever purchase recordings of this series. Unlike most Old Time Radio shows, which are in the public domain, CBSRMT is still copyrighted. Its sale is illegal. Himan Brown might be a cantankerous old bastard, but he's entitled to not have his work stolen. Himan Brown is aware of our efforts to distribute the show and has tolerated them. He does not tolerate sales and regularly watches ebay and other sites for those selling.

If you are interested in obtaining a complete set, contact me and I'll work with you.

Led Zeppelin - Houses of the Holy

Led Zeppelin
Houses of the Holy
Release: 1973

When Led Zeppelin released Houses of the Holy in 1973, they were the biggest act in the world, outdrawing both the Rolling Stones and The Who. Disco was in its fetal stages and Rock and Roll reigned supreme.

The album opens with The Song Remains the Same. Robert Plant was known for his "primal scream" vocals, but in this song, it sounds like he sucked down a tank of helium. However, the squeaky vocals work. What really stands out on this track is Jimmy Page's mastery of the 12 string electric guitar, using it to build a multitracked orchestra of guitar sounds.

The upbeat, fast paced, Song Remains the same segues into the slow, dreamy, Rain Song. Here, Plant dispenses with the primal scream and sings a soft melody backed by John Paul Jones on the Melotron.

Next is Over the Hills and Far Away which is something close to pop and one of Zep's bigger hits. Lightly strummed acoustic guitar is backed by a soft lead guitar and Plant's signature sound.

Next is what I regard as the worst song Zeppelin ever did. The Crunge is as annoying as the title implies. Plant's over the top vocals are too far over the top and the guitar track dull and lifeless. It ends with Jimmy Page asking "Where is that confounded bridge?"

Side two of vinyl opens with Dancing Days -- another huge hit for Zeppelin. This hard rocker about a poorly planned date contains some of the silliest lyrics Zeppelin ever wrote. Perhaps struggling for a word that rhymed or a phrase that fit, Plant sings:

You told your mother I'd get you home
but you didn't say I had no car
I saw a lion there standing alone
with a tadpole in a jar

Next is the reggae stylings of D'yer Maker. For those uninformed Zep fans, it is pronounced JA-MAKER. It is a punch line of a forgotten joke and a play on Jamaica. The other members of Zeppelin were teasing John Bonham that he couldn't stand up to some of the great reggae drummers. He laid down the drum track before the song itself was conceived. Page, Jones, and Plant supplied what was needed and another Zeppelin hit was born.

Next is a Zeppelin masterpiece in No Quarter. Here, we here the multi-talented John Paul Jones playing an electric piano in a dark and dreary tune about Viking pillagers moving through bad weather to their next conquest. Jones was a piano virtuoso even though he was known primarily as their bassist and his piano chops are on full display here. Page plugs in the fuzz box, digital delay, and wawa pedal to lay down a delightfully understated guitar counter melody and solo. This was Jones' featured number in concert.

The album ends with The Ocean which is actually about the large crowds before which Zeppelin played. It's constantly shifting time signatures and engaging lyrics make this tune entertaining.

Led Zeppelin was the biggest band of their time and deservedly so. For we children of the seventies who, at that time, found the Beatles to be passe, this was our music. Harder and edgier than the peace and love stuff of the sixties, Led Zeppelin reached out to horny, adolescent teens of the suburbs. That was me in the late 1970s just as Zeppelin met their Swan Song and I loved them for it.

Herbert Hoover by Eugene Lyons

Herbert Hoover
by Eugene Lyons
Copyright 1948
Doubleday and Co.
442 pages
no index

Eugene Lyons was the editor of Readers Digest in the 1950s. Before his conversion to Republicanism, he was a strong and ardent believer in the socialist utopia. As a reborn conservative, however, he was quite sympathetic to Herbert Hoover and this biography, while informative and well written, is rather one sided and a defense of Hoover the man and his policies.

Like Richard Nixon, Hoover was a Quaker. The Hoover family roots can be traced to Miami, Ohio where Hoover's grandfather settled in the Western Reserve in 1802. Hoover's father would take the family further west to Cedar County, Iowa where Herbert Hoover was born and raised in a Quaker village where plain English (full of "thees" and "thous") was routinely spoken. His Quaker upbringing would set the stage for the Herbert Hoover who, before his presidency, was known as the world's greatest humanitarian.

Educated at the brand new Stanford University, Hoover excelled in his study of mining engineering. It was there that he met his bride, Lou, who would follow him across the globe.

Hoover went to work for various mining companies and had an uncanny knack for knowing where to find various ores and minerals. He made a small fortune in mining before he took up public service as his life's work.

Time and place are the essence of successful politics and Hoover was in the right place at the right time to make a name for himself. He was in London with his family on business when the fateful shot in Sarejevo was fired to start World War I. The American Ambassador to the Court of St. James called on Hoover to help him assist American tourists who were now fleeing Europe in droves. Hoover's brilliant ability to organize and plan massive events was revealed for the first time when he was able to mobilize resources and transport thousands of Americans out of Europe.

During World War I, Hoover dedicated himself to feeding the starving millions of Europe who were displaced by the war. His famine fighting efforts in Belgium, approved by both the German and American governments would earn him international acclaim.

He began his formal government service in the cabinet of Warren Harding as the Secretary of Commerce. What is interesting about his approach to commerce in the cabinets of both Harding and Calvin Coolidge was he was generally regarded as a liberal within the Republican Party. He sought and occasionally won victories over the "stand-patters" who endorsed unfettered capitalism. He wanted to regulate advertising to assure that it at least contained a modicum of truth. He also recognized the rapant speculation in the stock market by those traders buying on margin before Coolidge and most economists. While he recognized it, he wasn't able to do much about it. But he was far from the cold, taciturn promulgator of "rugged individualism" that history portrays. In fact, he recognized the need for at least modest government oversight and regulation of the economy.

He was the brightest star in the Coolidge cabinet and therefore, the leading contender for the Republican nomination in 1928. First, he had to be sure the enigmatic Coolidge was not going to seek a second full term. Coolidge did allow his name to be placed on the Ohio primary ballot, but this was probably to stem the budding candidacy of Ohio senator Frank Willis who was hoping to ride favorite son status into the convention on a dark horse platform. However, a stroke would fell Willis before the primary. (Willis' last speech was delivered in the Toledo Civic Auditorium, known today as the Erie Street Market. He would die the next day at Ohio Wesleyan University).

Lyons quotes Arthur Schlesinger's eulogy of John Kennedy when he said, "No man had been elected President of the United States who had not schemed and labored to be there." While I am not the presidential scholar that Schlesinger was, I agree with Lyons when he asserts that Schlesinger had forgotten Herbert Hoover (as well as Harry Truman). Hoover had no political machine. He had no base and he went into the Republican convention in Kansas City with few primary delegates. However, he was the most popular man in America and was selected by the delegates based entirely on his reputation as an organizational man who could get things done.

Hoover was a boring speaker. He tended to deliver lectures and was a techno-cratic detail man long before Jimmy Carter. His opponent, Al Smith of New York was a loud, boisterous cheerleader who excited crowds. The 1928 election was nearly a replay of the 1896 and 1900 elections between the reserved William McKinley who campaigned from his front porch whilst the bombastic William Jennings Bryan shouted that he would not have the nation die on a cross of gold.

Republicanism had reached its apex in 1928 following more than 10 years of prosperity and peace and Hoover won an easy election over Smith. For Hoover, it would be all down hill from there.

Here, we should compare Hoover to Carter and their successors, Roosevelt and Reagan. Hoover had a much stronger understanding of public policy and the machinery of government than did Roosevelt. The same can be said of Carter versus Reagan. However, when our nation faces a crisis, they need leadership they can believe in and neither the uninspiring Hoover, nor the timid Jimmy Carter were up to the task where Roosevelt and Reagan led the nation back to prosperity -- not through government programs -- but through inspiring leadership.

The causes of the Great Depression are many and the subjects of volumes of books. Obviously, the 1929 stock market crash was a factor, as was the bass-ackwards international debt structure created by the need of the victors to claim reparations from vanquished Germany, an economy that was based almost entirely on building homes and consumer goods, and drought conditions across the Midwest. Whatever the cause, Hoover mobilized the forces of government to fight it.

Any student of the presidency will tell you that presidents receive way too much credit and too much blame for bad economic times. History today still puts the Great Depression on the shoulders of Coolidge and Hoover. People also over-estimate the president's ability to fix what ails the economy. Despite a litany of employment programs, food programs, and economic plans, Hoover could not get the U.S. economy out of its slump which now affected the entire world. The election of a Democratic Congress in 1930 hindered Hoover's efforts as the new Democrats were determined to deliver a knock-out punch to a president who was on the ropes.

History paints Hoover as standing idle while the nation suffered and homeless resided in Hoovervilles -- tar paper shacks in slum neighborhoods. (For those who are interested in Toledo history, know that Toledo was the hardest hit city in the nation by the Great Depression and a large Hooverville with several hundred people sprang up along the Maumee River where the Port Authority offices are located all the way down to where the Craig Bridge lands on the west bank). Lyons points out that the nation had weathered similar depressions in the administrations of Van Buren, Buchanan, Grant, Cleveland, and Teddy Roosevelt. Each had its own set of causes and circumstances, yet the federal government took no action to deal with those crises and the economy eventually recovered in short order. While the father of federal intervention in the economy was Teddy Roosevelt, Herbert Hoover took it to a level never imagined by his predecessors. For all of his work and anguish, the country continued to suffer.

The Great Depression is a historic term used to describe the years 1929 - 1941. However, the circumstances that mitigated and exacerbated the Depression changed over the years. There were, at times, strong signs of recovery, only to be met with further downturns. The worst years were 1931 - 1932 which did not bode well for the president facing re-election.

Franklin Roosevelt, Speaker of the House, John Nance Garner, and congressional Democrats were viscious in their attacks on Hoover and probably did more damage to the economy in their campaign than Hoover did with his programs. Lyons points out that the Democrats never attacked Hoover's programs, but instead went after him personally as a cold, uncaring man who was content to let Americans starve. The Democrats were successful in ruining the reputation of the man who had been hailed as the world's greatest humanitarian. Roosevelt defeated Hoover in a landslide and Democrats gained overwhelming control of Congress in 1932.

As most defeated presidents do, Hoover tried to enter "The Wilderness" and stay out of sight and mind before rebuilding his reputation. Franklin Roosevelt, however, made Hoover feel more like a deer hunted in the woods than a man alone in the forest. Not content to defeat the man in an election, Roosevelt and his men continued to attack and besmirch Hoover long after he left office. The powerful Roosevelt was able to distract the nation from the ineffectiveness of his own relief programs by reminding them that Hoover had started the mess he was trying to fix. The petty Roosevelt even removed Hoover's name from Hoover Dam, renaming it Boulder Dam.

Hoover was not a sore loser. Between the election and inauguration, irresponsible statements from Roosevelt cronies triggered a run on banks, causing their collapse. Hoover wanted to work with the president-elect to stem the crisis. He offered to introduce any program that Roosevelt thought would help. Roosevelt remained silent on Hoover's offer, content to let the nation suffer some more before he came in as the conquering hero.

The Roosevelt years were misery for Hoover who valued his reputation as an honest man and humanitarian. As the depression wore on, he bore the brunt of the nation's anger without a pulpit from which to defend himself.

Like the disgraced Richard Nixon, the unpopular Hoover sought and found adoring crowds in Europe where he had nearly saved the continent from its own depravations. In 1938, he toured Europe and met cheering crowds at every stop except one, Berlin.

In Berlin, Hoover met with Adolph Hitler. It was to be a short, courtesy meeting arranged by the American embassy which was dedicating itself to promoting American neutrality. It turned into a one hour meeting. Coming out of it, Hoover characterized the Fuhrer as an intelligent, lucid man capable of great thought. However, Hitler grew angry and animated when the subjects of Communism and Democracy were raised. Hoover agreed with Hitler on the former and quietly defended the latter. He was ultimately disturbed by what he saw in history's greatest monster.

With the outbreak of World War II in 1939, Hoover went back to doing what he did best. He organized and ran a myriad of programs to help displaced refugees, feed the starving, and comfort the suffering in Europe. For all of his work throughout the conflict, he received no acknowledgement or recognition from Roosevelt.

Roosevelt's death and the rise of Harry Truman gave Hoover his shot at redemption. Truman actually liked Hoover and was willing to deploy his abilities to help the country restore an orderly government in the aftermath of the war. He chaired a bipartisan committee including members of Congress who studied how to restore the nation to a prosperous, peaceful country. His engineer driven technocratic abilities were well suited for this task.

His post-presidential years were busy. He was an active member of the Stanford Board of Directors, served as chairman of the Boys Clubs of America, and completed the afformentioned tour of Europe. Slowly, his standing rose with the American people who, with few exceptions like the drunkard Franklin Pierce and the thoroughly unlikable James Buchanan, slowly warm to and and eventually embrace their elder statesmen. As Truman passed the baton to Ike and resurgent Republicans were in control again, Hoover acquired that elder statesman status. When he died in 1964 at the age of 90, he was mourned by a country that had spent an entire year mourning the deaths of JFK as well as Douglas MacArthur.

Lyons does not incorporate much about Lou Hoover into his biography. He does claim that she was one of the most intelligent and able first ladies to inhabit the White House. She shared her husband's passion for good works and was at his side, helping, at every step of his career. She was a strong backer and served as national chairwoman of the Girl Scouts of America. Like women of her time, she served as a supporter and confidante of her husband.

Hoover's place in history is well defined and unlikely to change. History regards him as a failure and that reputation is somewhat deserved. Like time and place served to launch his political career, time and place ended it. The depression was not of his making, but he failed to resolve it. However, he is not the cold, dispassionate man who dined in high style while America starved as liberal historians would have him portrayed.

Black Sabbath - Paranoid

Black Sabbath
Paranoid
Release:1970

This, Black Sabbath's second album, is one of the four cornerstones of modern heavy metal. Anybody who appreciates heavy metal rock and roll knows that this album is the very essence of the genre.

The song opens with Luke's Wall/War Pigs. This is a standard on any decent classic rock station. Lukes Wall, the opening instrumental, is just as dark as mainstream rock and roll can get. Tony Iommi lays down slow, melodic power chords while Geezer Butler provides a nice, light counter melody behind it. Throw in an authentic air raid siren, and you've set the mood for this heavy, heavy album.

Luke's Wall moves right into War Pigs. Here, we have Ozzy doing an A Capella. If you listen to any of Ozzy's solo stuff, it's hard to believe the guy could once sing like that. The guitar riff in the song's midsection is classic Iommi. I could listen to this guy play guitar all day! He's seldom mentioned among guitar gods like Hendrix, Van Halen, Page, or Clapton, but he should be. Iommi's song writing, soloing, and riffs rival any and all of these legends.

The title track, Paranoid follows War Pigs. Again, Iommi lays down raw, unsythesized, untouched, guitar riffs in another classic rock staple.

Planet Caravan is Black Sabbath diverging from their formula and doing it well. Ozzy's vocals are heavily effect-laden. An acoustic guitar and harp overlay a creepy synthisyzer riff. This is one we children of the 1970s used to enjoy through our Koss headphones.

Side one of vinal concludes with the FM Classic Rock staple, Iron Man. This song -- along with Deep Purple's Smoke on the Water, are songs learned by early students of the guitar.

Side two of vinal opens with Electric Funeral -- a dreary and heavy description of a post-nuclear holocuast Earth. This one doesn't enjoy much airplay, but is a Black Sabbath fan favorite.

Hand of Doom is one of the album's less prominent songs, but the "Hand of Doom" which is Ozzy's slang for heroin, is repeated in future Black Sabbath recordings such as Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. The song is describes the de-evolution of the "Peace and Love" generation of the 1960s which was based on Marijuana and LSD to the 1970s generation which was caught up in heroin and cocaine. It's a great song that only true Black Sabbath fans love and appreciate.

Rat Salad is an appalling title to a tame instrumental. John Bonham had a studio drum solo on Led Zeppelin's 1968 release "Led Zeppelin II". Bill Ward and Tony Iommi basically copy Bonham/Page for Rat Salad. Still, the song is pretty decent with a nice, laid back guitar solo from Iommi before Ward shows off his chops. He's not in the same league with Bonham or Keith Moon, but Bill Ward was an excellent drummer.

The album's closer is Fairies Wear Boots/Jack the Stripper. This song is about a bad acid trip where Ozzy sees a "fairy in boots dancing with a dwarf." Ozzy goes to the doctor and he admonishes:

Son, son, you've gone to far.
Because smoking and tripping is all that you do!

This song is another staple of FM Classic Rock. Iommi really shows of his electric guitar chops on this song and this entire album. Those of us who still occasionally tune in to corporate classic rock know that the only Black Sabbath you will hear is from this album. Sweet Leaf from Master of Reality is a rare exception. While this is probably the best Black Sabbath album ever, their entire body of work is certainly worth the time and effort of students of rock and roll.

Pink Floyd: Animals

On college campuses across the nation, as I type at 9:15 PM, the third generation to do bong hits while pondering the meaning behind this album, is discovering one of Pink Floyd's most powerful works.

Pink Floyd, like the biggest acts of the day, deliberately made an album that had no radio-oriented material. There are two ver short tracks (Pigs on the Wing Parts I and II) and three really, really long tracks (by radio standards) in Dogs, Pigs (Three Different Ones), and Sheep.

The opening song, Pigs on the Wing, Part I provides a simple vocal track backed by a simple acoustic guitar. It sets up a stark contrast for what's coming.

Dogs opens with a keyboard and acoustic guitar before taking us on a roller coaster of heavy metal hills and semi-psychodelic valleys whilst describing the dog eat dog world of business. Check out these lyrics:

After a while
you can work on points for style
Like the Club tie, and firm handshake,
the sudden look in the eye and the easy smile.
And you have to be trusted
by the people that you lie to.
So that when they turn their backs on you
You get the chance to push the knife in!

Dogs finally ends when the dog heads south as "another sad old man, all alone and dying of cancer."

The entire band was on top of their game when this song (and album)was recorded. While "Dark Side of the Moon" is musically superior in the quality of its songs, "Animals" is the individual performers in Pink Floyd at their very best.

We then transition into "Pigs (Three Different Ones)" which, of course, is about the ruling class. Perhaps only students of British history or rabid Pink Floyd fans will get the reference to Mary Whitehouse. She was the self-appointed censor of British music -- Tipper Gore with a cockney accent. Read about Mary Whitehouse here

Pigs is a hard rocker with course lyrics with just a touch of funk -- out of character for Pink Floyd.

"Sheep" is the final full-length track and it is the most powerful on the album. David Gillmor and Richard Wright wail away on their respective instruments on this one! Again, we ride the peeks and valleys of heavy metal and psychodelia. Unlike "Dogs" where decay and death is passive, "Sheep" brings death and murder to the fore. Check out these creepy lyrics:

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me down to lie
Through pastures green he leadeth me, the silent waters by,
With bright knives he releaseth my soul.
He maketh me to hang on hooks in high places.
He converteth me to lamb cutlets
For lo, he hath great power, and great hunger
When cometh the day we lowley ones
through quiet reflection and great dedication,
master the art of karate
lo,we shall rise up
and then we'll make the buggers' eyes water!

The sheep -- the mindless rabble who do what their told -- rise up and take on the dogs. . .

Bleating and babbling I fell on his neck with a scream!
Wave upon wave of demented avengers
march cheerfully out of obscurity into the dream!

Roger Waters wrote some truly great lyrics in his time, but each of the songs on this album have to rank among his finest work.

Finally, as if waking from a nightmare where bleating and babbling sheep were ripping his throat out, our dog awakens from his nightmare to the comfort of mutual love between he and his master where he doesn't "feel alone or the weight of the stone." The album fades out just as it fades in -- with soft acoustic guitar.

"Dogs" was featured on the very first episode of "WKRP in Cincinnati". WKRP is going to a rock and roll format, and Mr. Carlson wants to familiarize himself with their new product. He puts on "Animals" and starts to listen to "Dogs". The rest is television history to us, the children of the 1970s.

AS the above demonstrates, "Animals" is not for the casual fan. These tracks are not singles. Together, the make a statement. Together, they contrast with each other and provide a singular listening experience. Such is the joy of album rock!

James Monroe: The Quest for National Identity by Harry Annon

by Harry Ammon
Copyright 1990
University of Virginia Press\
706 pages
index

Harry Ammon tackles a tough subject in his biography of James Monroe because Monroe left scant information about his life for historians to examine. Unlike the Adams, who were compulsive savers of correspondence and records, Monroe destroyed them routinely.

We don't really get to know James Monroe, the man. Nor do we get to know much about his wife, Elizabeth.

Monroe was born into wealth in colonial Virginia. Not a strong political activist during the pre-revolutionary days, he joined the Continental Army and rose to the rank of Colonel.

The book is aptly titled for no one did more to shape the national identity of the United States than James Monroe. He did it as a diplomat, as acting secretary of war, as secretary of state, and as president.

As president, he presided over the "Era of Good Feelings". Political rancor between the tattered remnants of the Federalists and the Democrats was at an all time low. Monroe was elected almost by acclamation. For the next eight years, the country experienced increased prosperity and peace after the struggle of the War of 1812.

He was a protege of Jefferson and part of a politically powerful Virginia political machine operated by Jefferson, Madison, and himself. These three men, so different in their approach to government and personal conduct, were close friends and unwavering political allies through their entire careers.

Monroe was an earlier version of Richard Nixon in his vision. In a time when global travel was a lengthy and dangerous journey and communications between countries took months, Monroe was able to examine the state of affairs in Europe and make a bold declaration to the continent. This was, of course, the Monroe Doctrine, developed intellectually by John Quincy Adams and put forward by Monroe as a bold statement to the world's superpowers. He told the powers of Europe that they were not to meddle in western hemisphere affairs. Neither France, nor England, and Spain, who were constantly skirmishing, could not afford to draw the ire of the United States and Monroe knew it.

Monroe was able to assure the election of his Secretary of State, John Quincy Adams, was elected president. The succession to the presidency was traditionally from the Secretary of STate position at that time.

Monroe suffered from his public service. His farm suffered from inattention. His law practice suffered from lack of time. And his personal finances were often tenuous because his pay from his diplomatic service did not cover the expenses of his job. Yet Monroe continue to give of himself up until his death.

Ammon is superb in his policy and political analysis. This is a good book for presidential biography wonks. Ammon comes up short in animating Monroe the man. He had only the commentaries of Monroe's contemporaries -- who all saw Monroe through their own biases -- to use. So Ammon can be forgiven.

Por Larranaga - Cuban Grade

"There is peace in a Por Larranaga," Rudyard Kipling wrote in his poem where he expresses his fondness of cigars over his fiance in "The Betrothed". Kipling was right and these new Cuban Grade are superior to Por Larranaga's already stellar line of cigars.

The first thing that strikes the pallet of any Por Larranaga smoker is the leathery taste with just a little cream. The Cuban Grade still has the signature leather of the parent cigar, but is mixed with greater complexity. The Cuban Grade wrapper is a little darker and that gives the cigar a little more punch than the standard Por Larranga. It adds just a touch of earth that you don't get in the standard Por Larranaga.

I've smoked about a dozen of these, and every stick was perfectly constructed. There is slight box pressing, but the draw is absolutely flawless. The darker wrapper literally sparkles in strong light.

I'm not much for mixing cigars with the correct liquor. But I can't help but thinking Crown Royale Reserve on the rocks would complement this cigar very well. I enjoy mine with a morning coffee and good conversation at my favorite cigar shop, Port Royal.

Kiss: Love Gun

1977's Love Gun was the band's last really good album. It was better than its predecessor, Rock and Roll Over, but it would be all downhill from there.

The album is Kiss at its raunchiest. From beginning to end, and on both front and back covers, the album drips with sexuality.

It opens with power-rocker "I Stole Your Love" where Paul Stanley demonstrates some of his guitar prowess before Ace Frehley nails one of his best guitar solos ever.

Next is Gene Simmons' ode to pedophelia -- the truly depraved "Christine Sixteen". The lyrics detail without embarrassment his lust for a sixteen year old girl walking out of school. The tune is entertaining and the piano makes a rare appearance in a Kiss song.

The pedestrian and dull, "Got Love For Sale" bores the listener with Kiss on autopilot. It leads into Ace Frehley's "Shock Me" which is about S&M fantasies. It marks Frehley's debut as a vocalist and, as with all Frehley-penned songs, it is guitar laden.

Side one of the album concludes with the pointless "Tomorrow and Tonight"which plumbs new levels of banality with its lyrics -- and that's saying a lot for Kiss who were not known for brilliant lyrics. The chorus says it all: Tomorrow and tonight, tomorrow and tonight, oh yeah, uh huh, alright!"

Side two opens with the heavy metal title track "Love Gun". Well performed and well mixed with Paul Stanley providing an above average vocal track, this song stands as one of Kiss's finest.

There's a major let-down with Peter Criss' "Hooligans". One of the reasons Criss left the band was because he couldn't get enough of his songs on Kiss records. That was only because he wrote lousy songs. Hooligans, with its lame synchopation and stupid lyrics is evidence of that.

Almost Human is a typical Gene Simmons track, resembling God of Thunder in its lyrics. The vocals in the chorus are obviously not Kiss, but they are a changeup for the band and give the song its only redemption.

Plaster Caster is racy, raunchy and the most entertaining song on the album. Gene Simmons sings about his rendevous with the infamous groupy Cynthia "Plaster Caster" Albittron who was famous for making casts of rock stars' penises. Gene Simmons tells us, "If you want to see my love, just ask her!" Simmons' dalliances with groupies all over the world are the stuff of legend.

The album wraps up with an entertaining cover of The Crystals "Then [S]he Kissed Me" which was written by Phil Spector. The cover is straightforward with a modern, rock sound. Many Kiss fans disdain it. I always thought it showed Kiss trying to get outside of themselves just a little bit. Kiss was very formulaic and much of their music could be termed "dinosaur rock". A cover of an old romantic pop rock ditty takes them someplace new.

This was Peter Criss' last studio album with Kiss. He was replaced by studio drummer Anton Fig for the next album "Dynasty", but was credited with writing and sining one song. Although he is credited for the drumming on the followup to Dynasty -- Unmasked, he did not perform on the album at all.

John Quincy Adams by Paul C. Nagel

John Quincy Adams
Paul C. Nagel
Copyright 1996
Harvard University Press
430 pages
index

Nagel's history of this historically controversial president is the most contemporary and best written biography of John Quincy Adams.

The Adams family has to be one of the easiest subjects about which to write a biography. They saved all of their correspondence and it provides a rich, detailed history of the family. All (including the women) were gifted writers and both the legendary Abigail and her daughter-in-law, Louisa, were also gifted with political and social insight.

JQA's childhood is well documented by his fathter's correspondence as well as his own early diaries. He craved knowledge from an early age and studied in some of the finest schools in Europe while his father served in various diplomatic posts in the early days of the Republic. He enrolled in Harvard and, shortly after graduation, emerged as one of its most distinguished and prolific alumni.

JQA kept a journal throughout his life and it reveals a young man tortured by two obvious personality problems. He was frightened and disdainful of women, and he was full of self-doubt and expressed a great deal of self-ridicule. He set impossibly high standards for himself.

Finding law tedious and time consuming, he entered government service near the top as a U.S. Senator from Massachussetts. He was a part of the tattered remnants of the Federalist party, but often broke with them on matters of conscience. This earned him many enemies in Boston where old guard Federalists still held sway. By alienating the old guard, Adams ended his senate career after just one term when he was defeated for re-election.

He would then embark on a diplomatic career that would send him to all corners of Europe, including France, England, Germany, and Russia. He was better received than most previous American diplomats, including Timothy Pickering who was a cantankerous, yet highly effective diplomat.

It's in his stint as Secretary of State that we really see JQA's strengths and glaring weaknesses emerge. He was the brains and the architect of the Monroe Doctrine which not only declared an end in European meddling in the Western Hemisphere, but retired the decades battle between the Federalist "Aglo-philes" and Democratic "Franco-Philes".

But his emotional difficulties that would bedevil him for the rest of his life would also emerge during this time. He was not adept at playing political games in the cabinet. Eyeing the presidency, he knew he'd be in a pitched battle with Treasury Secretary William Crawford, who was much more adept at political infighting, and Henry Clay, who wielded great power as Speaker of the House. Adams had already alientated Clay by being named Secretary of State -- a position that Clay coveted to position himself for a presidential run.

His election to the presidency over Henry Clay was a matter of some controversy since, because of the divided nature of the Electoral college, the election was thrown to the House of Representatives. Political manuevering by Adams' allies in New York carried the day for him.

Interestinly, Nagel only devotes one chapter to the Adams' presidency. He says this is because they were the most miserable years in the Adams' family life. JQA was mentally and emotionally ill-equipped to serve as chief executive. He was dogmatic, cantankerous, and politically unskilled. He faced a hostile Congress that thwarted every initiative he put forward.

Adams sought major federally-funded interior improvements == including roads and canals. Congress wasn't biting. He had a grander vision of scientific research and higher education being funded by the federal government. His ideas were scoffed at as "visionary" and ridiculous.

Adams suffered through horrible bouts of depression in his White House years. His two oldest sons were major disappointments, having fallen prey to the Adams' family's greatest adversary for generations -- alcohol. They caused him and Louisa great worry for years before they both met young deaths.

Adams was crushed by the Democratic wave of 1828, and was relieved to be released from his duties. His years off were full of grief as he lost his two sons, found himself near bankruptcy, and unable to focus in his idle time. He decided a re-entry into politics was just the solution for what ailed him and he ran and won an election to the U.S. House of Represenatives.

While he served in the House, he enjoyed being a pain in the ass to his colleagues. He took up unpopular causes, made strident speeches, and made motions that irritated even his fellow Whigs. While not a particularly effective legislator, he was a gifted orater and a courageous (if not always correct) iconoclast.

If you tour the U.S. Capitol today, the tour guide will take you to the old House chamber. On the floor is a mark where Adams' desk was placed. Approximately 40 feet away, is another mark on the floor where members of the Democrats would frequently gather to discuss legislative strategy during House sessions. If you stand at Adams desk, you can hear clearly the conversation going on some 40 feet away from you due to the strange acoustics of the chamber. Adams often feigned sleep at his desk whilst listening to his enemies plot against him. It was at that desk that Adams would be stricken by a stroke and die shortly thereafter.

Nagel's book is awfully thin on policy and politics. He is nearly as masterful as David McCullough in bringing to life this member of America's first politica dynasty. Nagel draws heavily from JQA's journal to paint a portrait of this sensitive and temperamental statesman.

Also examined and intriguing is the relationship between JQA and his mother. Abigail was terribly domineering and JQA often avoided corresponding with her for fear of some sort of reprimand. The matronly Abigail did not care for Louisa when he brought his young bride back from Europe. However, time wore the edges off of the relationship and Abigail and Louisa eventually became close.

This is an entertaining and engaging book. However, I would recommend it with a companion book. John Quincy Adams by Robert V.Remini is dedicated almost exclusively to the JQA presidency. Nagel's examination of JQA's tenure in office is entirely lacking. Only with Remini as a companion does Nagel's book give you the complete picture of John Quincy Adams.

Roxor Cigars

Roxor
Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Size/shape: Torpdedo
Wrapper: Natural

Oh how I do love these cigars! With the demise in quality of Padron's reasonably priced product, Roxor Cigars are among my favorites if not my very favorite cigar.

Roxor is available in both a natural wrapper and a true African Cameroon wrapper. Their website claims that there is a maduro, but I haven't seen any at Port Royal. I prefer the natural.

I've smoked approximately 30 of these both in the Churchill and the torpedo and have never had a badly rolled sample. The wrapper is slightly oily and just as smooth as a Macanudo. The draw is just right and each stick burns evenly with a sturdy ash.

The flavor stars out light bodied, but builds to a full-bodied "Nicaraguan" flavor --creamy with just a touch of leather. The cigar finishes with pepper taking over for leather in the end. You want to smoke these until they burn your fingers!

This is an excellent golf course cigar. It's first-rate construction and sturdy ash will help it stand up against the wind.

Early on, Roxor did have a problem with shipping on torpedos, so if you're shop doesn't move a lot of Roxor, you may see some of these torpedos with damaged tips. Roxor come in a box that is truly splendid to look at. My favorite tobacconist gave me a Roxor Box that I converted into a humidor and gave as a gift.

Roxor is a value at $6.00 -$8.00 per stick, these cigars will rival many priced at twice that much.

They are the product of the Perseo Cigar Co of Cleveland. They are hand-rolled in Nicaragua.

Queen: A Night at the Opera

Queen
A Night at the Opera
1975 Elektra

For my first classic rock album review, I chose my all-time favorite album: Queen's A Night at the Opera. I always preferred album rock as a kid in the 1970s and generally shunned FM radio. An album, for me, was something to be experienced in its entirity and the truly great rock groups put together great albums. To my ears, A Night at the Opera is rock and roll's greatest master piece.

I have this album on a Music DVD with DTS 5.1. Hearing this album with its new depth in five channels was a wonderous experience! After years of really crappy recordings, (Queen's original recordings are of marginal sound qualitity. Thank God for remastering), they achieved a sound that is unparalelled in my listening experience.

The album opens with Freddie Mercury's haunting piano opening to Death On Two Legs -- a scathing kiss-off to their former manager who would later sue them over the song. The lyrics are biting with such lines as "Now you can kiss my ass goodbye!" and "Do you feel like suicide...I think you should!". Brian May's guitar is first ominous and then sinister as Freddie rants on about the "Dog with disease".

The hard rocker then moves without hesitation into the campy "Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon" before seguing into Roger Taylors ode to automotive lust "I'm In Love with My Car". This is Taylor's finest song of his Queen career and his vocals are over the top with a glass shattering falsetto soprano. Brian May's heavy guitar chords supported by Queen's omni-present backing vocals make this song heavy and loud.

Following the hard rocking car song is John Deacon's pop ditty "You're My Best Friend". According to Deacon, Freddie had purchased an electric piano and found it not to his liking and discarded it. Deacon picked it up and wrote this song which would turn out to be a major hit. Deacon's contribution to Queen is often overlooked, but he played keyboards, bass, and guitar on various Queen songs. He did not, however, sing at all.

In Brian May's folkish "'39", May demonstrates his prowess with a twelve string Gibson backed by John Deacon's fretless bass. May's soft voice blends well with the soft guitar chords and Roger Taylor's falsetto scream in the backing vocals give this acoustic track some punch. I wondered what part of history this song told, assuming it had something to do with the British entry into World War II. As it turns out, according to May's narrative on this DVD, it was about a spaceship travelling through time and back to earth.

Sweet Lady is a straightforward hard rocker which really doesn't develop until the end when Roger Taylor lays down some of the finest drumming of his career and Brian May produces a guitar choir of overdubs and multitracks for the song's leadout.

The final song on the first side of the vinyl is a return to the campy with Freddie Mercury's "Seaside Rendevous". Freddie combines over the top vocals ivories pounding the ivories and Brian May provides a guitar simulation of a jazz band, generating a sound that evokes memories of the 1930s jazz cafes.

Side Two on vinyl opens with the Brian May-penned "The Prophet Song". This transition is one of the faults of digital music. An album had to be flipped. There was a delay between the two sides. That lack of delay hurts this classic album in the digital age because, as with most Queen albums, the two sides were distinctly different in mood, tempo, and sound. That delay served to set the table for a separate listening experience.

"The Prophet Song" is a Queen fan favorite while not well known outside that circle. It is a dark, foreboding song with the vocal and guitar majesty of Bohemian Rhapsody, but much darker and heavier. It opens with a soft acoustic guitar complemented by a harp before launching into a heavy metal tale of a prophet foretelling the doom of man. The middle operatic vocal section is almost all Freddie utlizing digital delays and multi-tracking to sing harmonies with himself. It's like Bohemian Rhapsody on acid. The vocals build and build before launching into some of the heaviest rock and roll Queen ever played for the song's final act. The heavy metal guitars slowly melt into the soft acoutics and harps with a seamless transition into "Love of My Life".

"Love of My Life" is a fan favorite because it is a fan sing-along at Queen concerts. However, in its original conception, it features Freddie doing some virtuoso vocal work and showing his chops on the piano.

"Good Company" is a ballad about a marriage gone sour due to inattention. Brian May strums away on a ukalele and provides another jazz-band guitar overdub that gives this song its charm. Mays soft voice lays out this morality tale and demonstrates that Brian May's vocal chops were on par with the elite of rock and roll singers.

Finally, the album builds to Queen's Magnum Opus: Bohemian Rhapsody. To hear this song in DTS 5.1 is an audiophile's dream. Brilliantly engineered in 1975, it translates well to the five channel sound. This was the song that elevated Queen to rock's top tier. The operatic section was in and of itself an engineering miracle and the entire band is given an opportunity to shine as the song progresses from section to section before ending in a gong. It's my all time favorite song, a Queen fan favorite, and a great song to use to sell high end stereo equipment.

The album ends with a traditional arrangement of the British National Anthem played by Brian May. Decades later, he would play it to a crowd of thousands from atop Buckingham Palace.

This album was the most expensive album to produce to date. It was the first Queen album to have decent sound quality and has held up over time. Queen at their very best!

Richard Nixon - 1973 - 1990: Ruin and Renewal

Richard Nixon - 1973 -1990: Ruin and Renewal
by Stephen Ambrose
Copright 1991
Simon & Schuster
579 Pages

In this third, and final volume of Ambrose's stellar biography of Richard Nixon, Ambrose recounts Nixon's destruction in Watergate and the abortion that was the second Nixon Administration, Nixon's horrible depression and near death in the immediate aftermath of Watergate, and then Nixon's relentless pursuit and ultimate attainment of redemption and elder statesman status.

The book opens with the start of the second Nixon Administration. Instead of basking in his resounding mandate, Nixon was nearly as brutal to his allies as he was to his enemies. He and Bob Haldeman demanded and received resignations from all White House staff. Nixon's 1972 landslide had short coat tails and the Congress remained in the firm grip of the ever-hostile Democrats.

Also troubling Nixon was the pesky Watergate problem. By early 1973, it was certainly a topic of discussion and a congressional investigation was inevitable. The deeds that would seal Nixon's fate had already been committed. He saw cover-up as his only means of defense.

Ambrose does a wonderful job of describing and analyzing Watergate as it unfolded. Entire books have been written on this two year period, so Ambrose is forced to encapsulize the story to a large degree. But all of the essential elements are there to educate those who are not well-versed in Watergate lore.

Ambrose also paints a masterful picture of Nixon's anguish as his enemies zeroed in on him and longtime friends and aides were indicted and imprisoned. Ambrose discusses, with some detail, Nixon's drinking habits during this time through named sources. This was always a matter of great speculation at the time and rumors of Nixon over-indulging were all over Washington in 1974. Ambrose reveals that Nixon was drinking more than usual then, but was by no means a drunk.

Agnew's troubles are described briefly and Ambrose dismisses him from his narrative just as Nixon dismissed him from his thoughts. The search for a replacement as vice-president is well documented. He really wanted John Conally of Texas, but was cautioned by Republicans to appoint a Republican whose name would not cause controversy. He settled on Gerald Ford, the House Minority Leader. Although he was a veteran of many partisan battles, he was liked and respected on both sides of the aisle.

The narrative of Nixon's final days in office evokes an emotional response in the reader. Those who feel for Nixon today (and there are many) will sympathize for this man, so emotionally broken but determined to find some shred of dignity as he walked down the carpet to Marine 1.

These final days serve as a springboard for further analysis of Nixon's family relationship both publicly and privately. Privately, Pat was a wreck. Watergate nearly broke her. But she preservered and held the family together as Nixon pondered his final fate. His daughters believed in him always and urged him to stay on and fight. Behind the scenes, the Nixon's were a close American family struggling with horrible crisis like any other American family.

Publicly, Nixon was insensitive and cold as always. Moments after informing his family of his intention to resign, Nixon ordered the White House photographer in to record the moment for history. His family was privately devastated and about to be publicly humiliated -- and Nixon wanted the moment captured.

Ambrose also provides strong analysis of Nixon's farewell to the cabinet. I always found the speech to be one of Nixon's most powerful. He always spoke well off the cuff, and this speech was a definite ad lib. He invoked his mother and called her a saint. This was no exaggeration since many of Hannah Nixon's contemporaries used the word to describe her. I think he also left with a warning to future presidents when he imparted the lesson he had learned from his own conduct. He cautioned others not to hate your enemies, because your hatred will lead to your own destruction.

Ambrose didn't see it that way. He saw the speech as rambling and is highly critical of Nixon for not mentioning Pat. The public Nixon was as distant as ever from his family.

Ambrose captures the tension of the nation during that constitutional crisis quite well. He also captures the aftermath and Nixon's feeling of being besieged as lawsuits and the possibility of standing trial loomed before him. The man was despondent -- some thought potentially suicidal. There was a great deal of traffic between the White House and San Clemente in the days following resignation and Gerald Ford was alarmed at the reports he was getting -- about Nixon's health and Nixon's defiance. Nixon wanted to manipulate the custody of his documents via Al Haig, who had served as Nixon's chief of staff after Haldeman's departure and served Ford as an adviser on transition.

Ambrose is highly complimentary of Haig, and I don't agree with his assessment. Haig served Haig's agenda first and foremost. His conduct both before Watergate with the Moorer-Radford affair where the Joint Chiefs were discovered to be spying on the White House via pilfered burn-bag documents, and during Watergate when he often put his own well being before the president's. Bob Woodward also thought highly of Haig and made a noble hero in his book The Final Days . History and his future conduct in the Reagan administration have revealed him to be very much a villian.

Nixon's second tour through "The Wilderness" started with a blood clot in his leg that nearly killed him. In the final months of his administration, he took a tour of the Middle East and did quite a bit of walking while afflicted with phlebitis. Not seeing to the clot nearly killed him as he entered the hospital, seemingly having lost the will to live.

However, the Nixon instinct that motivated him to keep fighting kicked in and Nixon eventually recovered. He then was offered a full and unconditional pardon for all crimes committed in Watergate by President Ford. Nixon struggled because accepting the pardon would relieve him of the prosepct of having to face trial, but would require him to admit guilt. As badly as he wanted his day in court and ultimate vindication, he wisely accepted the pardon and then retreated to write his memoirs.

Nixon was out of the public eye for all of 1976. His name was not mentioned at the 1976 Republican Convention, nor was he invited. He began researching and writing his memoirs, having received a large advance from Simon and Shuster that allowed him to pay his legal fees. A young Diane Sawyer would be one of his assistants in this task.

The Bicentennial year also brought Nixon a major family crisis. Pat suffered a stroke while preparing breakfast. This was shortly after Woodward and Bernstein published The Final Days and Nixon's daughters blamed the reading of that book for Pat's stroke. She would go on to recover, but would forever be afflicted with left-side weakness.

Nineteen seventy-seven saw Nixon emerge briefly for a series of interviews with David Frost that provided the nation with its first view of this formerly broken but resilient man as he recounted the bitterest moments in his life for public viewing. The interviews were his first effort toward rehabilitation.

Ambrose documents, with some degree of admiration Nixon's methodical, final comeback to respectability. His status with world leaders was on par with the sitting presidents that followed him. He was a much sought speaker who never charged honorarium. He frequently appeared on Sunday morning news shows to provide commentary. He also privately communed with future presidents -- including Carter and Clinton -- who sought his advice on foreign policy. Foremost, he was an author who provided a succinct and introspective(if not very self-serving) recounting of his entire life in his autobiography RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon. His slow emergence onto the world stage culminated in 1989 when he opened his presidential library and all of the living presidents were on-hand to see Nixon's legacy put on public display.

As he grew older and began to enjoy private life, Nixon found the time to find joy in playing with his grandchildren. Having missed much of his daughters' childhood, he delighted in playing with them at his Saddle River, NJ home. After all those years, he'd finally learned to relax.

By 1990, Nixon's public standing had improved dramatically. Ambrose described how a trip to Capitol Hill to meet with Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole turned into a long autograph session as young staffers came to see this man who had shaped geopolitics like no one before him. The public bought his books while critics panned them. Historians and academics continued to hold him in low esteem, but to average Americans, who are much less dogmatic and much more forgiving, Nixon was rehabilitated.

Ambrose sums up his own feelings about Nixon at the end of the book. He, like most liberals of that time, was tremendously angry with Gerald Ford's pardon of Nixon. But time tempered his view and he now sees that pardon as a positive move. Watergate needed to end.

He also summed up his views of Nixon's legacy. His final conclusion was that the nation lost something valuable when it lost Nixon. Nixon's intellect could have made him one of the great presidents, but his demons would doom him to ignonomy.

Just a couple years after Ambrose published this volume, Pat Nixon died of a stroke. For the first time, the nation got a glimpse of the private Nixon laid bare. As he approached the funeral, supported by Billy Graham, Nixon stopped and began weeping uncontrollably. He wept openly during the funeral while the nation looked on. Nixon, who deliberately concealed his relationship with his wife through his entire public career, was exposed as a man who loved his family and was loved in return.

His 1994 funeral would have exceeded all of his expectations just ten years prior. The statesmen of his generation and the next generation came together to honor him. In the audience were all of the former presidents, Spiro Agnew, George McGovern, and other senators of past and president. He was eulogized by Bob Dole who, in a touching speech that left him breaking down in tears, described chapters of Nixon's life with the phrase "How American!" The nation mourned him as an elder statesman and his former foes in the media talked about his accomplishments as well as his failures. His death and funeral brought his life full circle and his final crisis had been met.

Nixon: The Triumph of a Politician 1962-1972

The second installment of Ambrose's three volume history of Richard Nixon's life starts in the immediate aftermath of his "Last Press Conference". Nixon was bitter, angry at the press, angry at himself, and in a funk because he was no longer a player and, by his own behavior, had probably permanently marginalized himself. However, as he had done before and would do again and again in his career, once the bitterness passed, he plotted his comeback.

He first changed his political base -- relocating to New York. Here, he could start anew in politics and he could make some lucrative money as a corporate attorney. On its face, this would seem foolish since Nelson Rockefeller dominated New York politics and especially New York Republicans who represented the Eastern Establishment wing of the GOP. Nixon knew what he was doing.

He needed money. As a former VP, he would have been a welcome addition to any law firm. It was in his legal practice, where his primary client was Pepsico, he met John Mitchell -- the man who would make many of the decisions that would ultimately lead to his downfall.


Nixon had no intention for contending with Rocky for control of New York politics. New York and its media served Nixon's ends of remaining a national figure. While working doggedly at his legal work, Nixon also engaged in almost non-stop political commentary. He wrote for general circulation magazines such as Readers Digest and scholarly journals such as Foreign Affairs. He was a frequent television commentator.

Nixon was shrewd in how he pursued opposing politicians. He was remarkably soft on JFK. Some might conclude this stemmed from their strong friendship. However, it's more likely that he was smart enough not to attack the charismatic president during times of national crisis. When Johnson became president and his popularity slowly eroded, Nixon stepped up his attacks on the president, taking him to task in any and all media.

Ambrose discusses, but does not plumb deeply, the relationship between JFK and Nixon. History needs to examine this closer because the ways and means of American events over a twenty year period could be more clearly studied were someone to delve into a study of these mismatched friends. You can see the heartfelt grief and sympathy in Nixon's note to Jackie shortly after JFK's death. Nixon felt a deep sense of loss when his greatest adversary and one of his few close friends, died.

Nixon was wise enough not to get caught up in the debacle that was the 1964 election. He did do all within his power to limit the damage. As a party moderate, not loyal to the Goldwater conservatives or Rocky liberals, Nixon tried to broker a compromise between the two groups. He tried to convince Goldwater to not use the infamous, "Extremism in the puruit of liberty is no vice," remark. Nixon and his fellow moderates lost and Rocky's delegates walked out of the convention. Johnson's 1964 landslide was set and Congressional Republicans would not even start on the road to recovery until 1980.

By 1968, Nixon knew the time was right. Johnson was exceedingly unpopular. Vietnam had fractured the Democrats. Republicans had no clear frontrunner for the presidency. George Rommey of Michigan was the frontrunner, but neither conservatives nor liberals could get excited about him. Republicans wanted Nixon, who had come so close to success in 1960. Nixon remained coy and kept his name in play but himself out of the early race (sounds like a candidate of today). He let the "Draft Nixon" movement build.

The only issue of 1968 was Vietnam and Nixon knew that he had Humphrey bent over on the issue as Kennedy had him bent over the issue of Cuba in 1960. Humphrey could not criticize the conduct of the war because, as vice-president, he could not openly criticize the conduct of the war. Nixon pounded him relentlessly. Only when Johnson announced a well-timed bombing halt did Humphrey close the gap on Nixon. Nixon would ultimately win a close 1968 election.

Nixon's executive office and cabinet was the most Machievellian since Lincoln's and did not function nearly as well. At Chief of Staff, Nixon put H.R. "bob" Haldeman -- a no-nonsense man of surly disposition. His other close domestic aide was Domestic Counsel, John Ehrlichman. Ehrlichman practically defined the term Machiavellian and would be the engineer of "The Plumbers" who conducted several activities on behalf of the White House. The traitorous John Dean would be added later.

His cabinet was not strong. His old friend, Bill Rogers was named Secretary of State primarily because Nixon knew he would not challenge him. Nixon planned to run foreign affairs on his own and use the NSC and Dr. Henry Kissinger as his tool. George Shultz at Treasury was also a weak pick who was overmatched by stagflation. His old friend, John Mitchell was installed at Attorney General and did an adequate, but not stellar job, at running the Justice Department. Nixon's thinking according to Ambrose, was a weak cabinet would make the leader look stronger.

Ambrose debunks the myth that Nixon declared he had a "Secret Plan" to get us out of Vietnam. Nixon never made such claim. He did have a plan that he called "Vietnamization". This was the slow drawdown of American troops while increasing the numbers of South Vietnam regulars to fight the insurgent Vietcong. Nixon began almost immediately withdrawing troops. He coupled it with constant bombing of North Vietnamese targets as well as secret op's directed at Vietcong posts in Laos and Cambodia.

Nixon had little interest in domestic politics. He grasped the essentials of macro-economics, but did not like to discuss economic policy. Antithetical to every conservative bone in his body, he embraced wage and price controls -- recommended by future Reaganite Schultz. He also introduced the Family Assistance Plan -- again, against every conservative principle he held. The FAP amounted to a guaranteed minimum income for every American. FAP was a pure political ploy, as Ambrose points out. He knew liberals could not embrace it and cede the issue to the Republicans. Nixon was confident that Democrats would overplay their hand and he was right. FAP went down to defeat, just as Nixon hoped it would, while Nixon took credit for trying to help the poor and blamed Democrats for playing politics.

Of course, the centerpiece of the Nixon presidency was the opening of China. Ambrose delves deeply into the delicate give and take of how this opening was achieved. There were careful negotiations to have the U.S. ping pong team to visit with American media covering. All the while, Henry Kissinger negotiated the first dialogue between the governments of the U.S. and Red China. Kissinger's one word telegram to the White House -- "Eureka!" set the stage. In 1972, he would visit China, dine with Mao Zedong and Dong Xiapong, and set the stage for the 21st century economy. It was his greatest triumph.

Nixon had more on his mind than being friendly with the Chinese. He wanted to put the Soviets on the hot seat. Nixon employed the old maxim "The enemy of my enemy is my friend," and the Chinese and the Soviets were quickly becoming enemies. The opening of China set the stage for Detente' -- another of Nixon's great achievements. Ambrose points out that Nixon, more than any other president other than perhaps James Monroe, could see the whole globe strategically and manipulate it to his liking.

The book closes with the election of 1972 when the Democrats imploded around the candidacy of George McGovern. Nixon should have behaved as Reagan did in 1984 and been a gentleman to the man he knew he was going to crush. Instead, his paranoia of losing and his drive to create a massive "mandate" that would empower him to completely reshape government and the federal bureaucracy to his liking, planted the seeds of his downfall.

The machinations of Watergate are covered in Ambrose's third volume. What emerges from Ambrose's text in this volume is an appreciation of Nixon's intelligence, strength in the face of adversity, and his personal conduct. What is also evident is Ambrose's frequent disgust with Nixon's ruthless and cruel conduct in both politics and government. Nixon was a study in the duality of man and Ambrose covers both sides well.

Comes the Blind Fury by John Saul

Saul, John
Comes the Blind Fury
Copyright 1980
Dell Publishing

The classic Saul prologue opens with a young, blind girl walking home from school sometime near the turn of the century. As she walks home, kids begin to torment her. In her struggle to get away from them, she accidently falls over a cliff and dies.

A young girl relocates with her parents from Boston to a small New England village where her father hopes to establish a medical practice after he accidently causes the death of a small child in a Boston hospital.

Shortly after moving into her new home, Michelle finds an antique China doll that she names Amanda. She makes new friends at her school and does well socially at first. But a fall nearly cripples her and she becomes increasingly isolated and bitter. Amanda, once a doll, takes on a life of her own and becomes Michelle’s only friend. Amanda, the bitter and angry spirit of the young girl who took that fatal plunge almost a century before, drives her to evil deeds.

Meanwhile, her pregnant mother explores a nearby cemetery and goes into labor on the empty grave marked “AMANDA”. After the birth, Michelle’s father is increasingly drawn to his new daughter and avoids Michelle because he feels guilt for not being able to help her.

After a long convalescence, Michelle is able to get out of bed and return to school. She finds that she is now the object of some ridicule and generally an outcast, thanks to an obnoxious tormenter who turns the other kids against her.

As her anger grows, the kids of Paradise Point start to die. Michelle is always present, but, according to witnesses, always a passive observer. Parents in the town demand justice.

The novel builds to a terrifying conclusion as the Pendelton family learns the horrific secret of their home and the nearby cemetery and the home’s former owner tries to use the young family to find his own sense of closure to his family’s decadent past.

Saul’s fourth novel is a bit formulaic and he seems to be on autopilot when writing. While the story is superior to the bland and dull Cry for the Strangers, it still does not contain the rich characters and terrifying climaxes of his first two works.

The epilogue is tacked on and entirely unnecesary. It reads as if Saul is satisfying an editor's need to wrap up loose ends. It really wasn't necessary. The story end should have stood on its own.

Saul would rely on this formula of having a century-old injustice reconciled through blood sacrifice in the twentieth century a lot in his books. Sometimes he could make it work, sometimes not. In this novel, the ending, while predictable, is much better written than his previous novel. Saul’s work improves dramatically later in his career and this fourth novel would be rated below average for Mr. Saul, who created some absolute masterpieces of horror later in his career.

Red Dragon by Thomas Harris

Harris, Thomas
Red Dragon
Copyright 1981
G.P. Putnam & Sons

This is the first title in Harris’s Hannibal Lechter series.

A semi-retired F.B.I. agent who was involved in a shooting years prior, comes back to apply his expertise in tracking serial killers to find a vicious killer who has killed two entire families and promises more. The Tooth Fairy is actually a warped video and photo technician who uses his job of developing photos from all over the country to select his victims at random.

The F.B.I. agent must contend with an obnoxious tabloid reporter, uncooperative local police in three jurisdictions, and the absolute geographic randomness of the crimes.

Meanwhile, the serial killer must contend with his amorous feelings for a real, live woman (as opposed to his love of necrophilia) and the will of the Red Dragon – an entity that lives in his mind and exists in a painting that drives his lust for exhibitionist killing.

The story builds to a suitable climax as the killer makes a series of small mistakes and the F.B.I. agent makes a series of brilliant (but believable) deductions. Just when you think it’s over. . .

What I really appreciated about this novel is how the forensics were used. I don’t care much for highly technical explanations for how things work or why they work (which is why I can’t read most modern sci-fi). Harris gives the reader just enough to move the story along.

Lechter is more peripheral in this story than he is in Silence of the Lambs. He provides insight and advice to Graham on occasion, but is not really integral to the story, nor is he the emotional influence on the main character as he is in the second installment of the Lechter series.

The Tooth Fairy is more frightening than is Buffalo Bill of Silence of the Lambs. The absolute randomness of his victims, combined with his need for his victims to watch him at work make him terrifying. Weave in his alter-ego – The Red Dragon – and you come up with a truly terrifying serial killer.

I enjoyed this novel every bit as much – if not more – than Silence of the Lambs. I plan to take in the next Lechter novel soon and complete the trilogy before the end of the year.

Cry for the Strangers by John Saul

Saul, John
Cry for the Strangers
Copyright 1979
Dell Publishing
Paperback, Third printing, August 1986

Clarks Harbor is a deadly place for strangers. Few arrive; none leave.

Brad Randall, a Seattle psychologist and his wife, Elaine, move to Clarks Harbor, a small, coastal town south of Seattle. The people of Clarks Harbor are cold – sometimes hostile to outsiders. The Shellings are not welcome in the community.

The encounter the parents of one of Pete’s former patients, a very troubled little boy who was destructive and abusive. Pete finds out that the boy who was once unreachable was now a calm, intelligent boy doing well in school. Unfortunately for Robby Palmer and his parents, they are outsiders also and were it not for the town’s strange power to calm their once inconsolable child, they would not be living there.

The Randalls and the Palmers immediately run into trouble with the local constabulary who is more hostile to them than any one else in town. Meanwhile, a widow who lost her husband at sea in a fishing accident, tries to warn the Palmers and the Randalls of a fate much worse than ostracization.

Little Bobby Randall, now free of the demons that tormented his mind for his entire life, now feels a mysterious beckoning when the frequent thunderstorms batter the coast. When it storms in Clarks Harbor, strangers die.

The book climaxes as the villain pursues the children through the woods while they parents track them through the storm. It ends in death.

This was Saul’s third book and his weakest to date. It was clear around page 50 who the killer was. I kept waiting for a twist because the plot seemed all too obvious. No red herrings or subtle clues are offered to the reader.

The characters are not bad except for Bobby Randall who was underdeveloped. With his history of mental illness, he could have been much more interesting and could have served up a red herring or two to keep the reader interested.

This one is not in the same league with Cry for the Strangers and ranks as one of Saul’s weakest works.

Blue World by Robert McCammon

McCammon, Robert R.
Blue World
Coyright 1990
Pocket Books
Paperback, fifth printing of first edition
Creasing on spine. Minor shelf wear.

This is McCammon’s only volume of short stories. This volume includes:

Yellowjacket Summer

A young woman and her two children run out of gas in a strange town straight out of the Twilight Zone. It seems the hot summer brings out the bees --- and they terrify.

Makeup

A small time thug ends up with the makeup case of a famous horror actor. Was the long deceased actor brilliant, or was the secret in his makeup? One of the better stories in the book.

Doom City

Brad wakes up one morning and finds the wife he went to bed with the night before has turned into a desiccated corpse. He wanders about the town and finds himself alone – almost! This reminded me of a Twilight Zone episode. This story is the kind that Stephen King used to be able to write. Nothing but the barest essence of a story here. But the plot is intriguing and chugs right along. Masterful writing!

Nightcrawlers

A strange traveler comes in from a storm into a truckstop and brings the stuff of his nightmares with him. Seems his old buddies from Vietnam are eager to have him join them where he left them. This one reminded me a little of Straub’s Koko only much better.

Pin

This is a strange, first person narrative of a young man contemplating sticking a needle in his eye. This is the weakest story in the book. I’ll give McCammon credit for a creative approach and an unusual story. However, I did not care for it.

Yellachile’s Cage

A voodoo man keeps a gold finch in his prison cell. The bird is his familiar who keeps him informed of all that is going on in the prison. The only well-kept secret in the prison is the voodoo man’s. I like a good prison story (King wrote two brilliant prison stories) and McCammon did not disappoint me with this one.

I Scream Man!

An ordinary game of Scrabble between the most incredibly average family in a most unusual setting. Again, just the bare essence of story, but McCammon makes the most of his few words.

He’ll Come Knocking At Your Door

Halloween is taken very seriously by members of this community and its leading citizen is generous with his treats but evil with his tricks. Reminiscent of Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brown.

Chico

In a home with a abusive, alcoholic father and despondent mother, a child with a special gift lives and thrives. Perhaps the weakest story in the book.

Night Calls the Green Falcon

An over-the-hill star of Saturday serials is called out of retirement by his conscience to find the serial killer who killed his neighbor. This story is hokey and cornball, but well written and a pleasure to read.

The Red House

A young boy’s dad is outraged when a bright red house springs up in his entirely gray world. An excellent allegory on why sometimes change should be feared!

Something Passed By

Earth is in decline after the passage on an interstellar object. The people who are left in the end pass the time in a variety of ways. This one reminded me of an old radio show like X Minus 1 or Dimension X.

Blue World
This is one of the finest stories I’ve ever read. McCammon shows us, as he did in Swan Song that he is a true master of character development. A priest’s faith and vowels are tested when he finds himself oddly attracted to a porn star. A chance encounter at a grocery store thrusts him into her world of drugs, sex, and the desire to be something more. Meanwhile, he struggles to remain chaste and save the young woman’s soul.

A Treasury of Great Science Fiction by Anthony Boucher

Boucher, Anthony
A Treasury of Great Science Fiction
Volume II
Copyright 1959
Doubleday

Contains the following stories:

Brain Wave
by Poul Anderson

The Earth passes through a mysterious energy field that dramatically increases the entire human race’s IQ. Shortly thereafter, labor is hard to find when a super-intelligent race finds themselves unable to do menial chores. There is great social and psychological upheaval across the globe. A group of scientists work together to quickly solve the problems while dealing with their own issues and those of their family members.
This is intelligent Golden Age science fiction. The events and characters are entirely believable and the story is well paced and engaging. The only drawback is the shortness of the novella prohibited more development of the story’s characters and their interpersonal relationships. Anderson gives us just barely enough to make the characters interesting.

Bullard Reflection
by Malcolm Jameson

A star ship’s crew’s athletic ability saves them when they are double-crossed on one of the moon’s of Jupiter.

Dull, uninteresting story by an author of whom I’ve never heard.

The Lost Years
by Oscar Lewis

What would have happened had Abraham Lincoln been saved by a surgeon instead of dying the morning after being shot? Lewis explores the possibilities in this alternative history short story.

Not really sci-fi, but engaging nonetheless.

Dead Center
by Judith Merril

A woman designed it and a man is piloting it to the moon. The newest rocket, the KIM III malfunctions as it lands on the moon. Its lone astronaut must be rescued. His wife, who designed the rocket, works frantically to put together the team that will save her husband before he runs out of food and oxygen. Meanwhile, their young son is left to wonder about all the frantic activity about him.

This was a tightly told story . A lot of action and character development crammed into 20 pages of text. Merril makes it work. Merril was envisioning woman engineers leading design teams back in 1953.

Lost Art
by George O. Smith

Two brothers discover a device in the Martian desert and use trial and error learning how to make it work . In a parallel story, a Martian father and son assemble and deploy the device.

Perhaps the most useless story I’ve ever read. I kept thinking “something bad is going to happen when these guys figure out what this thing does.” Nothing bad ever happened. Nothing ever happened. What a pointless waste of twenty pages.

The Other Side of the Sky
by Arthur C. Clarke

The narrator is an engineer aboard a space station that he is confident will be a stepping stone into deep space. Set in the 1990s, the narrator relates anecdotes from his space adventures that show how prescient Clarke was in judging the success of satellite-based communications. It was written in 1957. The space stations he describes would be the same ones that Stanley Kubrick would bring to celluloid in the Clarke story 2001: A Space Oddesey.

The Man Who Sold the Moon
by Robert Heinlein

Man, how I hated this story. I could not finish it. I’ve read two Heinlein stories and hated them both. I’ve always thought about reading Stranger in a Strange Land but now I will not.

This is a story about a corporate pig-dog who wants to acquire the moon and take title to it so he can subdivide it and sell the parcels. In a real story, he would have taken it by force through war or something exciting like that. Instead, in Heinlein’s painfully boring story, he takes it through the drawing up of contracts and the structuring of corporations --- all described in painstaking detail in Heinlein’s narrative and the dialogue.

Imagine reading a low-level corporate attorney’s journal entries. It’s not that exciting.

Heinlein may be the most overrated writer in the history!

Magic City
by Nelson S. Bond

Set more than 1500 years in the future, after the fall of civilization, women lead society. Most societies shun men and need them for little more than breeding stock. Advanced civilizations are slowly integrating men into their society as equals.

In this setting a couple journeys from their home in Jinnia to Newyalk to slay the demon Death, who constantly claims their weak, infirm, and old. Swords and daggers are their weapons of choice as they enter the dangerous city and the temple of Slukes.

The names of the various cities and territories are very clever phonetics and plays on words. They live in a country called Tizzathee (as in my country ‘tis of thee). I usually hate such cute word play, but Bond’s are clever enough to be engaging. The battle scenes are well written and his descriptions of the post-apocalyptic east coast are riveting. This was a great story.

The Morning of the Day They Did It
by E.B. White

A television executive now located on a remote planet relates the story of Earth’s final day and how its destruction came about from the placement of the ultimate weapon in space.

I read this on the heels of Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and, as in Bradbury’s classic, this story describes how television destroyed society. This story is not nearly as brilliant as Bradbury’s. The narrator uses mundane (very mundane) events from his day along with dialogue from mundane newscasts and shows to set the stage for the Earth’s discussion. This was a creative idea not well executed.

Piggy Bank
by Henry Kuttner

A greedy man has figured out how to manufacture synthetic diamonds, but keeps losing his fortune to burglars. He asks his chief scientist to develop the ultimate safe that can flee when someone attempts to rob it. But when it flees when the man wants to access his fortune contained therein, he tries every conceivable method to get access.

Letters from Laura
by Mildred Clingerman

A woman’s time travel is documented in a series of letters – first to her mother, then to the company that helped her time travel on vacation.

Dull, dull, dull!

The Stars My Destination
by Alfred Bester

A roughneck spaceman pursues vengeance against the crew of a ship that left him in space to die, marooned on a wrecked ship. Meanwhile, the government and various businessmen want to exploit his knowledge of his doomed ship to retrieve its priceless cargo for use in an interstellar war.

I am somewhat familiar with Bester, who ended his career writing radio sci-fi for the CBS Radio Mystery Theater in the 1970s. Stephen King references this work as Bester’s best in his tome On Writing. It is obvious that King used one of Bester’s ideas for one of his better short stories, The Jaunt because jaunting plays a key role in Bester’s novella. For Bester, jaunting is but part of the story. In King’s story, the science of jaunting is explored.

I think this story must have been serialized because every two or three chapters seems to be a story unto itself.

Punish the Sinners by John Saul

Saul, John
Punish the Sinners
Copyright 1978
Dell Publishing

The prologue has a child of four witnessing his teenage sister murdering their parents with a meat cleaver while they are making love.

Flash forward 33 years later and Peter Balsam, a Latin and psychology teacher moves to the tiny town of Neilsville to teach at the local Catholic school. He is invited by his old friend from the Catholic orphanage who is now the Monsignor of the local parish and headmaster of the school.

He is soon invited to join the Society of St. Peter Martyr --- a group of seven priests who favor the Dominicans and perceive merit in the Inquisition. Meanwhile, one by one, Peter Balsam’s female students begin committing suicide.

The town begins to suspect that their new psychology teacher is manipulating their children into the horrendous acts that end their lives and put their souls in danger. As the town seeks an answer as to why its young women are offing themselves, Peter Balsam sees the evil that is the Society of St. Peter Martyr.

Balsam must confront his old friend and the evil deeds they perpetrate on the town before he, himself, is lynched for their crimes.

This book, published in 1978, is quite contemporary in its subject matter. It does not reflect well on the Catholic church or its faith – resurrecting the Inquisition and all the evil that came with it.

This is a strong second effort from Saul. The character of Peter Balsam is well developed and Saul keeps you guessing as to which Peter is the young child in the prologue. The climax of good versus evil and faith-run-amok versus faith-quiet-and-deep builds splendidly. The end is a twist and leaves the reader feeling satisfied, reflecting on an enjoyable, albeit somewhat light, reading experience

Nixon: The Education of a Politician 1913-1962 by Stephen Ambrose

Ambrose, Stephen
Nixon: The Education of a Politician 1913-1962
Copyright 1987
Simon & Schuster
First Edition

June 23, 2006 – This book chronicles the early years of Nixon’s life through his unlikely and lackluster campaign for California Governor in 1962.

What emerges from Nixon’s early life is how much he loved his parents and siblings. He idolized his oldest brother, Frank who died of tuberculosis when Nixon was a pre-teen. Frank was known as a fun-loving prankster – just the opposite of the taciturn Nixon. When he died, family friends said young Dick felt as if he had to be twice the son to help assuage his parents’ grief. When a younger brother died of tuberculosis, Nixon redoubled his efforts to be a good son.

Young Nixon was very much like the old Nixon (there was always a “new Dick”). He was serious, motivated, and competitive. He was a gifted and precocious debater who took his schoolwork seriously. In college, he excelled in his studies and road the bench for Whittier College’s football team.

At Duke law school, Nixon got a taste of real poverty. The Nixons were middle-class, but they had known tough times. While at Duke, Nixon lived in what amounted to a tool shed. As one might imagine, Nixon ranked high in his law school class.

Nixon practiced some “little ball” law in Whittier before joining the Navy during World War II. He was a commissioned officer and given command of a supply depot in Bouganville. One would not expect Nixon to command the respect the blue-collar toughs that worked for him, but they developed a strong respect for the guy and liked him. He was never “one of the guys”, but neither was he a snob or a recluse. He developed a knack for the game of poker.

Upon his return from the Pacific, he was drafted by a committee of local Republicans to run for Congress against Democrat Jerry Voorhis. He had found his calling.

The campaigns against him and Senator Helen Douglas were run ruthlessly. Few had ever doubted Nixon’s character as a young man. Many in California came to doubt it after these two campaigns. Nixon was brutal -- resorting to questioning their loyalty as Americans. One of the contributors to his campaign against Douglas was none other than Joe Kennedy – with the check delivered to Nixon’s senate office by young JFK himself.

Nixon’s rise to fame is documented well here. This was, of course, his dogged pursuit of Communist Alger Hiss – a State Department Employee – launched him to national fame. Nixon was shrewder and more calculating than Joseph McCarthy who was as dumb as he was reckless. Nixon also had the good taste to be correct in his allegations.

His dogged pursuit of commies while in the senate attracted the attention of the Eisenhower campaign, who had offended party regulars by “stealing” the Republican nomination from party stalwart Bob Taft. Nixon was a party regular, had strong anti-commie credentials, provided geographical balance to Ike’s Heartland origins, and was a deft campaigner. Nixon rode Ike’s short list all the way to the convention that nominated him for the number two spot on the ticket.

Ike remained above barnstorming campaigning. Nixon did that. Nixon criss-crossed the country, bashing Democrats for supporting socialistic policies and leading the nation down the path of communism. While Ike’s inner circle had reservations about Nixon’s tactics and statements, they could not argue with his results. Ike could have got elected with anybody as his running mate. But to have credibility with party regulars (who give the most money), Ike needed Dick. He also needed Dick to help him with Congress (which Ike did not understand) and with the profession of politics (which Ike loathed).

Ambrose is also an Ike biographer and details the complex relationship Ike had with Nixon. He liked Nixon, but was never close to him. He respected Nixons’ sharp intellect, grasp of foreign affairs, and unsurpassed political skills. But yet, he was reluctant to give Nixon any affirmation. He tried to talk Nixon off the ticket and into the cabinet before the 1956 election. He refused to endorse him in 1960 until late in the campaign and badly embarrassed him with a glib remark.

Meanwhile, Nixon disagreed with many of Ike’s policies. Chief among these policy disagreements was Vietnam. Nixon and CIA director John Foster Dulles were anxious to aid the French in their fight against the Vietminh. They saw it as a proxy war against communism. Ike was less inclined to enter America in another war.

Nixon also sought affirmation from Ike – affirmation he seldom got. Nixon, like everyone who knew him, held Ike in the deepest regard and respect. Ike was a great war hero and the Commander-in-Chief – a position Nixon had coveted since his days in Congress.

Ambrose characterizes the campaign between Nixon and Kennedy in 1960 as brutal. This was written before the last two campaigns. The modern election that most resembles the 1960 campaign was the 1996 campaign between Clinton and Dole Like Clinton and Dole, the candidates genuinely liked each other. They had come into Congress together and served in the Senate together. They had shared a berth on a train as they barnstormed the country debating the contentious Taft-Hartley Act.

Kennedy attacked Nixon on being soft on Communist leader Fidel Castro. Nixon had to tow the Ike line because Ike was secretly planning the invasion of Cuba. Nixon, as Vice President, did not want to make strong anti-Castro statements that could be attributed to administration officials. This hurt Nixon. Ultimately, the election would be one of the closest one in history with just 100,000 votes separating the two candidates.

Nixon had strong evidence of a stolen election in Texas and Illinois. Ambrose mentions this, but sadly, does not analyze it enough. Nixon’s case was strong. But he did not want Ike to order a Justice Department investigation. He wanted to maintain the peaceful and smooth transition in power that has always been the case in the United States. He was the patriot that Al Gore never could be and John Kerry could only aspire to be. Nixon gave up his aspirations of power for the good of his country.

Nixon would return to California to run for governor in 1962. But his heart was not in it. He did not want to be governor and he knew it before he ran. His “last press conference,” where he told the press that they would “not have Nixon to kick around anymore,” is described in great detail.

The book leaves off as Nixon would enter what he would call “his time in the wilderness” nearly stealing fame for the phrase from Winston Churchill.

Pat Nixon’s life is wedded nicely into this Nixon biography. She an intelligent and insightful woman – far from the “Plastic Pat” that her detractors portrayed. She, like almost all women of her generation – stood behind her husband quietly. She was a doting mother who dedicated her public life to assuring her children had something akin to a normal life.

The Nixon marriage always seemed devoid of passion – or even genuinely caring. Nixon seldom put his arm around her in public, seldom danced with her in public, and never kissed her in public. He seldom acknowledged her in public. Yet she was fearlessly and faultlessly loyal to him and genuinely loved him. Those who knew him well (and few did) never questioned his love for her. By all accounts, Richard Nixon was a perfect husband.

Nixon gets high marks as a father too. The greatest testament to one’s parenting skills is the affection returned by the children. Many bad homes produce “good” children. Few bad homes produce affectionate children. Nixon’s girls adored him as children, as teens, and as adults. No one ever questioned Dick Nixon the parent. He probably ranks highest among presidential parents for his parenting.

Ambrose did not write this book as a Nixon admirer. He is up front about that. He never voted for Nixon. But he is fair to this most controversial of politicians – lauding his intellect, compassion in civil rights, and patriotism. He seldom is directly critical. Rather, he leads the reader there and leaves little room for the reader to disagree.

Ambrose was not only a brilliant and insightful historian, he was a gifted writer in the same league as (although not quite as good) as David McCullough. He did not deserve the petty accusations of plagiarism that haunted his final days. Fortunately for those who truly appreciate this man’s contribution to our body of knowledge of our nation’s presidents, Ambrose will always be one of the icons.

Mine by Robert R. McCammon

McCammon, Robert R.
Mine
Copyright 1990
Pocket Books
Book Club edition

Classic chase story. An insane, sixties radical kidnaps a child to take to her long lost lover with whom she was to have a baby. The mother, with the help of another sixties radical searching for redemption, pursues her across the country.

The antagonist – Mary Terrell aka “Mary Terror” is as frightening a character as McCammon has ever created. Her purpose is single; her will insurmountable. She has no heart, no conscience, and no inhibitions. She kills methodically all who get in her way to arrive at her goal of presenting her long lost leader – and sweetheart – “their” baby.

The sixties radical searching for redemption I think embodies a lot of those of the sixties who went beyond draft card burning, pickets, and chants. Many of those who spit on soldiers yesterday hold respectable places in society today. Many (dare I say most) regret their actions in their youth. Didi is unabashed is describing some of the wicked acts she and her cohorts carried out in the dying days of the anti-war movement. Her need for redemption is great.

It’s hard to not see the resemblance to several of those radical groups. The bank robbery resembles the Symbionese Liberation Army. It’s social structure (all white, led by a male with a group of “comfort women”) resembles the Weathermen Underground. It’s goals resemble those of the Black Panthers.

As chase stories go, this one is top notch. Far superior to Koontz’s Shattered and marginally better than Koontz’s Servants of Twilight. Interestingly, neither King nor Saul offer us any of their own chase stories for comparison. For me, the ultimate standard of comparison is Richard Matheson’s novella Duel. This book is not that good.

In all, it is a well written chase story with strong characters and well developed tension.

The Shining by Stephen King

King, Stephen
The Shining
Copyright 1977
Doubleday
Book Club edition

Jack Torrance, a recovering alcoholic, tries to resurrect his writing career by taking a job as winter caretaker at a remote Colorado hotel/ski resort known as The Overlook. With him he takes his wife -- still suspicious of his recovery -- and his young son, Danny, whom he recently injured in a fit of rage.

Danny is gifted with a second site called “The Shining” that allows him to sense spirits and emotions of the past. His father has his own set of visions and tormenters that drives him toward murder -- all with the aim of becoming “The Caretaker”.

This is a fine haunted house novel. Again, King transplants the gothic story of the haunted mansion to the modern setting of a western American hotel. The final chase scenes -- albeit different than their masterful treatment at the hands of director Stanley Kubrick -- rank of some of King’s best writing.

The book and the movie are masterpieces. A later, three part television miniseries for television was not up to par. This was written and developed for television by Stephen King himself. Stanley Kubrick never tried to write a better novel than Stephen King. Stephen King should have never attempted to make a better movie than Stanley Kubrick – one of the heralded geniuses of that medium.

Suffer the Children by John Saul

Saul, John
Suffer the Children
Copyright 1977
Dell Publishing
Book Club Edition

A young girl terrorizes a small, New England community while the last son of a once-prominent family confronts a family curse and an unforgivable sin. Elizabeth Conger, the eldest daughter of the family and her sister – the six year old victim of an unspeakable crime --- know the secret place that has housed the Conger family curse for three generations. One by one, the children of Port Arbello disappear --- all of them in the neighborhood of the Conger home. The local cop is baffled and the townspeople scared.

The repeated horror forces the Conger patriarch to explore the haunted family heritage and confront his own sin before his family is lost to him.

This was Saul’s first work and it is unusually strong for a first published work. Stronger than King’s Carrie. Far superior to Koontz’s Shattered. The story is strong and well-paced. The character development is advanced for a first novel and Saul injects just the right amount of moral and mental ambiguity into Elizabeth that the reader at once feels repelled at her acts, but sorry for her circumstances. At the end, we still aren’t sure why she did it. An ambiguous, but satisfying ending (yes, there can be such a thing) is difficult for an experienced writer to undertake. Saul excels at it here in his first published work.

In this first Saul novel, we can see all of the elements that would become Saul trademarks: the prologue, the misunderstoond teen who is victim of some unfortunate circumstance, and the tigh-knit New England community.

This book was a bestseller on its release and Saul never looked back. Other than King, he is my favorite author.

Salems Lot by Stephen King

King, Stephen
‘Salem’s Lot
Copyright 1975
Doubleday
Book Club edition

Writer Ben Mears returns to his hometown of Jerusalem’s Lot to find that the house that haunted him as a child still stands -- and soon will be occupied.

The people of ‘Salem’s lot begin to change soon after the arrival of a mysterious antique dealer named Barlow who lives in the old mansion. Mears will discover the secrets of the vampire too late to save the town. Can he save himself and the woman he loves?

King’s second book is nearly a masterpiece. The vampire is probably the most prevalent creature in horror fiction and consequently, has evolved into a cliché.

King puts a twist on tradition when he transplants the gothic vampire mythology to modern New England. The setting is New England, but it could really be any town in the U.S. The town of Salems lot is as thoroughly developed as its inhabitants.

This book rivals Matheson’s I Am Legend in its brilliance. One reviewer describes it as Our Town meets Dracula. That is an apt description. It is one of my all time favorite books.

A two part miniseries was made in 1980 based on the book starring David Soul and was excellent -- portraying the vampire very much like Nosferatu. A 2004 TNT miniseries starring Rob Lowe was just dreadful.

The Choice by Bob Woodward

Woodward, Bob
The Choice
Copyright 1996
Simon and Schuster
First Edition

This book details the 1996 presidential campaign up unitl the middle of 1996 after Dole had survived the Republican primaries and Clinton had regained his standing with the American people after serving as the nation’s “Mourner in Chief” following the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma city.

Woodward documents how these men had a genuine respect and affection for each other while Dole was Senate Majority Leader. Clinton did become quite angry with Dole as Dole continued dogging him on the campaign trail while Clinton mourned the passing of his mother to whom he was close.

Woodward should have waited until the end of this campaign to write a more thorough telling of one of the least interesting and least engaging elections in history. No matter how hard he tried, Dole could not make America look back fondly and long for a time when the World War II generation ruled. The Baby Boomers had taken over and the “Greatest Generation” passed into history.

Perfect Nightmare by John Saul

Saul, John
Perfect Nightmare
Copyright 2005
Ballantine Books

Fifteen year old Lindsay Marshall is taken from her home following a real estate showing. She is imprisoned with another girl and subjected to rape, torture, and a host of horrible indignities by an anonymous assailant.

Meanwhile, her mother works frantically to convince a skeptical police department that her daughter is not a moping teenage runaway, but a victim of an abduction. Lindsay’s mom finds a kindred soul in a wealthy man who lost his daughter several years earlier in a horrific fire. With his help and financial assistance, she spurs the community into action to find her missing daughter.

The police soon discover that there are at least two other victims who were snactched following home showings by real estate agents. They work the clues through several red herrings until Linday’s mom ultimately discovers the chamber of horrors where her daughter is living a daily terror.

I thought this one lacked any really intriguing subplot and lacked in the development of the villian.

While his acts are frightening, what is more frightening in literature are the thoughts and motivations of the villian. We can fear more for the damsel in distress if we have a clue or two what's coming for her.

A more intense relationship between Kara and David might have given the ending a little more gravitas. A little more development in Steve might have given his death a little more impact on the reader. A little more development of Lindsay's closest friends might have helped the reader lament her disappearance a little more. A development of a relationship between Lindsay and Shannon might have made Shannon's demise a little more intense for the reader. The character Ellen seems tacked on because somebody must bear witness to Lindsay's horror when Shannon dies. No development there at all.

Saul is in a sub-genre where the standard of comparison will always be Thomas Harris' THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. That is a tough standard to meet and this book should not be judged for not meeting it.

Saul places in his book all the necessary elements of good hostage-horror. However, he never fully develops any of them and what results is a novel not nearly meeting its potential.

Swan Song by Robert McCammon

McCammon, Robert R.
Swan Song
Copyright 1987
Pocket Books
Paperback

Occasionally, an author creates a world that the reader can inhabit in his mind. Stephen King did it in The Stand. Stephen R. Donaldson did it with his Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, and J.R.R. Tolkien did it better than anyone in his Lord of the Rings trilogy. Robert McCammon rises to that level in his magnum opus, Swan Song.

The world is post-nuclear America. The characters are dispersed across the country, much like King’s characters in The Stand. Instead of an old woman in a cornfield, the good characters coalesce around a young girl named Sue Wanda, or “Swan”. Instead of a blue jean jacket-clad son of Satan, the evil characters coalesce around an aging, retired general who lusts for battle and power.

Swan and her de facto guardian, a freakishly large pro-wrestler, survive the nuclear war while hiding out in the cellar of a remote Nebraska gas station. Swan’s mother and the station owner succumb to radiation poisoning soon after the apocalypse. Swan and Joshua escape after approximately a month in the cellar and travel what’s left of America in search of food, water, and gasoline, along with the hundreds of other refugees that survive the ordeal. They soon end up in a small Missouri village. There, Swan demonstrates her special talent that will serve as the hope of mankind.

Sister (the only name she knows now) is a mentally ill, alcoholic, homeless person who survives by sleeping in a New York subway tunnel, emerges from her hideaway with her sanity nearly restored. She discovers in the wreckage a piece of melted glass in the shape of a donut. Within the glass are many precious gems and swirls of precious metals from a jewelry store across the street. The artifact gives her visions that lead her to that same Missouri settlement.

Colonel James Macklin had been reduced to serving as the chief draw of a commercial survivalist facility located in the Nevada desert. When the missiles hit, he survives the blast, but is trapped with debris pinning his hand. To amputate his hand and release him from his bondage, he finds an obliging 13 year old by named Roland Croninger who is a sadistic narcissist. Together, they form the Army of Excellence out of disaffected refugees. They storm across the countryside, raiding refugee settlements and killing those who oppose them. They want Swan and her talent to supply their army.

Eventually, they attack the Missouri settlement. They take Swan, Sister, and Joshua hostage and travel to a remote West Virginia ski resort where God is reputed to reside. The rest is the end of history. . .

It’s not hard to see the influence of Stephen King. There are too many parallels between The Stand and Swan Song. That does not diminish the power of this story, its characters, or the barren wasteland that is America after it is nuked. While the stories are similar, the characters are remarkably different. Besides, a tale can be retold in a number of ways and be enjoyable.

The character Sister is one of the finest and most complex I’ve ever encountered in horror literature. Her backstory is tragic and makes her an anti-hero who finds redemption in the post-nuclear world. McCammon teases us and keeps us engaged in her development by revealing details of that backstory sparingly.

Swan is not particularly remarkable as a hero. But McCammon uses her to impact the more complex characters around her to help them develop.

Roland Cronninger’s sadistic evil is developed nicely while not becoming a caricature – the chief fault of King’s Dark Man/Randall Flagg. He clearly demonstrates the evil that video games do to our children as he sees himself as a hero in a video game as he carries out his evil deeds.

This is reputed to be McCammon’s finest novel. While I’ve not read al of McCammon’s stuff, this is the best I’ve read and I rank it among the finest novels I’ve ever read by any author.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Bradbury, Ray
Fahrenheit 451
Copyright 1953, 1979
Ballantine Books
Paperback

Guy Montag is a Fireman in the future U.S. In the future, firemen start fires, not put them out. In this United States, books are banned because their people are not real, they offended various minorities, and caused discord in a society that has become obsessed with consumerism and pleasure. Montag’s job is to burn contraband books, the book-owners’ homes, and sometimes the owners.

He encounters a teen-age girl on his street who challenges his thinking and changes his life. He steals a book and is enthralled. He soon learns of a world that was from a college professor forced into obsolescence because of his love of books. He sets out on a rebellious course that will change several lives forever.

Bradbury’s prescience is stunning and the most remarkable feature of this book. Bradbury predicts the rise of the Politically Correct movement --- perhaps the most intellectually dangerous movement since the days of McCarthey – and predicts the prevailing influence that television would have on culture while television was still in its infancy.

This is one of the most important and influential books in history and its influence can be seen spanning decades of science fiction from Logan’s Run to Stephen King’s The Running Man.

Bradbury’s anti-censorship message is more important today than ever as the forces of the politically correct try to sanitize our literature and our culture of anything that might be even mildly offensive. My son read this book in a Freshman English class and I hope more teachers use its text and example to fight the extremists on the right and left who destroy ideas in the name of religion or politics.

The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant: White Gold Wielder by Stephen R. Donaldson

Donaldson, Stephen R.
The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant: White Gold Wielder
Copyright 1983
Del Ray Books
First Edition

In this third and final installment, Linden Avery declares that she wants to return to Revelstone and extinguish the Banefire from which the Sunbane draws its power. Meanwhile, Covenant girds his loins for the final showdown with Lord Foul, the Despiser.

This trilogy should have never been written. His first trilogy was a masterpiece. This one diminishes it. Covenant devolves from being an anti-hero you loathe and root for at the same time, to being a pathetic, whining creature you want to see crushed by a giant in the book’s first chapter. Linden Avery is a humorless, useless character who is neither hero nor anti-hero. You don’t care what happens to her. Donaldson milked this wonderful series for a few more dollars.

The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant: The One Tree by Stephen R. Donaldson

Donaldson, Stephen R.
The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant: The One Tree
Copyright 1982
Del Ray Books
First Edition

In this second installment in the second chronicles of Thomas Covenant, Covenant decides that he must find the One Tree and fashion a new Staff of Law. With the assistance of the Seasearch -- a group of Giants who set out to find out what happened to their kinsmen who were slain by ravers in the first trilogy. Covenant and Avery set out across the sea. During their journey, they are diverted and waylaid by various tormenters before finding the One Tree. When he arrives, Covenant finds out he does not need to fashion a new Staff of Law after all.

This was one of the most pointless books I ever read. It was almost as if Donaldson knew he didn’t have enough material to fill a trilogy, so he made up this interlude to fill a book.

The Wounded Land by Stephen R. Donaldson

Donaldson, Stephen R.
The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant: The Wounded Land
Copyright 1980
Del Ray Books
First Edition

Ten years have passed since Thomas Covenant last visited The Land and defeated Lord Foul. Now, his own world seems to be under the influence of an evil being. Homeless and disheveled people beginning showing up near Haven Farm, imploring Covenant to repent. Meanwhile, he cares for his ex-wife, Joan, who is tormented by unseen demons in her mind.

He is visited by Dr. Linden Avery --- a physician who shuns interpersonal relationships and relies entirely on science and rational thought to guide her actions. While trying to assist Covenant in treating his wife, she witnesses an unspeakable ritual of sacrifice and finds herself transported to The Land with Covenant.

The land is drastically different for Covenant than it was when he left it. Its health is gone and its people forced to toil and sacrifice under the domination of the Sunbane that demands blood be spilled to draw food and water from the land. Covenant no longer has the ability to see the health or the illness of the land -- but Avery can and what she sees offends her to the core.

Accompanied by a Stonedowner with the ability to manipulate the Sunbane, they travel to Revelstone to see if there is help there in putting right was has gone so drastically wrong.

I started this book while still working at Cedar Point in 1985 and struggled to get through it. While I read the first trilogy three or four times over the last twenty years, it took me another twenty years to delve into this one again -- giving some indication of how little I enjoyed it the first time. My opinion has changed little.

Donaldson tries to recreate the anti-hero that Covenant was in Linden Avery. She is not nearly as complex or sympathetic. She is not as pathetic nor as obnoxious as Covenant. Covenant is central to the story, but peripheral in the narrative and therefore we are left without a strong central character. The plotline itself could have been compelling, but without a hero, or anti-hero, to root for, the story suffers.

Cell by Stephen King

King, Stephen
Cell
Copyright 2005
Scribner
First Edition

Clayton Riddell, a graphic artist from Maine, is in Boston, having made a sale of a graphic novel/comic book that will put his distressed family on financial easy street. Just as he is exiting the meeting, “The Pulse” occurs and the entire world is thrown into chaos. Those who are talking on their cell phones become murderous, flesh-eating zombies who roam the cities, killing and eating the living.

Riddell is desperate to get home to Maine to find his son (who owns a cell phone) and his somewhat estranged wife. He is joined by a fifteen year old girl who is most certainly orphaned and a gay professor, who help him negotiate the suburban hell that the pulse has made America.

The promise of a small main town where there is no cell phone signal holds Clay and his band on this journey to find Clay’s family and the undead fate of most of mankind.

Reading this book was like finding an old friend whom I’ve dearly missed! King is back at the top of his game after years of self-indulgent attempts at socially conscious fiction or literary fiction. This book moves at the speed of light with nary a spare word. The characters are not over-developed. Not every piece of science is explained and rationalized. Not every incidental character is given thirty pages of backstory.

What emerges is a story that moves at the pace of Carrie with the terror of The Stand that incorporates the twists of Salem’s Lot and ends with the horrific ambiguity of Pet Semetary. In other words, it is a new novel from vintage King.

The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald by Frederick Stonehouse

Stonehouse, Frederick
The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
Copyright 1977, 1998
Avery Color Studios
Trade paperback

It has been six years since I read this book, so it is hard to recall specific details.

Only 97 of its more than 200 pages are original text. Included in the book are many photos of the Fitzgerald , the ships who braved the storm to go out into the storm on Lake Superior to search for survivors, as well as the doomed Daniel J. Morrell which was the last freighter to sink on the Great Lakes before the Fitzgerald went down in 1975. The rest of the text is various reports of investigations and a description of the recovery of the ship’s bell.

Despite his short text, Stonehouse addresses the many theories regarding the sinking of the Fitzgerald including breaking in half on the surface, being lifted by a monster wave from the rear; slowly sinking after Captain McSorley took her too close to Six Fathom Shoal where she may have struck bottom and ruptured her hull; and literally being driven nose-down into the bottom of Superior by a rogue wave from behind. The rogue wave theory gets a lot of play because of reports from the Arthur Anderson who followed the Fitzgerald through the storm. Captain Cooper reported that his vessel was almost swamped by the most enormous wave he’d ever seen. This happened just minutes before losing contact with the Fitzgerald.

Stonehouse dismisses the original conclusion of the first investigation that blamed longshoremen for not clamping down the ship’s cargo hatches, allowing water to enter the cargo holds. Nobody takes this theory seriously anymore

Carrie by Stephen King

King, Stephen
Carrie
Copyright 1974
Doubleday
Book Club Edition

Carrie White is cursed with an overly religious mother, a shy personality, plain looks, and bullies who plague her at school. She discovers that she has a strange power called pyrokenesis -- the ability to start fires with her mind.

Carrie miraculously gets a date for the prom and one of her tormenters arranges to have her elected queen. As Carrie seemingly realizes her moment of triumph, she is doused in pig’s blood by the bullies. Carrie’s revenge is swift and decisive.

Much of the book is written as testimony before a congressional committee and this lends strength to its narrative. Carrie is a remarkable anti-hero that King develops wonderfully. Carrie's mother endures as one of his most haunting characters because she is so close (too close) to how a few people are in real life.

This was King’s first published novel and its strength would propel him forward to being the most prolific writer of our time.

A 1976 movie directed by newcomer Brian DePalma and starring Sissy Spacek was a box office hit and a classic horror film. A 2002 remake was neither.