how Vienna became the world’s most livable city
Place marker for this Guardian article on the city owned communal buildings, January 10, 2024. how Vienna became the world’s most livable city
Transatlantic slavery continued for years after 1867
In The Guardian, an essay on recent findings of historian Hannah Durkin showing the arrival of slave ships in Cuba as late as 1872. Historians have generally assumed that the transatlantic slave trade ended in 1867, but it actually continued into the following decade, according to new research. Dr Hannah Durkin, an historian and former … [Read more…]
The Murder of Sonoma County Sheriff James Petray – December 6, 1920
SHERIFF PETRAY AND 2 DETECTIVES KILLED Press Democrat Dec 6, 1920 On December 6, 1920 in Santa Rosa, California, the Sheriff of Sonoma county, James A. Petray and San Francisco Detectives Miles Jackson and Lester Dorman were gunned down. The killer was one George Boyd of Seattle, a professional boxer and a member of the … [Read more…]
ONE WOMAN LYNCHED
In researching a lynching in Santa Rosa Press Democrat of 11 December 1920, this bit of California history was mentioned: ONE WOMAN LYNCHED What is reputed to be the only known lynching of a woman in the history of California, occurred in Downieville in 1851. As described by Charles L. Felton, an eye-witness, she was a … [Read more…]
White Holes – Carlo Rovelli
This is a small book, in the genre of possible science. Rovelli has his ideas about the existence of “white holes” and explains the development of the theory in a rather charming way, citing Dante most of the way through the process. While I was able to follow along with his reasoning I wasn’t … [Read more…]
Disruptions : stories by Steven Millhauser
Disruptions : stories Steven Millhauser 12/15/2023 This collection was my first book by Millhauser and I liked it a lot. He has a unique viewpoint, mostly 1st person narrative and the scenarios he creates are quite bizarre. The story “After the beheading” is, as many of his stories are, set in a community. This one … [Read more…]
Worlds of exile and illusion by Ursula K. Le Guin
Worlds of exile and illusion by Ursula K. Le Guin From the publisher, ” The author’s first three novels–City of Illusions, Rocannon’s World, and Planet of Exile–are included in an omnibus edition, all set in the same universe as The Left Hand of Darkness, as her characters battle forces in society that seek to tear … [Read more…]
The Dawn of Everything, A New History Of Humanity” by David Graeber and David Wengrow
Non-fiction Finished the 524 pages of “The Dawn of Everything, A New History Of Humanity” by Davids Graeber and Wengrow. A challenging book, well written and somewhat academic in tone, both authors are professors at their respective British schools, Graeber of economics and Wengrow of comparative archeology. The authors propose that there were actually few … [Read more…]
“The Silverado Squatters” by Robert Lewis Stevenson
We visited the Petrified Forest near Calistoga CA last week. In the walk through the forest was a plaque explaining the link between “Petrified Charley,” the founder and owner of the site in 1880, and Robert Lewis Stevenson who visited. At the gift shop was a slim volume “The Silverado Squatters” by RLS which my … [Read more…]
The deepest map : the high-stakes race to chart the world’s oceans by Laura Tretheway
Tretheway, like Elizabeth Rush, is a very good nature writer. I had some experience working on mapping vessels back in my youth and it was very interesting to “go back out” albeit in my arm chair with much newer vessels and equipment. She builds up the background of ocean mapping, how little we really know, … [Read more…]