The year was 2002 and I was meeting with Merritt King in Geneva for research on my history of Geneva book with Arcadia Publishing. He invited me to his beautiful Geneva home and was gracious and a gentleman. Merritt King (1918-2012) had an illustrious career as a Geneva alderman for...
“Rich diamond and Pearl and Gold in evry Place was seen. Rare Splendors, Yellow, Blew,Red, White and Green, Mine eyes did evry where behold.” —Thomas Treherne’s “Wonder” Welcome to Russia, 1885-1917. Come inside to the world of Peter Carl Faberge. He was born May 18, 1846 and passed this life...
The location was the East Room of the White House when president George W. Bush awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Ruth Johnson Colvin in December 2016. “Ruth Colvin is a person of intelligence and vision and heart. And she has earned the gratitude of many, and the admiration...
Chautauqua was an adult and social movement that brought speakers, teachers, musicians, showmen, preachers, and specialists of the day to gather together and offer entertainment and culture to the outdoor Summer crowds. In a charming village on the shores of Lake Chautauqua, N. Y., 145 years ago, began the Summer
It was a lovely, warming, September day, that month of 1965, and the hills were a great vibrant green stretching far into the distance. The girls all were excited because they were riding their bikes into town for such adventure. Molly, Patrice, and Bridgit, were cousins who lived close to...
Bonjour. This week we visit the Dordogne River Valley in France during the Middle Ages. The rain is gently falling as the fat goose family crosses the boulevard. The Viking raiders crossed through here in 976 A.D.. They left behind an uninviting tango of castle ruins and limestone rock roofs,...
“The voice of the last cricket across the first frost is one kind of good-by. It is so thin a splinter of singing.” Carl Sandburg It was September 1977. Annunciation School in Aurora. My kindergarten class of 32 with no aide. How I loved the children. We shared that year...
Invited to share the ironmonger’s dinner of black bread and soup and sour red wine, Galileo was already searching for a patron for his inventions. The ironmonger had let Galileo forage for parts from his stockpile of junk items. Galileo was too poor to continue his medical studies. He wondered...
Last of three parts The second part is available at thevoice.us/absorbing-a-european-trip-in-1979-paris-vienna-bonn My 11-year-old daughter, Suzanne, and I, arrive in Wimbledon, United Kingdom, almost three months since we left America, and enjoy accommodations at a bed and breakfast home. We took the train into London many times. Enjoyed Westminster Cathedral and...
Second of three parts The first part is available at thevoice.us/recalling-a-special-trip-to-europe-with-her-daughter Traveling throughout Europe with a Eurilpass allowed us unlimited first class travel. The European trains are fast, efficient, immaculately clean rolling wheels of steel. There is a restroom on every car that is big enough to accommodate wheelchairs. After...
First of three parts “Younger than Springtime are you. Gayer than laughter are you.“Sweeter than music are you.” —Richard Rodgers Spring cleaning had come early due to the stay-at-home directives in the Spring. Closets, drawers, garage, pantry all were involved. I came across my journal entries from the Eurail Pass...
When Robert Louis Stevenson, romancer, essayist, writer of adventure stories, analyst of the moral ambiguities of man, tried to explain his ideas about the differences between morality and religious institutions to his father, he tried in vain. Stevenson said he accepted the ideals of Christian morality while repudiating the Church...
“A short introduction to learne to swimme.” -C. Middleton circa 1595 The year was 1909. The Messina earthquake of 1908 struck the Straits of Messina in southern Italy and destroyed cities and caused up to 150,000 deaths. Compare that to 636 Italian deaths from COVID-19 as of April 7, 2020,...
July had arrived. Not of a thousand Julys as the song went, but this July. Anna was playing tennis with her friend Janet. It was a hot July day and the friends had been playing tennis together for the last 10 years. The thermometer hovered at 85 degrees. The sun...
John Adams, who was graduated from Harvard College, was the husband of Abigail Smith Adams, and the father of six children, one of whom, John Quincy Adams, became president of the United States and served one term in the 1820s. John Adams was a lawyer, a farmer, and a revolutionary....
The rolling thunder of heavy metal began at 9 p.m. Saturday, April 1, 1865. When the big guns destroyed the Confederate defenses around Petersburg, Va., the Union army led by General Ulysses S. Grant might end the four-year old Civil War and the United States would be divided no more....
The year was 1787 when the idea for the presidency was born at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. Taking notes was James Madison which then thrust the room full of delegates into a sudden silence. All knew it was a moment of fateful significance. After days of heated argument and...
“Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Jesus to Mary Magdalene at his empty tomb. (John 20:15) The cave, east of Aix-en-Provence, is called Sainte-Baume. According to Roman Catholic tradition, Mary Magdalene spent the last 30 years of her life there. The surrounding forest leads to a small...
“May the breezes of Summer that breathe of perfume, waft their balmiest dews to so hallowed a shrine.” — Shelley Beulah O’Brien was a 24-year old bank cashier at the Metropolitan Trust in New York City. The year was 1939. Beulah was fond of wearing the latest fashions, her brown...
Queen Victoria came to the English throne in 1837. The River Thames was the wide meandering river then, just as it had been for centuries. Twice a day the River ebbed and flowed as far up as Teddington. The Victorian age saw many improvements, including the umbrella, flushing toilets, letter...
