Category Archives: Midwest

Worlds Apart Black Friday Sale Starts Today

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Starting on 11/25 Worlds Apart Kindle Edition will go on sale for just $2.99. The 70% price reduction will continue through 12/2. Worlds Apart is the sequel to DreamMap. You don’t need to read DreamMap first but it helps to understand the characters better. You can get a Kindle copy of DreamMap for only 99 Cents by clicking here.

Set in Pittsburgh in the real world and many alternate realities, World’s Apart begins as Jake and Rose travel to Dublin and Jake agrees to help Stan find his missing niece. Rose travels home to discover that her father needs her help. Apparently Eligio is missing and Nathan fears he has been injured or worse. The search for those missing takes Jake and Rose to many different worlds where they remain separated. As one mystery is solved, another appears. As one evil is destroyed, another emerges. With the help of new and old friends, the two resolve the mysteries only to be led into deeper danger. Encountering magic and shape shifters, they must separately confront an ancient evil while remaining worlds apart.

To read a sample and order your copy click here

My Virtual Vacation Day 14—Chicago

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We had hoped in retirement to travel the world. So far we have done a pretty good job with trips to Mexico, Hawaii, Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain and The Czech Republic. However the pandemic has stopped all of that for a while. So while waiting for Africa, Alaska and Scandinavia, our current travel is going to have to be virtual. Today’s stop is Chicago.

This city is really important to me. Our daughter and her family live there. It is also historically and strategically important to the USA.It is one of the largest lake shipping ports in the world. Thanks to the Saint Lawrence Seaway it is a major point of entry into the United States. It is also the latest rail hub in the United States. Culturally and ethnically Chicago is unique and important to the cultural fabric of our country.

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Horses on Michigan

Jumping Bean

Window Patterns on Chicago River

A Missing Moment…Jumping Bean

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When assembling images for our show, “Moments and Souls” I forgot to include this one. If we ever decide to publish a book I will have to include it. It is a perfect moment captured in front of the Cloud Gate sculpture in Chicago’s Millennium Park. The sculpture is affectionately called The Bean by Second City residents.

This young lady placed a lot of trust in the crowd as she jumped from her boyfriend’s shoulders into their waiting arms.

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Jumping Bean

How Do You Celebrate Martin Luther King Day?

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Today is a different sort of holiday. It is of course a celebration of the life and work of Martin Luther King Jr but it is hard to celebrate his life without feeling sorrow for the way his life ended. Visiting the National Civil Rights Museum this year was eye opening for me. Even though I have been alive for a lot of the civil rights movement it was an emotional visit.

So if you can’t get there in person, you can spend a few minutes of their web site learning something new and maybe planning for a future visit. Enjoy your day off but spend a moment or two acknowledging the life of a great American.

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Memphis Tennessee

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Memphis is situated along the banks of the Mississippi River just across the border of Arkansas and only miles from Mississippi. It is a city of about 650,000 and ranks sixth in The United States asa center for African Americans. About 65% of the people in Memphis are African American and it shapes the culture and history of the city.

Of course Memphis is known for an unfortunate event in our history; the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. I believe every citizen needs to visit Memphis to experience the emotion of the National Civil Rights Museum. It also important in the history of the Blues. See it performed on Beal Street or explore the history at Stax Records or Sun Studio. Also enjoy some amazing food and barbecue. A great place to visit and explore some original American culture.

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Memphis Skyline

Memphis Skyline

Memphis Skyline

The National Civil Rights Museum—Memphis

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If you have only one thing to do in Memphis it should be to visit the National Civil Rights Museum . Even though I have lived through a lot of The Civil Rights Movement I found this museum to be highly informative and an emotional experience.

You can easily spend the whole day there. There are many exhibits and interactive features. It is highly emotional and moving. After three hours we were drained. I don’t know if it was planning but across the street is the Blues Hall of Fame. We found it to be the perfect palette cleanser after our emotional upheaval. We sat in the listening booth and saw great performances that eased our souls.

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National Civil Rights Museum

National Civil Rights Museum

National Civil Rights Museum

Memphis Street Art

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In spite of the fact that the population of Memphis is 62% African American it wasn’t until 2017 that Civil War statues were removed from the city. This mural expressing the horrors of lynching is near the National Civil Rights Museum. It is a grim reminder that the Civil War was not the end of racial hatred in the USA.

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Memphis Street Art

Stax Records–Soulsville USA

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A lot of people if asked, might say Detroit is the home of Soul Music. Hitsville U.S.A. is the nickname given to Motown’s first headquarters. It was purchased by Motown founder Berry Gordy in 1959. However two years earlier Stax Records was founded in Memphis Tennessee. It was later dubbed Soulsville USA.

The Motown and Stax sound were the roots of American soul music. They were more similar than different. However, you could say that the Motown sound fueled by the Funk Brothers was smoother. Stax artists like Otis Redding and Carla Thomas had their roots a little more in gospel and their music was more emotional.

Visiting the Stax Record Museum is a must for anyone visiting Memphis. More than Graceland it explains the soul of the region.

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Soulsville USA

Soulsville USA

Soulsville USA

Soulsville USA

Soulsville USA

Soulsville USA

Beal Street

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In Austin it is six street, in New Orleans it is Bourbon Street, in Chicago it is Rush Street and in Memphis it is Beal Street. This is where you go if you want to hear live Music and in most places it is blues music that you will hear.

Memphis is a famous Music City. Most people think of Nashville when they think of live music which is fine if you like country music. However, Memphis is the birth place of soul. Stax Records was known as Soulsville USA and Sun Records is where Elvis Presley and many others recorded.

In 1956 B.B, King moved from Mississippi to Memphis and founded his own record label, Blues Boys Kingdom, with headquarters at Beale Street in Memphis. He opened his first Blues Club on Beal Street which is still serving live music and Barbecue.

After his death B.B. King’s body was flown to Memphis. A funeral procession went down Beale Street, with a brass band marching in front of the hearse, playing When the Saints Go Marching In. Thousands lined the streets to pay their last respects. His body was then driven down Route 61 to his hometown of Indianola, Mississippi.

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Beal Street Memphis

Beal Street Memphis

Beal Street Memphis

The Memphis Queen

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My wife and I met on a River Boat 50 years ago. It was a paddlewheel ship called the The Gateway Party Liner in Pittsburgh. It was a party cruise with Archie Bell and The Drells. So it seemed right that visiting Memphis as tourists we should take a cruise on The Mississippi River.

We boarded The Memphis Queen and cruised down river a little bit to the south. We then turned and headed North and cruised under the bridges crossing the Mississippi learning the history of rivers boats on the Mississippi. We also learned a lot about the history and culture of Memphis in the 90 minute cruise. It was fun and inexpensive.

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The Memphis Queen