What makes a hero into a memorable character rather than a cliché? The clichés abound. Hundreds, no, thousands of romance novels provide an enticing bare-chested hero on the cover as a temptation. And invariably the heros are tall—almost always 6’2”—and incredibly good looking, whether rough-hewn strong or James Bond smooth. And they are, equally […]
Public History classes can take many forms. When there is a Folk Festival at our Sam Houston Memorial Museum every May, the possibilities become endless. Public History, for those of you who wonder, is a course that deals with hands-on history, whether it is museums, libraries, building cabins, or, […]
No, the Spanish DID NOT kill off all the natives of Mexico. I write in support of my friend Joe Lopez and his article on the European conquest of the New World in the Rio Grande Guardian. He compares the conquests of the Native peoples by the Spanish and the English. An interesting comparison. First, […]
One of the joys of doing research for novels is finding out tidbits of history about a city in which I grew up. While researching for my novel on 1770s New Spain, I learned that Mexico City had been called “The City of Palaces.” The reason was Carlos III of Spain. For nearly 200 years, […]
There are some people we never forget. Back in 2007/2008, I had the unmitigated good fortune of having a group of students sign up for Public History Courses at Sam Houston State University. Our History Department was working closely with the Sam Houston Memorial Museum (across the street from our campus) to move, rebuild […]
PBS has certainly hit it big with its program on Downton Abbey. It is fascinating to see how a TV show can become so popular. Even Julian Fellowes and the members of the cast and crew didn’t expect it to “go viral” with world-wide syndication and translations into dozens of languages. What is it […]
It’s a new age: education, training and learning by Power Point. By now, I believe most of us have had to sit through a Power Point presentation. Some are crisp, clear, concise, and colorful with big, bold lettering and dynamic images. They tell a good story, offer an outline and identify the message. Others, […]
Just to vary things a little, here is a “Did you know . . . ?” from my upcoming novel. During the 18th century (that’s the 1700s, in case you’d forgotten), nearly 80% of all trade and goods were carried by mule trains. The roads through the mountains of northern […]
What’s this about New Year’s Resolutions? And why should I care? Yesterday I heard my CGs (that would be my Caregivers, those strange two-leggers that put food in my bowl and take me and Stupid Shadow for walks) talking about Resolutions. They seem to be kind of like promises to do something that they’ve […]
Barren or Blessed? During a sermon just before Christmas, our pastor spoke about Elizabeth, the elderly wife of Zacharias and cousin to Mary, mother of Jesus. He focused on the Gospel of Luke in which Zacharias is told that Elizabeth has become pregnant and will give birth to John the Baptist. “The Lord has […]