Jedediah Smith, a devout mountain man, discovered the South Pass over the Rockies in March of 1824. This led him beyond the vast western frontier where he opened the first land route to California. As reverent as his contemporary explorers were profane, young Smith reveled in the beauty and magnificence all around him which [...]
2019 Annual IndieReader Discovery Awards June 1, 2019 – Today, Jennifer L. Armentrout, a New York Times and International bestselling author, announced the winners of the 2019 annual IndieReader Discovery Awards (IRDAs) at Book Expo America (BEA)/Book Con, a major trade show in New York City. The Unnamed Girl by Mike H. Mizrahi of [...]
The 16th President gave us a glimpse into his thinking on the subject on Oct. 1, 1862, when he shared the following spiritual meditation about the struggle that was tearing the nation asunder: “I am almost ready to say this is probably true: that God wills this contest, and wills that it shall not [...]
Now that’s a good one, right? A blessing…? Tell that to the people in Northeastern Congo, where innocents are being hacked and raped and killed by militiamen. It makes no sense that they would be thankful for such tribulations, or that forgiveness is possible. How about someone suffering from the death of a loved [...]
One week before this day, April 14, in 1865, Robert Lincoln brought a photograph of Confederate General Robert E. Lee over to his father, President Abraham Lincoln, as he ate breakfast. The President gazed at the old warrior's image and said, "It is a good face...the face of a noble, noble, man. I am [...]
(Disclaimer: Karen and I pray regularly. I respect all who profess religious affiliations other than my Christian faith, as well as those who are agnostic or atheist.) Do you pray? And what does that have to do with our long deceased president? Today, March 12, marks the 117th anniversary of his death, and I’d [...]
On this day, Feb. 2, in 1831, a 23-year-old seminarian named Samuel Francis Smith first heard the tune used for the British national anthem. Delighted with the music, he was moved to write new lyrics to the same melody. “My Country Tis of Thee” was first performed on July 4 that year, and went [...]
Don’t you agree? Music is magic for the soul. It can root you in the here and now, and it can catapult you over the canyons of time to special moments in your past. Music is a medicine that can bind our wounds. Earlier this week I received and shared a FB post that [...]
I was 10 years old, and I still remember watching his speech on our B&W television set. On this day, Jan. 20, 1961, the youngest man ever elected president delivered his Inaugural Address. JFK stirred the hearts of young and old alike that day with words of patriotism, self-sacrifice, and a warning to America’s [...]
History buffs. Movie lovers. Go see Darkest Hour, one of the great movies of 2017. A tour de force by Gary Oldman as Sir Winston Churchill. The history of it all enchanted me, swept me away to a time not so long before my own birth. Two hours of wonderful cinema about Churchill’s courageous [...]
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