A WRIGHT WHIMSY
THE FOLLOWING two fantasy correspondences are offered for your amusement: Wilbur Wright, 7 Hawthorne Street, Dayton, Ohio, U.S.A. April 11, 1909 My Dear Wilbur, Greetings from the little bathing town … Continue reading
THE FERVOR OF FRENCH FLYERS, 1898 – 1908
FRENCH AÉRONAUTS came this close—no, closer than this—to being the first in the world to demonstrate sustained, controlled, heavier-than-air flight. What about the Wrights? Between 1898 and 1908, there was … Continue reading
HOLLYWOOD MEETS MOTOR SPORTS
A CONFLUENCE of technologies occurred at the beginning of the last century. (How quaint this term “last century” sounds to those of us of a certain age.) The automobile and … Continue reading
CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL…
MICHAEL FLANDERS is best known to me, and perhaps to you, as half of Flanders & Swann, the British duo who flourished 1956 – 1967 as musical satirists. (See “Have … Continue reading
A VICTORIAN CHRISTMAS WITH SHERLOCK HOLMES
SHERLOCK HOLMES and his chronicler Dr. John H. Watson shared Christmastime in “The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle.” This holiday quest involved a jewel sequestered within a Christmas goose. Sherlockian … Continue reading
ON POLITICAL SATIRE
THE HACKING of Sony because of its movie The Interview and subsequent responses bring to mind political satires of 1940, Charlie Chaplin’s The Great Dictator and You Nazty Spy! by … Continue reading
1926 DELAGE 15-S-8
THIS IS a tale of car enthusiasts and a very special bitsa, what specialists call a car with “a bit of this and a bit of that.” But what fabulous … Continue reading
POWER FROM OLD SOL
SOLAR POWER is a tantalizing concept. Sunlight is there half the time in many places, free for the asking. Well, not exactly free, with some recent developments very promising and … Continue reading
ON LEARNING LITHUANIAN
ALAS, DESPITE my heritage, I speak no Lithuanian. This, despite the best attempts of others. The book’s subtitle promises “This System Teaches You the Essentials of a Language (for Travel … Continue reading
SAMUEL F. CODY—A LIFE WELL CRAFTED
THIS RAKISH guy named Cody with long flowing hair and cowboy garb must be the famed Buffalo Bill, right? A common conclusion. In fact, though, this particular Cody was born … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 