Ann Silverthorn

2026 Note: Perry Monument is being renovated and completion should be in time for its 100th Anniversary on September 10, 2026. In 1922, during a period of massive inflation resulting from WWI, Erie, Pennsylvania, was trying to raise funds for the construction of a stadium in front of Academy High School. To support the stadium…

It might be too good to be true, but the CDC and Joe Biden say we no longer have to wear masks if we are fully vaccinated. Funny that this happened on a day that I expressed my extreme frustration in a a poem. Enough It meets the mandate, this thing across my face. The…

By David Chernicky, Guest Contributor. From his forthcoming book, Justice for Christina: A Cold Case in My Hometown. For most people, cemeteries are peaceful, solemn places that families periodically visit to pay homage to a loved one, relative, or friend. My memory of visits to the graves of grandparents and other relatives dates back to my…

I met author Amy B. Chesler in October of 2018 at a DVD Netflix top influencer event in southern California. Amy was definitely the most animated, upbeat, and funny member of the group. As I sat across from her at dinner on the last evening of our fun-filled trip, though, there seemed to be a slight shadow…

Residents slump over wheelchair armrests in the overly air-conditioned “living room.” The television blasts a folk tune hijacked for a diabetes drug. Off to the right and left, like airport runways, lights over patient rooms flank the corridors, because the staff has turned off the call bells. A woman alone in her room cries, “Help…

I will confess. During recent presidential elections, I’ve felt a little fuzzy about how the electoral college works. I must have learned about it in school, but over the years, the details have dripped out of my brain, one by one. So, I did some poking around to see how the president in the United…

Last week, I attended a performance of Rent’s 20th Anniversary Tour. The musical follows a year in the lives of several artists, some of whom are afflicted with HIV/AIDS. In 1996, the future was grim for those who had the disease. Over the years I’ve seen Rent on Broadway, on tour, and on the big screen. Reflecting on the passage…

Out with the old; make way for the new. That was the theme for many years here in Erie County, Pennsylvania, as time-honored buildings were torn down and replaced with contemporary structures.  The 12-story, 1913 Lawrence Hotel, in front of which John F. Kennedy once spoke, fell in 1968 for a stark, angular structure that has…

What was it like in Erie, Pennsylvania, during the 1918 pandemic (Spanish Flu, H1N1 virus, influenza)? Well, now that we can browse the Erie Daily Times online from the late 1800s to present, we can get a pretty good idea. Accessed through NewsBank and the Erie County Public Library, nearly 40 newspaper articles referencing influenza from late…

This post originally appeared on the DVD Netflix blog “Inside the Envelope.” That company folded in 2023, and the blog was shut down, but you might find some good stuff here. “If you’re in a horror movie, you make poor decisions. It’s what you do.” Have you ever seen the insurance commercial about making good…