History

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…

It was a sight my dad never forgot, but he didn’t share the experience with me until a few months before he died. It was a memory of a sultry September day in 1955, when he was the first person on the scene of a plane crash in southwest Millcreek, a suburb of Erie, PA.…

The COVID-19 pandemic has raised the level of human creativity. Autopilot no longer works and we continually have to find new ways to do old things. Take bridal showers, for example. Here you’ll learn how to plan and execute a memorable event during a pandemic. This is a hybrid model, both socially distanced for the…

There are many types of film competitions each year, but the Academy Awards provides the pinnacle of recognition for film artists and professionals. Each January, hundreds of millions of fans and critics tune in to see who the big winners are—those honorees who will go down in history. For a lot of my writing on…

Sometimes I’m disappointed with movie remakes, but that’s not the case with Fahrenheit 451. The theme of the first film, and the novel it was based on, is actually strengthened in the 2018 version. Both versions have just enough similarities and differences to make them both worth watching. I’d recommend reading the novel by Ray Bradbury…

Recently, I visited the Heritage Room at Blasco Library and came across some interesting information that had nothing at all to do with why I was there. But such is the way of research. You often find treasures you weren’t looking for, and as long as you don’t get carried away with your detours, it’s just fine to…

Although William Edward Dimorier was born in New York, he lived for more than 40 years in Erie, Pennsylvania. In August 1906, William, a graduate of Colgate University, was hired as head of the English Department at Erie High, also known as Central. He served in many capacities during his career, such as athletics advisor,…

We call it the “Forgotten War,” but thanks to the many projects and programs that have taken place during the four-year observance of its centenary, World War I has finally received the attention it deserves. One project, in particular, is the film, They Shall Not Grow Old, directed and produced by Peter Jackson, well-known for the Lord…

Recently, I watched the 1988 movie City of Angels starring Nicolas Cage, and this led me to its 1987 German predecessor,Wings of Desire with Bruno Ganz. Then, I learned that Ganz had starred in another movie called Downfall, released in 2005, about the last days of Adolf Hitler. A movie set in the infamous bunker wasn’t too appealing to…