World Affairs

As one who has done a fair amount of research on World War One and whose great uncle died in that war, I was especially eager to read Bill Welch’s book, Duty, Terror and Survival: The World War One Diary and Art of Doughboy Cp. Harold W. Pierce. Bill and I were part of the Erie…

Would any of us today in North America have the fortitude to resist a fascist government or dictatorship? To withstand prolonged periods of cruel torture? To lose our lives? To see our children killed before our eyes because of our own actions, though noble? Thousands of Italian women during World War II said yes. Of…

I, like so many, feel utterly helpless sitting here at home while a maniacal monster scourges the landscape of Ukraine. I wish I could reach back in time and change the course of history and the insidious spread of communism into China in 1949.  I learned about China’s civil war as I researched my book William…

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…

Social isolation because of the COVID-19 pandemic has been tough on all of us, but the elderly, and other vulnerable people, without computers, have suffered most. They need us more than ever. Months ago, I wrote a post about how computers are destroying humanity. In The Digital Age is Killing Humanity, I discussed the challenges that…

The past few years have marked a century since the war that promised to end all wars. We know that the world didn’t learn its lesson, and so the Great War became World War I. This is the story of Russell Silverthorn, Lee Silverthorn, and Josef Wäschle, my great uncles who fought on opposite sides…

You may love or hate Facebook, but I often find valuable information in my newsfeed. For instance, I recently came across a link to the article, “What to Do in an Active Shooter Situation” by Brett and Kate McKay on a Website called The Art of Manliness. I encourage you to take the time to read…

Poet and educator William E. Dimorier played a major role in the building of Veterans Memorial Stadium in Erie, PA. Although the newspaper accounts from the stadium’s dedication in 1924 do not mention his name, Dimorier worked behind the scenes from the landmark’s conception to completion.   Remembering Erie’s Veterans Memorial Stadium Dedication Veterans Day 2014 will mark 90 years…

Sometimes, when I’m deep into my research on the life of W.E. Dimorier, I make discoveries that are compelling enough to have me take a slight detour. I reason that these are relevant to the project, because it’s become evident that Dimorier’s influence reached far away to China and far through the ages to situations like…