General musings

…the accident at Three Mile Island occurred. The accident, whereby Metropolitan Edison’s nuclear reactor nearly melted down, happened two days after my 18th birthday. I was in twelfth grade, eager to graduate and move on. However, the loss of coolant and resulting release of a large amount of radioactivity into the surrounding environment was a big deal. Although nobody died in the accident itself, statistics suggest that there has been an increase in leukemia and other cancers in the surrounding communities situated most closely to the plant, which still operates one reactor to this day.

My parents’ house is just over 60 miles from Three Mile Island, and when the accident occurred and for the next few days, things were absolutely nerve wracking. Nobody knew the extent of the damage to the reactor, and nobody knew for sure that the nuclear reaction had been slowed enough to control it. We also didn’t know just how close we came to a full-scale meltdown of catastrophic proportions. For a few days, things were really touch and go. Gov. Dick Thornburgh, who had only been in office for about 60 days when the accident happened, had a full-scale crisis on his hands, and it was an unprecedented one. Nobody knew precisely what to do. And coming two weeks after the release of the movie The China Syndrome, a media frenzy ensued.

I remember when Pres. Jimmy Carter, a trained nuclear engineer, visited the site in an effort to calm a terrified public. Carter’s presence that day was both welcome and reassuring.

At one point, a plan to evacuate a radius of 60 miles from the crippled plant was announced. My parents’ house is just outside that radius by a mile or two, so we were debating whether to pack up and go, too. It was an incredibly stressful and uncertain time that remains indelibly burned in my memory banks. Of course, the crisis passed in a few days, and the damaged reactor was sealed in concrete. But for those few days, it was touch and go.

My alma mater, Dickinson College, is about 25 miles from TMI as the crow flies. Students had just come back from spring break a week or so before the accident happened, and after the accident occurred, the College administration made the prompt decision to shut down and sent students home for the duration. I remember arriving on campus that August and seeing students wearing t-shirts that would be real collector’s items today: they commemorated surviving what became known as the College’s 1979 “radiation vacation”. I wish I had one of those shirts.

I drive by that plant on the Pennsylvania Turnpike each time I go home to Reading to see my parents, and each time, I see those cooling towers looming over the shallow Susquehanna River. I see the steam billowing from the cooling tower of the still functioning Unit 1, and I remember those scary, wild days of my youth. It’s hard to believe that thirty years have passed since that frightening day.

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Several months ago, I posted an article that I had written about an interesting chap named David F. Day, who was awarded a Medal of Honor for participating in Grant’s “forlorn hope” attacks at Vicksburg in May 1863.

A reader named Dan Glasgow sent me an e-mail last night that I thought I would share with you:

I truly enjoyed your narative about David Frakes Day and his Metal of Honor. I knew his sons, Guy and George and how David started calling himseld Col. Day. His son said that his father was kicked by a mule when he was young and it left a scar on his cheek. Soon David started saying that the scar was from a saber cut received during the Civil War and then he promoted the story that he was a promote to col. I’ve read your narative and enjoyed it very much. At one time I thought Day’s story would have made a great movie but today it wouldn’t have enough sex appeal. Thanks for your efforts.

What a great story….and so like David Day. 🙂

Day’s son was evidently a chip off the old block. From the April 25, 1922 edition of the New York Times:

Editor Kills Editor on Durango (Col.) Street: Scandal Story After Row Over Dry Law

Durango, Co., April 24.–William L. Wood, city editor of The Durango Herald, was shot dead on the street this afternoon by Rod S. Day, editor of The Durango Democrat, as the result of a squabble that started over prohibition and reached a climax in the printing of a scandal.

Wood some time ago printed an article on prohibition clipped from an outside paper, and asked the attitude of The Democrat on enforcement of the Volstead Act. Day replied that he favored enforcement. Wood then reported that The Democrat should stamp out the bootlegging in Durango. With each article the feeling grew until several days ago when Day printed something about Woods’ life and divorce.

Today the two met in front of a barber shop and after an exchange of words Day struck Wood with a carpenter’s square he held in his hand. Wood dodged the square and landed a blow on Day’s nose, breaking it. Wood then backed off the sidewalk, but Day drew a pistol and shot him twice, one bullet entering the brain.

Wood died in a hospital without gaining consciousness. Day was put under arrest and will be charged with first degree murder. Eyewitnesses say Wood tried to avoid the meeting with Day today, but as they came to a corner of the street, they almost bumped into each other. Day refuses to talk.

Wood was about 35 years old. Day, who is about 47, is a son of David F. Day, a pioneer editor of the State. He became editor of The Democrat in 1914, upon the death of his father.

The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. I have been unable to ascertain whether Rod Day was convicted of the crime.

I continue to be fascinated by Dave Day and his interesting family. Thanks for coming forward, Dan.

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Susan and I just made a quick overnight trip to Hockeytown, USA, which is also known as Detroit, Michigan. Thanks to fellow blogger Jack Dempsey, we got to watch the Columbus Blue Jackets destroy the defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings 8-2 at Joe Lewis Arena last night. Many thanks to Jack for the tickets. It’s very cool seeing those 11 Stanley Cup banners and the retired numbers, and all of the other banners that fill the rafters of the venerable old arena. Considering that this is only our team’s 8th season, and we’ve never even made the playoffs, we don’t have such stuff hanging from our rafters (yet). The monuments to Gordie Howe, Ted Lindsay and Sid Abel–the legendary Production Line–are also neat.

I have to say that, considering we were both wearing Blue Jackets jerseys in a place where not much but red and white can be found, we were pleasantly surprised that the local folks were extremely friendly. A couple of Red Wings fans congratulated us on our team’s record-setting performance last night, and one fellow looked at me and said, “If your team does this well in the playoffs, it will go a long way” as he headed out after the 7th goal.

Neither of us had ever been to Joe Lewis previously, and it is one of those pilgrimages that every serious hockey fans needs to make.

I had actually hoped to mix a little history into the trip, but the weather defeated that good intention. It rained somewhat heavily yesterday, but it was like a monsoon today, meaning that there was no real reason to stop in Monroe, Michigan on the way home as I had planned. The intent was to visit the handsome equestrian monument to George Custer in his adopted hometown, see the home where his wife Libby grew up, and then spend a bit of time visiting the War of 1812 battlefield there, which was the Battle of the River Raisin. The Custer monument is actually on a portion of the River Raisin battlefield, but I am told that there is interpretation being placed on the battlefield. I’ve never really visited a War of 1812 battlefield (unless you count the Perry Victory Monument on Middle Bass Island in Lake Erie), and I was really looking forward to it. Looks like another trip is going to have to be in the offing to make it happen. I want to go to a Tigers game this summer, so hopefully we will be able to visit Monroe then.

Thanks again to Jack Dempsey for his generosity in giving us the tickets last night. That generosity was made all the more remarkable by the performance our team put on.

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For the past few days, there has been a lot of discussion about the state and future of North & South magazine. It began with a post on Kevin Levin’s blog. After quite a few comments (including one by me), Ethan Rafuse pitched in. Ethan has put up two posts at the Civil Warriors group blog that also address the situation with North & South.

I think I can lend some insight. By way of introduction, I own a major block of voting stock in the company. I am in the top ten of the group of largest shareholders, and until two years ago, was a member of the company’s board of directors. I was kicked off the board by founder/editor/president Keith Poulter when he realized that I had turned hostile and would no longer approve his actions in managing the company without question. Consequently, I have some inside knowledge and insight that few others have.

The problems with this company run very deep and date back to its very beginnings. The simple truth is that the company has always been severely undercapitalized, from its very beginning. Poulter has always been very proud of the fact that he started the company on $15,000, which I can understand. That would be okay if he’d been able to take that $15,000 and turn it into a profitable operation, but it has never made a profit. In fact, the company has lost money every year of its existence.

There are a variety of reasons for that. First, and foremost, while he’s an excellent editor, Keith Poulter is an atrocious businessman. If North & South fails, it will be the second business of his to fail, the first being a wargaming company. He just has no idea how to run a successful and profitable business. The track record speaks for itself.

The biggest problem is that he and his ex-wife Kathy, who, conveniently enough, is the CFO of the company without the qualifications for the job, own enough stock to put down any attempts to depose them. I know this for a fact, because I tried. When I failed, that’s when I was kicked off the board in favor of the late Prof. John Y. Simon, who was willing to be a rubber stamp for Poulter. Since John’s death, that board position remains open and unfilled. There’s nobody to prevent Poulter from simply doing as he pleases. I’ve stopped caring, as I’ve accepted the sad reality that my investment is gone, pissed away by incompetent management.

Terry Johnston, the editor, and Joyce Gusner, the art director, were the only voices of reason, and were my allies. Terry, of course, was fired, and Joyce, sadly, died of breast cancer. Since Joyce’s unfortunate passing, all of the artwork and composition work is being done in China by people who obviously know nothing about the Civil War. Joyce had a large block of stock, but I’m not sure what happened to it. Terry had a few shares, but he was sent packing. When they dropped out of the picture, there truly was nothing to prevent Poulter from doing as he damn well pleases with the company without having to answer to anyone.

Further complicating things is that Keith Poulter spends the bulk of his time in China now. He’s never been good about communicating, and now that he’s spending most of his time there, forget getting a response from him. It’s very unprofessional, and it aggravates people to no end.

In fairness, the company’s wretched financial state has left Keith with no alternative but to serve as both editor as well as business manager. That’s a heavy burden, and it’s become clear that he’s not up to fulfilling both roles. The issues with publishing articles and things being in line for publication for years at a time are well documented in the posts and comments on the other blogs linked above. I have experienced the same problem myself–my article on the Battle of Tom’s Brook (the last thing of mine to be published in the magazine) sat in the production queue for the better part of three years before it finally saw the light of day, to my incredible frustration.

A friend of mine had an article in the last issue, and Poulter simply chopped off the conclusion without even asking him about it. Dan was absolutely flabbergasted when he saw the article in print without its conclusion, so much so that he wrote to Poulter to protest it. It took Poulter a while to respond to his e-mail, and when he did, he pretty much just blew Dan’s complaints and concerns off without even the courtesy of an explanation or an apology.

Among the financial problems is the elephant in the room. The last I knew, the magazine’s printer was owed in excess of $150,000 for back printing bills, and they may finally have finally said enough and pulled the plug. That debt has existed for pretty much the entire eleven year run of the magazine without much progress being made in whittling down the balance, and in these uncertain economic times, the printer may have finally determined that it could no longer carry this particular albatross around its neck. I certainly wouldn’t blame them if that’s the case.

Also, a couple of issues ago, the magazine lost its long-time cartographer, David Fuller, who was lured away to Civil War Times Illustrated, meaning that the last two issues were published without a single map. Given that superb maps were a hallmark of the magazine, it’s not a big surprise that the complete lack of any maps generated a lot of questions and complaints from readers. It’s very difficult to understand complicated military actions without maps, and the lack of maps really detracts from the quality of the magazine. Poulter then flagrantly lied about the situation in print in the magazine, directly contradicting the announcement that Dana Shoaf, the editor of CWTI, made in his magazine. It certainly made N & S look bad and made Keith look really petty.

Since Terry Johnston was fired, there have been a lot of complaints about the magazine’s content. Again, please see the comments and posts on the other blogs. Content has changed dramatically, and not necessarily for the best. In addition, there is a long-standing history of Poulter not paying authors timely, which has certainly hurt the magazine. Consequently, nobody really wants to write for him any more. I know of numerous authors who either haven’t been paid at all, or have been forced to wait for significant amounts of time to get paid. That has caused the stream of quality material to dry up.

So, to sum up, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if the thing is swirling around the drain. Shame on me for not doing my due diligence and learning more about Poulter and his terrible track record before investing money into this cesspool. I’m paying the price by losing my investment. At least I’m not alone there.

As for North & South, it could have been great. Keith has a real gift for getting big name authors to clamor to write for him, and that’s how he was able to fill a brand-new publication with so much great content. But then he stopped paying authors, and his ego ran amok. The biggest shame is that it was all avoidable but for Keith Poulter’s ego.

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Here’s an article that gives you a sense of the ridiculous budgetary constraints that the Ohio Historical Society is forced to endure. Whenever the Ohio General Assembly needs to save money, the OHS budget is inevitably the first place they look. And this is the result:

Recession Forces Historians to Make Do
By James Hannah, Associated Press

2/1/2009
Associated Press
http://www.newarkadvocate.com/article/20090201/NEWS01/902010332

COLUMBUS — The Civil War flag that was brandished by the 42nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry is wrapped tightly around its pole. It’s a delicate task to unfurl the almost 150-year-old banner without it crumbling.

Yet, the humidity-raising chamber used to loosen the material consists of a homemade aluminum frame covered with a plastic-like film. It was built with parts from Lowe’s that cost less than $500. The work is being done in a warehouse and in a homemade chamber instead of with state-of-the-art equipment costing as much as $20,000.

With the recession tightening its grip, budgets being cut and donors drying up, preservationists are scaling back on restorations.

In Missouri, efforts to buy well-known works by home-state artists have been cut back. A fundraising campaign to help preserve Native American art in Montana is grinding to a standstill.

Money still is being given for conservation but not at the levels that are necessary, said Eryl Wentworth, executive director of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic & Artistic Works.

“It’s so distressing to me because it’s shortsighted,” she said. “We lose our history. We lose a portion of our culture, our memory.”

Authorities estimate 4.8 billion artifacts are in U.S. archives, libraries, museums and historical societies, but one in four institutions have no controls to protect against temperature, humidity and light.

According to a 2005 survey by Heritage Preservation and the Institute of Museum and Library Services, 13.5 million historic objects, 153 million photographs and 4.7 million works of art needed immediate care.

Lawrence Reger, president of Heritage Preservation, said publicity about the survey generated increased support for the care of collections so they are available for future generations.

“Unfortunately, the current recession has all but brought this to a standstill,” Reger said.

The Ohio Historical Society is trying to preserve much of the Ohio Adjutant General’s battle flag collection — 552 flags carried in five wars. Most earlier preservation was carried out in the 1960s and to date, only 18 flags have been preserved using updated, more costly techniques paid for largely by private funds.

Soldiers who hoisted Civil War flags in battle were fat targets for the enemy.

“Men knew it was very likely they were going to die when they were carrying them,” said James Strider, the society’s director of historic preservation.

Historical societies and museums around the country are being squeezed.

A state budget deficit of $4 billion in Illinois cost the Historic Preservation Agency a conservator and curator who were instrumental in prioritizing artifacts that need to be conserved. They include a three-wheeled wood and leather baby buggy that belonged to David Davis, who was appointed by Abraham Lincoln to the U.S. Supreme Court.

“There are literally hundreds of items in our collections at any particular moment that need repair or conservation, and without staffing the list will continue to grow,” said spokesman David Blanchette.

The State Historical Society of Missouri has backed away from an aggressive plan to buy paintings of famous Missouri artists Thomas Hart Benton and George Caleb Bingham. It risks losing the artwork to other buyers.

“It’s extremely challenging to try to raise money when virtually everybody is impacted in some way by the recession,” said Gary Kremer, the society’s executive director.

The Yellowstone Art Museum, home to historic American paintings as well as modernist and abstract expressionist art, has been trying to raise money for more than two years to build a preservation facility. About $1.8 million of a required $2.8 million has been collected.

Robyn G. Peterson, executive director of the Billings, Mont., museum, said the museum has no funds in its annual $1 million budget for preservation. Many artworks, such as Plains Indian beadwork, are being stored in a vault that is “full to bursting.”

Pete Sepp, spokesman for the National Taxpayers Union, said historic preservation has to be subject to budget priorities.

“Preserving the past is important, but if governments don’t start spending and borrowing less, there won’t be much of a future left for our kids to enjoy,” Sepp said.

The Ohio Historical Society has seen its budget shrink by 13 percent in the past eight years. The society has laid off its preservation staff.

With all of its storage space filled and no money to expand, the society is going through its collections to decide what not to keep. It virtually has stopped accepting donations of artifacts.

Many of the society’s artifacts are stored in warehouses without adequate climate and pest control. The warehouses sit about a mile from the historical center where artifacts are displayed. Moving collections back and forth risks damaging them.

Mark Hudson, executive director of the Historical Society of Frederick County (Md.), said when public and private funding shrinks, museums and historical societies often focus on exhibits that draw paying patrons.

“When you’re faced with having to pay electric bills or laying off staff, things like conservation treatments can take the back seat very quickly,” Hudson said.

I realize that we’re dealing with difficult economic times, and I realize that governmental funds are scarce. However, just once, I would like to see the budget trimmed somewhere else…..

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Mississippi, historically the poorest state in the Union, has now launched a Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission:

Lawmakers Get Ball Rolling on Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission
By Danny Barrett Jr.

1/14/2009
Vicksburg Post

Events planned in Mississippi for the 150th anniversary of the Civil War may yet have a state organizing panel if the Legislature OKs a measure filed this week.

Senate Bill 2474 would establish the Mississippi Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War Commission to plan and develop activities emphasizing the state’s role in the war, with an emphasis on military battles held within the state’s borders. Also, it would encourage participation by local tourism, historical and other groups to participate in events to be announced. Currently, all other states involved with the Civil War have some form of planning commission in place.

Among six sponsors of the bill, authored by state Sen. Lydia Chassaniol, R-Winona, is Sen. Briggs Hopson, R-Vicksburg. The bill is before the Tourism Committee.

Staff support would be provided by the Mississippi Development Authority, with the state economic development agency’s tourism division acting as oversight. Vicksburg would be represented on the panel by the directors of the Vicksburg National Military Park, a federal entity, and Vicksburg Convention and Visitors Bureau, a local agency.

Other members would consist of the directors of MDA, the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, historic preservation groups, one private citizen to be appointed by the governor and a member of the state House and Senate to be appointed by the leaders of those chambers. Also, the bill allows for an advisory council made up of private citizens to provide input to the commission.

Most anniversary events will be in 2011 and culminate in a musical celebration July 4, 2013, the 150th anniversary of Vicksburg’s surrender. In the absence of a coordinating committee on the federal level, as multiple bills in Congress to establish one haven’t passed, state- and local-level groups are leading the way.

Funding is a major challenge of many states and localities’ event planning. Vicksburg’s events for the sesquicentennial are being financed by a $100,000 grant from Preserve America, a White House initiative geared to preserve cultural and natural heritage.

The funds are marked for bringing in tourism industry gurus such as tour directors and travel writers to highlight the siege of Vicksburg and preceding battles in Port Gibson and Raymond.

General plans are in place for events at the military park and at the Old Court House Museum, with specifics to come later.

Now, I recognize that Ohio is facing an economic crisis of almost unprecedented proportions. I live here, so I see it and hear it every day. I wrote the governor of Ohio a letter about this subject just over a year ago, before the bottom dropped out, and never got a response. But so is Michigan, and its governor has decreed that there be a sesquicentennial commission. There simply is no excuse.

Come on, Governor Ted Strickland: do the right thing here. I had high hopes that you would do more to celebrate Ohio’s participation in the Civil War than the corrupt imbecile that preceded you in office (ironically, the great-grandson of a president of the United States), but you’ve disappointed me so far. Time grows short; 2011 is less than 24 months away, and Virginia will begin its commemoration of these events this year on the 150th anniversary of the John Brown raid on Harpers Ferry. PLEASE DO SOMETHING….

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Today, our country stands on the brink of truly historic events. Barack Obama is being inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States, joining the most exclusive club in the world. The thought of an African-American in the White House was unheard of just twenty-nine years ago in 1980, when I voted for the first time as a nineteen-year-old college student. But here we stand on the precipice of history, having finally closed the circle on the stain on America that was slavery. Yes, these are events that boggle the mind.

I am hopeful for our future. I am not sorry to see the present administration leave, as I am convinced that this country has only ever had one President worse than George W. Bush in James Buchanan, who presided over the unraveling of the Union. Susan thinks Bush is the worst. I do know this: this administration presided over a nearly unprecedented economic meltdown, did more to erode our civil liberties, and did more to drive a wedge between Americans than any other, and from where I sat, it could not have ended soon enough. Indeed, I have been counting the days for some time now.

Now, we have an energetic, brilliant, and purposeful man in office who has a real vision for the future of this great country, and I am hopeful for the future for the first time since the dark day that George W. Bush took office in 2001. What Obama did last night in feting John McCain and in embracing the man who was his opponent is almost without precedent, and it gives me hope that petty partisan politics can be overcome for the good of us all. To be sure, we face a lot of painful days until the economy turns around, and we face a lot of hurdles across the globe. But, for the first time in eight long, dark, bleak years, I awoke this morning believing that this country is back on track again.

The historian in me celebrates the uniqueness of today’s events. The American in me prays for the health and success of our new President, and the human being in me is proud of what we’ve done in electing this man President.

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As 2008 draws to a close, it’s appropriate to take a moment and ruminate over the year that’s ending. 2008 was a landmark year: the country elected its first African-American president as the economy spiraled into a tailspin. Real pain results from the economic collapse; millions are out of jobs and more will lose them. Terrorists turned Mumbai into a bloodbath. Islamofascists remain determined to harm Americans simply because we are not Muslims. Galveston was nearly wiped off the map by Hurricane Ike.

2009 can only be a better year.

So, to my readers, Susan, Nero, Aurora, and I wish each and every one of you a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2009. And I thank you for taking your precious time to visit my little corner of the Internet and indulge my rantings. And thank you to each of you who spent your precious dollars to purchase copies of one of my books this year. I appreciate it very much.

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My neck is slowly but surely getting better. I’ve had three treatments with the chiropractor and feel significantly better. I’m not 100% yet, but I’m getting there. I expect to start posting again regularly next week.

For now, I want to wish all of you a Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, happy Kwanzaa, and for those who celebrate it, Happy Festivus, the holiday for the rest of us. Let’s gather around the aluminum pole and air the grievances…..

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Like so many other millions of Americans, Susan and I will be hitting the road this afternoon, headed to my hometown of Reading, PA for Thanksgiving. It’s going to be a long and miserable drive, but hopefully, the joy of spending holidays with one’s loved ones makes the suffering worthwhile.

To each and every one of you who give part of your day to indulge my rantings, we wish you a joyous, happy, and healthy Thanksgiving. In spite of these very grim economic times, we still have plenty for which to be grateful, including the hope of a new beginning.

Personally, I am thankful for each of you for the time you spend here.

Have safe travels, enjoy the turkey and the football, and most of all, enjoy the time with your families.

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