Simple words, William Tapply, Writing Like a Journalist, and Eleanor Taylor Bland: newsletter, March 22, 2024

March 22, 2024 | By Jim Stovall | No Comments | Filed in: books, fiction, history, newsletter, writers, writing.

This newsletter was sent to everyone on Jim’s email list (3,070) on Friday, March 22, 2024. The most important, consequential, and significant news story in, say, the last six months? There are some good candidates, certainly: – the U.S. presidential election; – the conflict between Israel and Hamas; – the war in the Ukraine; – • Read More »

Assassin’s Manuscript, Tom Wolfe, Josephine Tay, and more about beekeeping : newsletter, March 15, 2024

March 15, 2024 | By Jim Stovall | No Comments | Filed in: books, fiction, newsletter, writers, writing.

This newsletter was sent to everyone on Jim’s email list (3,070) on Friday, March 15, 2024. Uncontrolled anger rarely, if ever, does anyone any good and is often destructive in ways we don’t anticipate. We saw an unfortunate demonstration of that this weekend at the end of the women’s basketball game between South Carolina and • Read More »

Handel’s Messiah, John Steinbeck, and the writing team of Gwen Bristow and Bruce Manning : newsletter, March 8, 2024

March 8, 2024 | By Jim Stovall | No Comments | Filed in: books, fiction, history, newsletter, writers, writing.

This newsletter was sent to everyone on Jim’s email list (3,070) on Friday, March 8, 2024. If I had to put numbers to what makes successful beekeeping, it would probably go something like this: the queen, 50%; the weather, 49.9%; the beekeeper, 0.1%. And that’s probably giving the beekeeper too much credit. Inside the beehive, • Read More »

Women of mystery, Seeing Suffrage, the remarkable Benjamin Rush, and the coming of baseball : newsletter, March 1, 2024

March 1, 2024 | By Jim Stovall | No Comments | Filed in: books, history, journalism, newsletter, writers, writing.

This newsletter was sent to everyone on Jim’s email list (3,070) on Friday, March 1, 2024. Women of Mystery is one of the themes for this newsletter during the month of March, which is variously celebrated as International Women’s Month and Women’s History Month. I am pulling out of the archives some of the great • Read More »

The Second Great Awakening, Edward Abbey, a touch of Trollope, and a miracle: newsletter, February 23, 2024

February 23, 2024 | By Jim Stovall | No Comments | Filed in: books, history, newsletter, writers, writing.

This newsletter was sent to everyone on Jim’s email list (3,070) on Friday, February 23, 2024. One of the great blessings of my life is that I have maintained a close friendship for more than 60 years. Chuck W. and I met in junior high school back in the early 1960s and palled around together • Read More »

Another look at Prohibition, Mary Seacole, and the familiarity of Greek: newsletter, February 16, 2024

February 16, 2024 | By Jim Stovall | No Comments | Filed in: books, fiction, history, newsletter, writers, writing.

This newsletter was sent to everyone on Jim’s email list (3,070) on Friday, February 16, 2024. “It’s Greek to me!” That has been a cliched punchline among English speakers (and possibly others) since the Middle Ages. Shakespeare didn’t invent it, but he famously used it in the first act of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, • Read More »

William L. Shirer’s astonishing book (part 2), Fannie Lou Hamer, sports and racial justice: newsletter, February 9, 2024

February 9, 2024 | By Jim Stovall | No Comments | Filed in: books, history, newsletter, watercolor, writers, writing.

This newsletter was sent to everyone on Jim’s email list (3,070) on Friday, February 9, 2024. Good news — in fact, very good news — came to our neck of the woods last week when I discovered that three of our beehives had survived the winter. Not only had they survived, but each hive contained • Read More »

The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, Morgan’s librarian, Anthony Trollope, and Josh Gibson: newsletter, February 2, 2024

February 2, 2024 | By Jim Stovall | No Comments | Filed in: books, history, newsletter, reporting, writers, writing.

This newsletter was sent to everyone on Jim’s email list (3,070) on Friday, February 2, 2024.   One of the thoughts that occurs to me fairly often is how much this nation’s history of racism against Black people has deprived us socially and culturally. Not only has it deprived Black people, but it also withheld • Read More »

U.S.-British relations in the 19th century, Go Tell it on the Mountain, the Book of Genesis, part 4, and more: newsletter, January 26, 2024

January 26, 2024 | By Jim Stovall | No Comments | Filed in: books, journalism, newsletter, writers, writing.

Bill

This newsletter was sent to everyone on Jim’s email list (3,070) on Friday, January 26, 2024. The many aspects of so-called “artificial intelligence” will continue to haunt us for the foreseeable future. I use the verb “haunt” becuase that’s the way I see this issue presented by journalists who sometimes know what they are writing • Read More »

Caricature, Book of Genesis part 3, popular NYPL check-outs, improving your life: newsletter, January 19, 2024

January 19, 2024 | By Jim Stovall | No Comments | Filed in: books, fiction, journalism, newsletter, writers, writing.

This newsletter was sent to everyone on Jim’s email list (3,070) on Friday, January 19, 2024. If you are more than semi-serious about improving different parts of your life during the coming year, you may want to check out this BBC article How to improve your life in 2024 according to science. These are not • Read More »

The Adolph Beck case, Book of Genesis, part 2, mental health and the dentist: newsletter, January 12, 2024

January 12, 2024 | By Jim Stovall | No Comments | Filed in: books, journalism, newsletter, writers, writing.

This newsletter was sent to everyone on Jim’s email list (3,070) on Friday, January 12, 2024. Several weeks ago I did a half review on some of the artificial intelligence programs that I was testing out. I gave fairly good marks to the programs that helped me do research particularly for those items that I • Read More »

The first scientist, self-help books, Book of Genesis, part 1: newsletter, January 5, 2024

January 5, 2024 | By Jim Stovall | No Comments | Filed in: books, journalism, newsletter, writers.

This newsletter was sent to everyone on Jim’s email list (3,070) on Friday, January 5, 2024.       Self-help books, whatever they are, are generally not on my reading list, but they are very popular and sell in the millions of copies. Many people dismiss them as absurd and useless. Not Jane Friedman, one • Read More »

Mozart’s genius, Charles Dickens’ language manipulation, Underground Railroad stamps: newsletter, December 29, 2023

December 29, 2023 | By Jim Stovall | No Comments | Filed in: books, fiction, history, newsletter, writers, writing.

This newsletter was sent to everyone on Jim’s email list (3,070) on Friday, December 29, 2023. My hope is that you have had a merry Christmas and holiday season and that you are looking forward to a joyous and hopeful New Year, As I said last week, thank you for opening and reading this newsletter. • Read More »

Melville Davisson Post’s unique lawyer, A Christmas Carol, Annie Dillard and Sherlock Holmes: newsletter, December 22, 2023

December 22, 2023 | By Jim Stovall | No Comments | Filed in: books, fiction, history, newsletter, writers, writing.

This newsletter was sent to everyone on Jim’s email list (3,070) on Friday, December 22, 2023. Merry Christmas to all my wonderful and loyal readers. Eat well, rest well, and be well. See you next week. Meanwhile, have a great and literate weekend. ________ Under the newsletter’s hood: Last week’s newsletter was sent to 3,135 • Read More »

The Uncle Abner mysteries, a new Bluegrass stamp, using AI, and ‘Do something that doesn’t compute’:newsletter, December 15, 2023

December 15, 2023 | By Jim Stovall | No Comments | Filed in: books, fiction, history, newsletter, writers, writing.

This newsletter was sent to everyone on Jim’s email list (3,070) on Friday, December 15, 2023. For several weeks now I have been “interviewing” research and writing assistants. Well, sort of. In truth, what I have been doing is experimenting with artificial intelligence (AI) programs to see if any could help in researching and writing • Read More »

Napoleon on the brain, what writing really does, and the heresy trial of Charles A. Briggs: newsletter, December 8, 2023

December 8, 2023 | By Jim Stovall | No Comments | Filed in: books, fiction, history, newsletter, writers, writing.

This newsletter was sent to everyone on Jim’s email list (3,070) on Friday, December 8, 2023. Shane Parrish: “Writing is the process by which you realize that you do not understand what you are talking about. Of course, you can learn a lot about something without writing about it. However, writing about something complicated and • Read More »

Shakespeare’s First Folio, Grace for All podcast, USPS’s ‘Horses’ stamp series, Forgiveness: newsletter, December 1, 2023

December 1, 2023 | By Jim Stovall | No Comments | Filed in: books, fiction, history, newsletter, writers, writing.

This newsletter was sent to everyone on Jim’s email list (3,070) on Friday, December 1, 2023. The fighting continues among people who should not be fighting—among those who have much to gain if they could stop. So, in that spirit, I offer these three quotations this week: If you want peace, you don’t talk to • Read More »

Charles Augustus Briggs

November 24, 2023 | By Jim Stovall | No Comments | Filed in: journalism.

The heresy trial of Charles Augustus Briggs The word “heresy” probably calls to mind images of the Inquisition, medieval times, and burnings at the stake. All of those things should have passed away centuries ago, we might think, with the coming of the Enlightenment and its eventual victory over the Western mind and outlook. So • Read More »

The Crimes Club, Jane Addams, and finishing the Hitler diaries saga: newsletter, November 24, 2023

November 24, 2023 | By Jim Stovall | No Comments | Filed in: books, fiction, history, newsletter, writers, writing.

This newsletter was sent to everyone on Jim’s email list (3,070) on Friday, November 24, 2023. In this season of Thanksgiving, I find that one of the great blessings of my life is you — the readers of this newsletter. More than a thousand of you — sometimes as many as 1,100 to 1,200 — • Read More »