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The Classroom Then and Now
A rural 1950s classroom—coal stoves, creek water, and a teacher who meant business—stands in stark contrast to today’s digital, always-connected schools. This reflection explores how education has evolved, and what has been lost…
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The Mail Carrier on Whites Creek
Somerset County History near Confluence, PA (1912) There are places where history announces itself with markers and museums, and there are places where it lingers more quietly—along a bend in a creek, in…
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Deeper Lessons Hidden in a Circle of Dirt
To the casual observer, a game of marbles might seem little more than a dusty schoolyard diversion—children crouched in the dirt, flicking glass spheres with oddly serious expressions. But to those who played…
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A Deeper Dive into The Ghosts of Shaw Mines
The Ghosts of Shaw Mines is more than the story of one coal town. It’s a vivid journey through a slice of American history, told in three richly woven layers. The book’s visual…
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One Sister’s Journey
In this Shaw Mines au pair story, Verna leaves her coal camp home in the late 1940s to work for prominent families in Meyersdale and Pittsburgh. Her journey from small-town babysitter to big-city…
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The Shaw Mines Au Pairs
A Sequel Chapter to “The Ghosts of Shaw Mines” Long before the word au pair was fashionable, and long before families sought “nannies with culture” from overseas, the girls of Shaw Mines were…
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The Writing Process Behind The Ghosts of Shaw Mines
From a spiral notebook of memories to a fully researched manuscript, this post reveals how The Ghosts of Shaw Mines came to life—through family stories, vintage photos, historical records, and a desire to…
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Why I Wrote The Ghosts of Shaw Mines
What began as a few childhood stories—memories of playing in the eerie ruins of a vanished coal town—soon became something much bigger. As I started to write about growing up in Shaw Mines,…
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How Coal Mining Transformed Somerset County, PA Forever
Before the coal boom, Somerset County was a land of apple orchards, hayfields, and dairy cows. Then came the speculators, the railroads, and the roar of mining carts. This is the story of…
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Slingshots & Pig Iron
My friend Walt and I were making great strides in the field of slingshot technology. I was convinced that my latest creation represented the pinnacle of human ingenuity—a rubber band affixed to a…
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The Great Dynamite Caper & Peach Wine Debacle
Walt & I Were Up Behind the Mines I blame the whole thing on my friend Walt. Not because he was the one who found the dynamite, though he was. And not because…
Writing that's Rooted in Truth, Memory and Myth
