
Tag Archives: Andre StojkaHOW TO WIN ELECTIONS IN LOS ANGELES OF 1852![]() The first Presidential Election in California was in 1852, pitting Democrat Franklin Pierce against the Whig Candidate, General Winfield Scott. California’s 4 electoral votes went to Pierce. According to Horace Bell in his book “Reminiscences of a Ranger,” political campaigns and elections in early Los Angeles, California were often wonders to behold. Los Angeles Continue Reading » MY FAVORITE DOG STORY![]() There is something about a dog that affects me emotionally. Like most people, I anthropomorphize the actions of my dog as if he were literate, intuitive and highly philosophical. That’s why I love John Muir’s wonderful story about a stray dog who changed his life. John Muir was an early explorer Continue Reading » A TRUE HERO AT DEATH VALLEY![]() Now is not the time to explore Death Valley landscape. On Sunday August 16, 2020 Death Valley registered a temperature of 130 degrees, Fahrenheit making it the hottest place on earth. But it’s been hotter. In 1913 Death Valley registered a temperature of 134 degrees. William Lewis Manly At times like these, I Continue Reading » THE SECOND MOST FAMOUS WHALE IN THE WORLD![]() The second most famous whale in the world had no name. We don’t know when it was born or when it died. We just know what it did. On the morning of November 20, 1820, in the Pacific Ocean 2000 miles west of South America, this sperm whale bull, around 85 feet long, attacked a Continue Reading » THE PLOT TO MAKE CUBA A SLAVE STATE![]() Should the United State of America attempt to purchase Cuba from Spain and make Cuba another southern Slave State? The year was 1834 and this shocking question was the subject of a secret meeting in an obscure Belgian town. The American Southern States were the northern tip of the wide practice of slavery, which stretched Continue Reading » WHAT IS A YAHOO?![]() Before the invention of the Internet, “Yahoo” was the word used to describe a not very bright, brutish male totally without class. Imagine a group of these “yahoos” on horseback, stumbling into the unexplored wilderness, camping at night, anxious to kill buffalo, hoping to marry an Indian Princess, and you will understand the undisciplined group Continue Reading » AFTER HIS PLANE CRASHED JAMES NORMAN HALL WAS AT THE HEART OF THE 1918 FLU PANDEMIC![]() During the pandemic of World War 1 in 1918, the last place you would want to be was in Germany, in a German Prison Camp behind German lines, where the flu pandemic broke out. Yet, that was exactly where James Norman Hall was. James Norman Hall is the author of my Listen2Read Audiobook “High Continue Reading » HOW AN ASTROLOGER AND A SPIRITUALIST CREATED A FAMOUS WRITER: JACK LONDON![]() In 1874, an unmarried woman, Flora Wellman, was abandoned in San Francisco, where a newspaper described her as a “Discarded Wife”. Wellman made her living as a spiritualist, claiming to commune with the spirits of the late departed, who spoke to her from the other world. At 31, the poor lady was pregnant and left Continue Reading » |