Friday, December 30, 2011

Hot off the press


Anthony Colarossi writes for the Orlando Sentinel. He posted a story in today's paper. First, read my short post and then click on the link to the newspaper.

CLICK HERE

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Mike Plumadore, Big Daddy Fake Buster


This is one sick deviant. Find out what he was doing to lure young girls.

CLICK HER

Friday, December 23, 2011

Merry Christmas!


This video is a combination of my work and cakefilm out of The Netherlands. The scenes of the hunter are cake's work. The music and build-up after the final shot are my work. And the credits, of course. My friend Frank Foran sent it to me and I couldn't resist.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Snakes and Rats and Spiders, Oh My!


Let's take a good look at Suburban Drive today. Then decide whether or not it's safe to place stuffed animals there.

See the photos HERE

Monday, December 19, 2011

Cautious Observations


I drove down to Carter Glen Condominiums and Townhomes late Saturday afternoon to poke around Dale Smith II’s neighborhood. When I put his address into my iPad 2 TeleNav GPS Plus app, it only directed me to the entrance of the development. While I had no problem gaining entry, I had no idea where to find his building, so I drove around. Fortunately, I did know the number and it didn’t take long to single it out.
Of utmost importance to me is to remind everyone that, while Smith is OPD’s only suspect in the disappearance of his ex-fiancĂ©e, Michelle Parker, he is innocent until (or if) a jury finds him guilty of a crime. Also, I cannot forget George and Cindy Anthony in one sense because, like Smith, they declined to take a polygraph test, and it really caused great consternation and suspicion. A lot of people decided right then and there that they were somehow involved in the murder of their granddaughter and of helping to dispose of the body, none of which turned out to be true. To this day, some still believe it. When people begin to argue with me, and they can be quite adamant and boisterous, I tell them to call law enforcement and the State Attorney’s Office to fight. Tell them they got it all wrong. Include Jeff Ashton please, because he exonerated them, too, in his book, Imperfect Justice. In Smith’s case, I’m not going to proclaim him innocent of anything, but since he is the only suspect, I want to look into whether he could be capable of being involved in Michelle Parker’s disappearance. Wherever it leads, my job at this point is not to be opinionated to any extreme; it is to present the facts for your consideration.
First, here are two overhead views of Carter Glen, Phase 2, where Smith resides. In the close-up shot, you can clearly make out his white van sitting in the driveway.
CLICK ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE
It wasn’t until I was ready to leave that I noticed a camera mounted near the entrance gate. I did not see one for exiting the complex. If the Orlando Police Department has a copy of the video showing Michelle pulling into the drive and putting in a code, or if she used an electronic gate opener, that would help to establish when she actually arrived.
While shooting the above pictures, I spoke with a man who had been walking nearby. I asked him if he was familiar with the case and he said he was, but not all that much. I was curious about the buildings. It was my understanding that the complex was made up of condos and townhouses. Were there any apartments? No, he replied. The two ends, on either side, are town homes with 2 levels. They have a single car garage. The middle two are condos and they share a two car garage. When I asked him what he thought happened to Michelle, he didn’t really have a clue.
Moments earlier, when I was in front of Dale’s building, there wasn’t much activity, but some children were playing in the driveway of the next building, to the left of his. I wasn’t about to confront them. Driving around, I did observe other people milling about, but for a Saturday afternoon, it was rather quiet. I was trying to see if it would be easy to commit the sort of crime Dale is suspected of, and to be able to escape unnoticed. On the surface, no, it couldn’t be done, but there were other factors at play. For one thing, he lives in a townhome and he has a two car garage, not a single. Secondly, the neighbor directly next to him has a security camera mounted on the small balcony that overlooks the driveway and street. Surely, Dale must have been aware of that camera on the afternoon Michelle dropped off her twins.
The next image is a still taken from the video shot by the neighbor’s security camera. You can see Michelle’s Hummer as it arrives at 3:18 PM on November 17, the time she was last seen by anyone other than Dale. The photo below that depicts the back of her Hummer with the GLOW decals in place. I took that photo where the vehicle was found abandoned, the next day. The last still shows a Hummer driving in the direction of the exit. It also shows the neighbor’s car in his/her respective driveway. The car has a spoiler that helps identify it. There are a few other observations I’ve made…
There is no GLOW decal or any other decal on the exiting Hummer. This is the only inconsistency reported by media, and it directly implicates Dale. However, I observed two more things that may help Dale. Or maybe not. Please understand, my only job is to find facts, and nothing more.
In the first still, the van is not parked on the street. Where was it? In the driveway? In the second still, the van is parked along the street. Why? Where did Michelle park when she arrived? Why was the van moved at all?
You can speculate all you want about it. You can assume that the Hummer was moved into the garage and the door was shut behind it in order to strip it of anything that directly links it to Michelle, but does anyone really know for sure?
Take a close look at the Hummer as it drives away. Do you notice anything other than the missing decals? How about the spare tire cover, as seen in the photo of fliers attached to the tree as a reference. This Hummer has no cover. Why? Was it removed, too, along with the decals? Or was it an altogether different vehicle?
Clearly, OPD has information we are not privy to. How many people living in Carter Glen own a black Hummer? Or are there visitors? How many black Hummers drove into the complex that day? If it’s not Michelle’s, it had to come from one of the buildings abutting the woods on the west side of the development because there’s no other reason why it would be driven past Dale’s, who lives on a corner lot. Assuming it is Michelle’s, 4:40 PM is a far cry from the time Dale gave police - that he and Michelle both left ten minutes after she arrived, around 3:30. It also negates his statement that he was at his parent’s house at 4:30. From the still, we can’t read the license plate. Most security cameras are not that good. Could law enforcement technicians use software to enhance the tag? All I know is that Dale could not drive the Hummer out of the complex alone. In order to dump it on the other side of town, over 12 miles away someone had to pick him up. Or someone else did it. He had no idea his home would be raided, so why wouldn’t he have driven it off the premises after darkness fell, knowing full well that his neighbor had a security camera that would capture it during the day?
When I left, and since I was down in the area of Suburban Drive, I took a ride over there, and I’m glad I did. That should be my next post. Meanwhile, let’s not jump to any conclusions. Not yet, anyway. Refusing to take a polygraph test is not an admission of guilt. Ask the state of Florida about George and Cindy’s involvement in Caylee’s death. As far as any other evidence that surfaces regarding this case, most definitely, have at it.

Friday, December 16, 2011

A Crowning Achievement

At the bottom of this article is a picture of my sister, Maggie, and my brother-in-law, Bud, taken today, December 16, 2011. Bud, many of you may recall, was diagnosed with AML (acute myelogenous leukemia) in December of 2003. His initial treatment, a brand new clinical trial, began in April, 2004, and ran through January, 2005. It failed.
Bud underwent a bone marrow transplant on April 19, 2005. The host donor remains anonymous, but he and my sister did find out the marrow came from a man in Europe. In April of 2012, they will be celebrating 7 years in remission. This is due to Bud's incredible focus and will to live, my sister's unrequited love and resolve, and the exemplary work and tenacity of the dedicated professionals at theMD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas and Orlando, Florida, who saved his life.
In commemoration of Bud's crowning achievement, Maggie made him a little blinking-light tiara, which he wore today when we ate lunch at Bahama Breeze on International Drive in Orlando. The "M" in AML used to stand for Myelogenous, but today it stands for Miracle.
I will be writing more about Bud's journey in the near future, along with the work of St. Baldrick's Foundation, which was brought to my attention by Simon Barrett. YES! That Simon Barrett. (See: DVD Review: Jingle Hell)
This holiday season, the St. Baldrick’s Foundation and the producers of the independent film “Jingle Hell,” in conjunction with the film’s distributor Janson Media, are teaming up to raise money for kids’ cancer research.
If you would like to learn more about becoming a bone marrow donor, please visit the National Marrow Donor Program.
Maggie & Bud - December 16, 2011 - Bahama Breeze, Orlando
Lunch with Mom, Dad & Dave

Wednesday, November 09, 2011

Walter E. and Anne Foran

The image below was a pencil sketch I did of the late Senator Walter E. Foran and his wife, Anne, in the early 1980s. The senator died of lung cancer in 1986. I did this portrait for my close friend, Frank, who continues to visit his mother in a care facility each and every week. I just returned from New Jersey and spent my last night at his home, where the picture hangs in his dining room. 30 years of sunlight have taken a toll, but it's still in pretty good shape.
Walter's brother Dick was a Hollywood actor who starred in, predominantly, westerns. He was considered one of Hollywood's singing cowboys during the 30s and 40s.
The actual drawing is larger and not cropped like this one, but this was the one that had the least reflection on the glass.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Was Casey read her Miranda warning?

In open court two weeks ago, Cheney Mason bluntly said that Casey Anthony was not read her Miranda warning until October 14, when she was indicted on a first-degree murder charge by an Orange County jury. Interestingly, no one from the State Attorney's Office questioned his statement. No one objected. As a matter of fact, none of the law enforcement officials, including Cpl. Yuri Melich, Sgt. John Allen, and Cpl. Eric Edwards, testified that Mason was wrong. Why?
Today, I present Casey's version. I realize her words cannot be trusted and nothing should be taken seriously, but why would she say something about being read her rights if it did not take place?
In a court of law, what is testified to is what stands. No one said a word negating October 14.
Many thanks to nan11 for the remarkable find, and to SnoopySleuth for bringing it to my attention.

To watch and listen to the video

CLICK HERE

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Without Prejudice

Casey Anthony's defense team has filed a lot of motions; too many to some, but plenty of them have been denied without prejudiceby the presiding judge. With prejudice and without are fairly cut and dry. With prejudice means that once a judge rules, that's the end of it; dead in the water, leave it alone and give it a rest. In other words, it's a final disposition. Without prejudice means that the present form is not good enough to rule positively on, but the motion can certainly be filed again after tweaking and rewriting it. In other words, similar, but not identical. It leaves a party free to litigate the matter in a subsequent action. That's not to say the latter outcome would be any different, but it leaves the door open for further explanation and review. A lot of the motions ruled against the defense by Judge Stan Strickland were ordered without prejudice. In my opinion, one of the reasons why Jose & Co. wanted him off the bench was made clear after Chief Judge Belvin Perry, Jr. took over. Many of those motions turned down by Judge Strickland were refiled. They expected the new judge to be more favorable in his rulings. Unfortunately for Casey, Judge Perry didn't overturn a single one of them, so they did nothing to help her cause.

In light of Judge Strickland's rulings, I want to discuss something that's been weighing on my mind - without prejudice, of course. Actually, there are two things, the other one being George and Cindy and where they sit in the courtroom; but first, I come to Judge Strickland's defense - not that he needs it or anything.

TO CONTINUE READING, CLICK HERE

Sunday, March 13, 2011

ON AIR

Simon & Jan Barrett will return to the Internet airwaves today as they bring back their ever popular blogtalkradio show. Today's subject?

Casey Anthony - Killer Mother?


Please tune in at 4:00 PM EST.

Join Simon, Jan and their panel of guests on air to look at this case and several others. Some are well known, some are not.


(Click the logo)

To read Simon's blog post, CLICK HERE

Friday, March 11, 2011

An interesting day of discovery

More documents were released today concerning the investigation into the death of Caylee Marie Anthony. Some of the discovery is not very revealing, while other documents are. For instance, several TES volunteers described receiving phone calls from private investigators stating they were "calling from the Orange County Courthouse." While misleading, they were not illegal. Cpl. Yuri Melich wrote in his incident report that an "investigation was conducted in order to determine if a private investigator working for the Casey Anthony defense violated State Statute by falsely impersonating an officer as per Florida State Statute 843.08." He added that "there is insufficient evidence to prove anyone violated this statute." Yes, several people complained the callers had misrepresented themselves, but by merely saying they were calling "from" the Orange County Courthouse failed to constitute probable cause that a crime was committed. I have to agree. I've made phone calls from the courthouse and by merely telling the other person I am calling from that location reveals nothing. I could be there for a hearing or something else.
What I did find interesting is that, while a lot of people believe Jerry Lyons is working alone, or that Mort Smith is still somehow involved, two new names surfaced. AHA! We can now add Katie Delaney, Gil Colon and Scott McKenna to the list. What would be intriguing would be if the SAO decided to seek the cell phone records from all of the PIs to see if they really did call from the courthouse as they claimed.

TO COMMENT, PLEASE CLICK HERE

Wednesday, March 09, 2011

A Sneaking Suspicion

On Monday, I attended a hearing designed to give the defense and prosecution one final shot at summarizing the two motions discussed last Wednesday and Thursday regarding statements Casey gave law enforcement back in mid-July of 2008, and the statements she gave her parents and brother while she was sitting in jail. Were they unwitting agents of the state? If the judge agrees with the defense, it will be a damaging, but far from fatal blow, to the State of Florida. If the judge sides with the State, it will be business as usual - on with the show!
One of the things we must keep in mind is that if evidence is tossed, there's still plenty more the State will use against her. For instance, Casey's car is not in her name. The owner gave permission to have it examined. That's a nice chunk of evidence. Caylee's remains changed the playing field, too. When she was charged with first-degree murder on 14 October 2008, there was no death penalty. That came the following April, and of utmost importance was that her little bones and what surrounded them gave plenty of credibility to the old saying, "she's speaking from the grave."

TO CONTINUE READING, CLICK HERE

Sunday, March 06, 2011

Either Way

While attending court on Wednesday, I noticed a big difference in how Casey's defense presented itself as opposed to past hearings. It was a dramatic improvement. It was also the first time I saw Dorothy Clay Sims, the Ocala attorney who specializes in aggressive cross-examinations of medical experts. She joined Casey's team in September of last year. We will be hearing much more from her as we approach the trial, I'm sure.
On Thursday, Judge Perry opened the hearing by admonishing the gallery. He reminded everyone he does not want to see any smirking or hear any snickering. This includes moans, sighs and any sort of reaction that deviates from quietly sitting still and behaving ourselves. One thing I admire about him is the manner in which he handles issues on the surface. He seems to be rather uncomfortable with singling any person or group out. I would imagine if and when it ever reaches that point, the person(s) on the receiving end won't be happy.

TO CONTINUE READING, CLICK HERE

Wednesday, March 02, 2011

Arresting Development?

There are two basic Miranda Warnings. One is quite minimal and the other is more verbose:
  • You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to speak to an attorney, and to have an attorney present during any questioning. If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be provided for you at government expense.
  • You have the right to remain silent and refuse to answer questions. Do you understand? Anything you do say may be used against you in a court of law. Do you understand? You have the right to consult an attorney before speaking to the police and to have an attorney present during questioning now or in the future. Do you understand? If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you before any questioning if you wish. Do you understand? If you decide to answer questions now without an attorney present you will still have the right to stop answering at any time until you talk to an attorney. Do you understand? Knowing and understanding your rights as I have explained them to you, are you willing to answer my questions without an attorney present?
The general rule is that the first one is just an announcement of your rights, whether under arrest or not, and the second one is primarily to cover all bases a detainee might encounter while in police custody.

TO CONTINUE READING, CLICK HERE

Tuesday, March 01, 2011

What a difference a sentence makes

In January of 2009, U.S. District Judge John Antoon II accepted Robyn Ann Adams plea agreement and sentenced her to 10 years in prison. Her husband, Clay, was sentenced to 17. He had been an Altamonte Springs police officer. He pleaded guilty in October of 2008 to multiple weapons charges and one count, along with his wife, of conspiring to grow more than 2,000 lbs. of marijuana.
Yesterday, Robyn was booked back into the Orange County Jail in order to testify at the hearings this week. I seriously doubt she and Casey will see one another until they look into each others eyes in the courtroom.





Booked Monday, February 28th, 2011 - Return Per Court Order from State Facility

TO COMMENT, PLEASE GO HERE

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

The Strange Tale of the Missing Deadlines

...OR, WHAT WE HAVE HERE IS A FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE

Last month, Jose Baez was sanctioned and fined $583.73 for not complying with a court order. The Court had granted the State's request for additional defense discovery on December 3, 2010 nunc pro tunc (retroactive to) November 29, 2010. The order specified what information the defense was to provide regarding expert witnesses they planned to have testify during the trial. What the defense gave the State fell far short of the order and the prosecution filed the motion for sanctions. Ultimately, Judge Perry wrote that, "The Court finds that defense counsel Jose Baez has committed a willful violation of the Order to provide additional discovery...¹"
COMES NOW, a new motion was filed by the State requesting the judge to hold Jose in contempt of court for missing yet another deadline. Titled the MOTION FOR RULE TO SHOW CAUSE, it accuses him of failing to comply with paragraph five of the Court's February 7 order:
Frye Hearings: The motions addressing Frye issues pertaining to scientific evidence shall be held on March 23, 24, and 25, 2011. The court will provide a schedule to counsel as to the order in which each motion will be heard. ByFebruary 17, 2011 at 4:00 p.m., defense counsel shall submit to the Court and State in writing, the specific issues that will be objected to in accordance with Frye, including, but not limited to, those objections previously addressed in the motions.
What happened? While there's no doubt in my mind the defense has been rather flippant about orders and deadlines, why would Jose & Co. ignore this one and plead bewilderment as he did in his e-mail to the judge's judicial assistant? After all, the order is very clear, isn't it?

TO CONTINUE READING, PLEASE CLICK HERE

Saturday, February 19, 2011

From the FRYE pan into the FYRE? Part I

Next month, two motions filed by the defense will be heard by Judge Perry. Because they are very important Frye issues, and of extreme importance to the defense, this post will focus on the motion about chloroform evidence. It will be in two parts.


PART I - The Frye Pan

Casey Anthony's defense recently filed two Frye motions. The date reflects when they were filed with the Clerk of Courts. Both are stamped 12/30/2010. 


MOTION TO EXCLUDE UNRELIABLE EVIDENCE PURSUANT TO FRYE, OR IN THE ALTERNATIVE, MOTION IN LIMINE TO EXCLUDE (CHLOROFORM)
and
MOTION TO EXCLUDE UNRELIABLE EVIDENCE (Plant or root growth evidence)

The state filed motions to strike, but today, I will just focus on the issue over chloroform. The other motions (defense and state) will come later, because in this particular one, there's much to discern, including a few errors. I will get to them, but first of all, what, exactly, is a Frye motion/hearing? Frye motions are generally held in limine, which means they are made before a trial starts. The judge then decides whether certain evidence may or may not be introduced to the jury. The Frye standard is a test to determine the admissibility of scientific evidence in legal proceedings. This standard comes from the case Frye v. United States (293 F. 1013 (DC Cir 1923) District of Columbia Circuit Court in 1923. Frye v. U.S. was a groundbreaking case that argueded the admissibility of polygraph tests as evidence in a trial. Today, it's designed to prevent both sides from unfairly exploiting expert testimony. Its intent is to assure that expert evidence is reliable.

TO CONTINUE READING, PLEASE CLICK HERE

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

The Teflon Judge

During the closing remarks of the final presidential debate between then candidate Ronald Reagan and President Jimmy Carter, the GOP hopeful asked the nation a simple question, "Are you better off now than you were four years ago?" As simple as it was, the query was powerful and poignant enough to resonate deeply within the minds of the American people, who went on to elect Reagan as our 40th president. The rest, they say, is history.
Today, just over 30 years later, I'd like to ask Casey Anthony's defense team, particularly Jose Baez and Cheney Mason, a similar question. Are you better off now than you were one year ago? Actually, by the time Casey goes to trial, by that I mean sitting in the courtroom facing a jury, precisely 2 years and 11 months will have passed since Caylee was last seen alive. For the first month, Casey was living la bella vita, although it was probably more la vida loco, until she was stopped dead in her tracks by her own flesh and blood; her mother. From there, it quickly plummeted from a lofty peak to the depth of the deepest ocean. I'm only interested in the past year, though. A lot of serious changes have taken place. One year ago today, Judge Stan Strickland sat firmly on the bench. Did the defense do the right thing by filing the motion for his recusal?

TO CONTINUE READING, PLEASE CLICK HERE

Wednesday, February 09, 2011

When people throw lemons your way, make lemonade

A young friend associated with the Casey Anthony case has been out of commission for some time now. That's because she had been "with child" and wanted a lengthy break, which is still ongoing. She lives in Mississippi with her husband and two children. Check that... three children now. The closest I ever got to her was in June of 2009, when my lifelong best friend and I took ascenic road trip through Enterprise, Alabama en route to Natchez, Mississippi. I wrote about our adventure, but to be honest, Natchez is 180 miles from where she lives, and Stew and I were in no mood to hang around screaming children. Besides, I didn't know her then. Heck, I didn't go to my first hearing on the Anthony case until four months later, in October of that year, when the most Honorable Judge Stan Strickland called me up to the bench, six full months before the defense filed that senseless motion against him. What a crying shame.

TO CONTINUE READING, PLEASE CLICK HERE

Thursday, February 03, 2011

The Tale of Laura and the Barbarian Princess

If any of you are familiar with Florence Virginia King, you are aware that she is an American novelist, essayist and columnist from Mississippi. Born in 1936, alas, she put down her pen in 2002. Almost all of her works written under her real name have been non-fiction. You may recall 1975's Southern Ladies and Gentlemen. You may also recognize her from the historical romance novel, Barbarian Princess, written under the pseudonym Laura Buchanan. Ironically, she's not the only writer of fiction with that name. Another Laura Buchanan entered the fray more recently; one who seemingly attempted to parlay her name into the bright lights of stardom, tossing good judgment to the wind. She failed miserably and turned out to be the Clifford Irving of the Casey Anthony saga. Irving, in case you don't know or remember, became famous  - infamous is more like it - for using forged handwritten letters from reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes in order to convince his publisher into accepting a counterfeit "autobiography" in the early 1970s. Hughes came out of the woodwork to prove it was nothing more than an elaborate hoax. Irving spent several years in prison, but later managed to publish some best sellers, including two aptly titled books, Final Argument and Daddy's Girl.

TO CONTINUE READING, PLEASE CLICK HERE

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Casey Anthony must die! REVISITED

As things are gearing up for the trial, I want to reflect on some of the issues that transpired during the past two-and-a-half years. On April 20, 2009, I published Casey Anthony must die! on my old WordPress blog. Four days short of one year later, Casey's defense team filed a motion demanding that the Honorable Judge Stan Strickland step down from presiding over the murder case. This article was cited by the defense as the primary reason why Judge Strickland would not be able to judge fairly. Poppycock! The judge never read that post or any of the others the motion cited. Also, had Jose Baez and, particularly, Cheney Mason fully read what I wrote, they would have discovered that the title had nothing to do with delivering Casey's head on a platter of any kind.
Here is the defense motion, and here is Judge Strickland's order granting the motion. Incidentally, the date I was called up in front of the judge was October 16, 2009, a FULL SIX MONTHS before the recusal motion was filed.


TO CONTINUE READING, PLEASE CLICK HERE


Friday, January 14, 2011

A wealth of misconduct

Time and a Word by Yes
In the morning when you rise,
Do you open up your eyes, see what I see?
Do you see the same things ev'ry day?
Do you think of a way to start the day
Getting things in proportion?
Spread the news and help the world go 'round.
Have you heard of a time that will help us get it together again?
Have you heard of the word that will stop us going wrong?
Well, the time is near and the word you'll hear
When you get things in perspective.
Spread the news and help the word go round.
There's a time and the time is now and it's right for me,
It's right for me, and the time is now.
- Jon Anderson & David Foster
To be quite honest, I had no idea my brain would smash into a brick wall, causing my writing skills to atrophy. My word! Or lack thereof.  To say my life was a bit topsy turvy the past two weeks is an understatement. Generally, when I sit down to write, I like to do it with nothing in my way. I like my mind free from clutter. My mind has been anything but that lately. Even today, I can't sit still. Too many responsibilities. I anticipate this post will take hours to write - hours to focus, too. To give you an idea, here's how I began my post last week before sickness and death took it all away...

TO CONTINUE READING, PLEASE CLICK HERE

Wednesday, January 05, 2011

Ruth Landis Kyle

It is with great sadness and much difficulty that I must announce to the world of Science Fiction the passing of my Aunt Ruthie. She slipped away in her sleep last night. Yesterday was her 81st birthday. To tell you I have so many fond memories of her as I was growing up is a huge understatement. She and my Uncle David used to fly me from Newark, New Jersey, to Potsdam, New York, on Mohawk Airlines, then Allegheny, then US Air, to live with them during the summer months of school recess. A lot of my childhood and formative years were spent reading Sci Fi books in bed at night. The cool evening winds of the North Country breezed lightly through my open window. Aunt Ruthie and Uncle David had a veritable library that overflowed the myriad shelves of books in many of the rooms of their spacious and well appointed home. As a young man, my mind was filled with fantastic fantasies that sprang to life with each passing page. It was time spent there that my fascination with the genre blossomed. My uncle is 91-years-old now, soon to be 92, and retired from writing, but they were equally instrumental in helping develop my keen imagination and avid interest in writing. It was not unusual to have dinner guests like Arthur C. Clarke and Isaac Asimov. Back then, they were just ordinary people to me. 
Aunt Ruthie was an exceptional cook, too. Every meal was a gourmet adventure through Europe; England, Spain, Italy and beyond. As a matter of fact, they lived in England for several years, on the Thames River, while my uncle wrote books. 
I will be talking to Uncle David later today, but I must be strong. That will prove to be rather difficult at the moment. God knows how much I love my aunt. My cousins, AC and Kerry, have lost their mother. Today, she belongs to God and the stars - the stars I used to visit every night in my own vivid space odysseys in upstate New York and beyond. The sci fi world has lost one of their most cherished fans.
God Bless You, Aunt Ruthie. Thank you.

PLEASE VISIT MY MAIN BLOG AT
marinadedave.com
 
Ruth & David Kyle at a Sci Fi convention - year unknown

Saturday, January 01, 2011

To a very good year!


Monday Monday
The Honorable Belvin Perry, Jr. publish.d a NOTICE OF HEARING on Thursday of last year. It is set to begin on Monday at 1:30 PM and it is going to be a long one. Twenty-Two motions will be heard in Courtroom 23A...

TO CONTINUE READING, PLEASE CLICK HERE