Happy Thanksgiving!

The history of this holiday in the United States is uncertain at best.  Some claim it started with Spanish settlers in St. Augustine, Florida an 1565; others look to the English in Virginia in 1619; still others claim it originated in 1621 with the settlers of Plymouth, Massachusetts.  In fact, my good friend Jack sent me this interesting history of Thanksgiving:   https://www.umnews.org/en/news/the-making-of-thanksgiving-in-the-us?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiWm1WbVpqUTBNR0ZqTTJZeSIsInQiOiJtREJBeVQ5eWVPWGp1WmFZVHZNMENPOVFVY0hMdGloSEN2WHlEbDFqRFdGeGJwNWxsWmZPUEtQQnQ1UXIrS09NeVl6NmRDcVFQdUx5R2xMZ3BreUQ5TDZGR2RkS043ZlVoWGs2WVc4RDhCUXpMclZcL056bnN6NEdTYmxaWDJXS1UifQ%3D%3D

Whatever the actual origin, Thanksgiving became a legal holiday here in the United States when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the bill making it such in December of 1941.

Today, of course, it goes beyond giving thanks for the harvest and all that we have; it’s usually a time for families, travel, shopping, and parades.  But as we know, this year is different in many respects.  And New York City’s annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is one of them.  The parade will happen this year, but will be different.  The famous giant balloons will be anchored to vehicles instead being held by handlers; there will be entertainment at Herald Square, but greatly reduced; and participants – 75% fewer than normal – will wear face masks and social distance.  The parade will be recorded over two days with no observers, but the good news is that you’ll be able to watch the entire event from the comfort and warmth of your home, from 9 am to noon today on NBC.  Another difference this year is time with family.  For the first time in many years we will be home alone at Thanksgiving.  But we do remain thankful for everything we have.  Enjoy the day!

Feel free to leave a comment, and please come back – I write and post often!  And if you like what I have to say and how I say it, you’ll probably enjoy my novels as well.  They’re listed below, and you can read more about them on my improved website, designed and built by my son Don, http://www.randolphmase.com.  On my site, you’ll also find excerpts of my books that you can read – please check it out!

Randolph Mase, Fiction Writer

https://www.amazon.com/author/randolphmase

http://www.facebook.com/MatthewHoganMysteries

http://twitter.com/randolphmase

My Novels:

Death on Broadway

Death Beneath the Streets

Death in Central Park

Death at The Cloisters

Death Inside Diamond Head

Death Under Jones Beach (under construction)

Nathan Hale

Questions to How Well Do You Know Broadway?

Here are the questions to the Jeopardy! answers in the category “Broadway Debuts” I posted a couple of weeks ago:

1. He made his Broadway debut in 2003 as Peter Allen in “The Boy from Oz.”. – Who is Hugh Jackman?
2. Natalie Portman was still a teen herself when she debuted in “The Diary of” this real-life teen. – Who is Anne Frank?
3. Katharine McPhee served up a fine performance as server and pie-maker Jenna in this musical..  – What is “Waitress?”
4. In 2016 Saoirse Ronan made her debut as the accusatory Abigail Williams in this Salem-set play. – What is “The Crucible?”
5. Better known for the film role, he made his Broadway debut as Frank ‘n’ Furter in “The Rocky Horror Show”, panned by critics.  – Who is Tim Curry?

Typical of my Broadway knowledge, I got three correct; how did you do?

Feel free to leave a comment, and please come back – I write and post often!  And if you like what I have to say and how I say it, you’ll probably enjoy my novels as well.  They’re listed below, and you can read more about them on my improved website, designed and built by my son Don, http://www.randolphmase.com.  On my site, you’ll also find excerpts of my books that you can read – please check it out!

Randolph Mase, Fiction Writer

https://www.amazon.com/author/randolphmase

http://www.facebook.com/MatthewHoganMysteries

http://twitter.com/randolphmase

My Novels:

Death on Broadway

Death Beneath the Streets

Death in Central Park

Death at The Cloisters

Death Inside Diamond Head

Death Under Jones Beach (under construction)

Nathan Hale

Thank a Veteran This Veterans Day!

For Veterans Day last year I wrote a Facebook post to honor my ancestors who served in the military.  In my genealogical research since then, I have discovered two more veterans (my most recent discoveries are #2 and #4).  Here’s the updated list of my ancestor veterans, along with their relationship to me and when they served.

1. Nathaniel Merriman, 8th Great Grandfather, 1630s
2. John Pike, 8^th Great Grandfather, 1670s
3. Nicholas Byram, 7th Great Grandfather, 1670s
4. Hawkins Hart, 6^th Great Grandfather, 1720s
5. Thomas Merwin, 4th Great Grandfather, 1750s
6. John Hawks, 6^th Great Grandfather, 1750s-1770s
7. Samuel Mase, 3rd Great Grandfather, 1770s
8. Moses Tullis, 5th Great Grandfather, 1770s
9. Jan Van Dyke, 6th Great Grandfather, 1770s, killed in action
10. Peter Elston Mase, 2nd Great Grandfather, 1810s
11. Joseph Van Brunt, 3rd Great Grandfather, 1810s
12. Adam Bommer, 2nd Great Grandfather, 1860s
13. Sylvester Howell Mase, Great Grandfather, 1860s
14. Jonathan Langdon Tullis, 3rd Great Grandfather, 1860s
15. Charles Wesley Tullis, 2nd Great Grandfather, 1860s
16. Aaron Thayer Tullis, Grandfather, 1910s, wounded in action

I wish I could thank each of these ancestors of mine for their service and sacrifice, but of course I cannot.  But I urge each of you to say ‘Thank You’ to any veterans you know.  Our veterans are one of the reasons we have remained a free and strong nation for all these years.

Feel free to leave a comment, and please come back – I write and post often!  And if you like what I have to say and how I say it, you’ll probably enjoy my novels as well.  They’re listed below, and you can read more about them on my improved website, designed and built by my son Don, http://www.randolphmase.com.  On my site, you’ll also find excerpts of my books that you can read – please check it out!

Randolph Mase, Fiction Writer

https://www.amazon.com/author/randolphmase

http://www.facebook.com/MatthewHoganMysteries

http://twitter.com/randolphmase

My Novels:

Death on Broadway

Death Beneath the Streets

Death in Central Park

Death at The Cloisters

Death Inside Diamond Head

Death Under Jones Beach (under construction)

Nathan Hale

How Well Do You Know Broadway?

One of the categories on a recent Jeopardy! episode was “Broadway Debuts.”  Here are the answers; just come up with the correct question for each.  I’ll give those questions in a future post:

1. He made his Broadway debut in 2003 as Peter Allen in “The Boy from Oz.”
2. Natalie Portman was still a teen herself when she debuted in “The Diary of” this real-life teen.
3. Katharine McPhee served up a fine performance as server and pie-maker Jenna in this musical..
4. In 2016 Saoirse Ronan made her debut as the accusatory Abigail Williams in this Salem-set play.
5. Better known for the film role, he made his Broadway debut as Frank ‘n’ Furter in “The Rocky Horror Show”, panned by critics.

Feel free to leave a comment, and please come back – I write and post often!  And if you like what I have to say and how I say it, you’ll probably enjoy my novels as well.  They’re listed below, and you can read more about them on my improved website, designed and built by my son Don, http://www.randolphmase.com.  On my site, you’ll also find excerpts of my books that you can read – please check it out!

Randolph Mase, Fiction Writer

https://www.amazon.com/author/randolphmase

http://www.facebook.com/MatthewHoganMysteries

My Novels:

Death on Broadway

Death Beneath the Streets

Death in Central Park

Death at The Cloisters

Death Inside Diamond Head

Death Under Jones Beach (under construction)

Nathan Hale

Happy Halloween!

At this time every year, many of us have acquired our stash of candy and anxiously await the arrival of all those children seeking treats, including my grandsons Evan and Noah (shown in this photo of my daughter Jen’s family costumes last year – if you don’t recognize them, search for a 2004 movie with Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn).  I don’t know about you, but I never gave much more thought to Halloween, until I watched a program on The History Channel about the history of this day.  And that prompted me to do some research about Halloween and its traditions.  For example, in the 8^th Century, Pope Gregory III declared November 1 as All Hallows (Saints) Day, and the evening before became known as All Hallows Evening, later shortened to Halloween (actually Hallowe’en).  And I also learned the history of some of the other traditions associated with the holiday:

Trick or Treating.  The Celts left food and sweets around for the evil spirits to take and leave.  Years later, in medieval times, poor people would go from door to door, begging for food in return for offering prayers for the dead on All Souls Day, November 2.

The Jack-o’-Lantern.  Years ago, many Irish and Scottish people would carve a face into a turnip and place a lighted candle inside to honor the dead on All Souls Day.  There is also the legend of Irishman Stingy Jack who tricked the devil into climbing a tree.  To avenge this, the devil placed a curse on Jack – he was forced to wander the earth with the only light he had: a candle inside of a hollowed turnip.  Thus the name.

The Wearing of Costumes.  The Celts also believed that at summer’s end (the same time as Halloween), spirits passed by.  Of course, the spirits of ancestors were invited into the home, while evil spirits needed to be warded off.  To do this, the Celts wore costumes and masks to disguise themselves as evil spirits, thus escaping harm.  And of course, today, we see the full range, from the simple to the elaborate and bizarre.

So enjoy the day, but be safe and remember the traditions…

Feel free to leave a comment, and please come back – I write and post often!  And if you like what I have to say and how I say it, you’ll probably enjoy my novels as well.  They’re listed below, and you can read more about them on my improved website, designed and built by my son Don, http://www.randolphmase.com.  On my site, you’ll also find excerpts of my books that you can read – please check it out!

Randolph Mase, Fiction Writer

https://www.amazon.com/author/randolphmase

http://www.facebook.com/MatthewHoganMysteries

http://twitter.com/randolphmase

My Novels:

Death on Broadway

Death Beneath the Streets

Death in Central Park

Death at The Cloisters

Death Inside Diamond Head

Death Under Jones Beach (under construction)

Nathan Hale

A Memorable Book Review

A book reviewer at OnlineBookClub.org wrote a review of my latest mystery Death Inside Diamond Head, and it’s very memorable for me.  If you want to know why, here’s the link to the review: https://forums.onlinebookclub.org/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=157970&fbclid=IwAR3HdnSqAlUJ-on46-XLWo3qUgx6k34KBLegdZPvOriQThFjJBUe2_XOM1M.  What do you think?

Feel free to leave a comment, and please come back – I write and post often!  And if you like what I have to say and how I say it, you’ll probably enjoy my novels as well.  They’re listed below, and you can read more about them on my improved website, designed and built by my son Don, http://www.randolphmase.com.  On my site, you’ll also find excerpts of my books that you can read – please check it out!

Randolph Mase, Fiction Writer

https://www.amazon.com/author/randolphmase

http://www.facebook.com/MatthewHoganMysteries

http://twitter.com/randolphmase

My Novels:

Death on Broadway

Death Beneath the Streets

Death in Central Park

Death at The Cloisters

Death Inside Diamond Head

Death Under Jones Beach (under construction)

Nathan Hale

Questions to How Well Do You Know NYC?

Here are the questions to the Jeopardy! answers in the category “A Borough Burial” I posted a couple of weeks ago:

1. Cornelius Vanderbilt, long-time owner of the ferry named for this borough, rests in an elegant mausoleum there. – What is Staten Island?
2. Quarantined on an island nearby from 1915 on, she was buried in the Bronx when she died in 1938. – Who is Typhoid Mary?
3. This 1890s NYC mayor said, “The idea of leaving Manhattan permanently irritates me,” so he rests near 153^rd & Amsterdam.  – Who is Ed Koch?
4. In 2002 mobster John Gotti was given an elaborate send-off in this borough whose Howard Beach neighborhood he called home. – What is Queens?
5. Unlike the Dodgers, this man for whom their ballpark was named is a permanent of Brooklyn.  – Who is Ebbets?

With a little luck I got all of them correct; how did you do?

Feel free to leave a comment, and please come back – I write and post often!  And if you like what I have to say and how I say it, you’ll probably enjoy my novels as well.  They’re listed below, and you can read more about them on my improved website, designed and built by my son Don, http://www.randolphmase.com.  On my site, you’ll also find excerpts of my books that you can read – please check it out!

Randolph Mase, Fiction Writer

https://www.amazon.com/author/randolphmase

http://www.facebook.com/MatthewHoganMysteries

http://twitter.com/randolphmase

My Novels:

Death on Broadway

Death Beneath the Streets

Death in Central Park

Death at The Cloisters

Death Inside Diamond Head

Death Under Jones Beach (under construction)

Nathan Hale

Is Columbus Day a Forgotten Holiday?

It’s interesting that when I was going to school or working, I viewed holidays simply as another day off.  Now that I’m doing neither, I find myself trying to learn more about each holiday.  Take today – Columbus Day – as an example.  Before it was moved to the second Monday in October, Columbus Day was always celebrated on October 12.  I always assumed that it marked the birth of Christopher Columbus, but it actually marks the date when he arrived in the Americas.  Although it is a federal holiday here in the U.S., only 26 of our states also recognize it as a holiday.  In fact, in my last three jobs I worked in a state which still recognizes it as a holiday, yet we did not get the day off.

On this day – in spite of recent controversy – let’s take the time to remember Mr. Columbus and take the time to discover more about the meaning of the day.  It’s interesting stuff!

Feel free to leave a comment, and please come back – I write and post often!  And if you like what I have to say and how I say it, you’ll probably enjoy my novels as well.  They’re listed below, and you can read more about them on my improved website, designed and built by my son Don, http://www.randolphmase.com.  On my site, you’ll also find excerpts of my books that you can read – please check it out!

Randolph Mase, Fiction Writer

https://www.amazon.com/author/randolphmase

http://www.facebook.com/MatthewHoganMysteries

http://twitter.com/randolphmase

My Novels:

Death on Broadway

Death Beneath the Streets

Death in Central Park

Death at The Cloisters

Death Inside Diamond Head

Death Under Jones Beach (under construction)

Nathan Hale

The Lincoln Highway

You may have never heard of it, but the Lincoln Highway was created in 1913 as the first highway – but it’s not one road; rather it’s a series of roads – to cross America, from Times Square in New York City to Lincoln Park in San Francisco, with an original distance of just under 3400 miles.  Today it’s closer to 3100 miles and follows about a dozen major highways, including US Route 30 in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, and Wyoming.  I’ve been on parts of it (now that I know what it is, I can say that), but haven’t traveled the entire length.

And you can see so many unique sites along the way (you’ll find markers such as above in many places), including:

• A statue of a seated Abraham Lincoln in Newark, New Jersey, completed in 1911 by Gutzon Borglum, who also created Mount Rushmore.
• The Haines Shoe House in Hellam, Pennsylvania, which was built in 1948 and is 48 feet long and 25 feet high.
• Tree Rock in Buford, Wyoming, literally a tree growing in a rock in the middle of Interstate 80.
• The arch welcoming you into Reno, Nevada, “The Biggest Little City in the World.”
• The Cliff House in San Francisco, built from salvaged lumber in 1858 and today housing restaurants, a gift shop, and an observation deck.

So when it’s safe, get out and see it!

Feel free to leave a comment, and please come back – I write and post often!  And if you like what I have to say and how I say it, you’ll probably enjoy my novels as well.  They’re listed below, and you can read more about them on my improved website, designed and built by my son Don, http://www.randolphmase.com.  On my site, you’ll also find excerpts of my books that you can read – please check it out!

Randolph Mase, Fiction Writer

https://www.amazon.com/author/randolphmase

http://www.facebook.com/MatthewHoganMysteries

http://twitter.com/randolphmase

My Novels:

Death on Broadway

Death Beneath the Streets

Death in Central Park

Death at The Cloisters

Death Inside Diamond Head

Death Under Jones Beach (under construction)

Nathan Hale

How Well Do You Know NYC?

One of the categories on a recent Jeopardy! episode was “A Borough Burial.”  Here are the answers; just come up with the correct question for each.  I’ll give those questions in a future post:

1. Cornelius Vanderbilt, long-time owner of the ferry named for this borough, rests in an elegant mausoleum there.
2. Quarantined on an island nearby from 1915 on, she was buried in the Bronx when she died in 1938.
3. This 1890s NYC mayor said, “The idea of leaving Manhattan permanently irritats me,” so he rests near 153^rd & Amsterdam.
4. In 2002 mobster John Gotti was given an elaborate send-off in this borough whose Howard Beach neighborhood he called home.
5. Unlike the Dodgers, this man for whom their ballpark was named is a permanent of Brooklyn.

Feel free to leave a comment, and please come back – I write and post often!  And if you like what I have to say and how I say it, you’ll probably enjoy my novels as well.  They’re listed below, and you can read more about them on my improved website, designed and built by my son Don, http://www.randolphmase.com.  On my site, you’ll also find excerpts of my books that you can read – please check it out!

Randolph Mase, Fiction Writer

https://www.amazon.com/author/randolphmase

http://www.facebook.com/MatthewHoganMysteries

http://twitter.com/randolphmase

My Novels:

Death on Broadway

Death Beneath the Streets

Death in Central Park

Death at The Cloisters

Death Inside Diamond Head

Death Under Jones Beach (under construction)

Nathan Hale