I have always been fascinated by the Titanic. I wrote many research reports on the ship while in school. With as many books that I have read on Titanic and other ships, I had never read about the Lusitania.
Dead Wake – The Last Crossing of the Lusitania came up on a book suggestion list. It was recommended because I had recently read The Demon of Unrest by the same author, Erik Larson.
Prior to reading this, I really knew about Lusitania was that it was sunk by a torpedo. This book revealed so much more about the story. It was truly fascinating to read the stories of passengers. By getting to know them, the impact of the outcome became much more devastating.
Here is Goodreads Synopsis:
On May 1, 1915, a luxury ocean liner as richly appointed as an English country house sailed out of New York, bound for Liverpool, carrying a record number of children and infants. The passengers were anxious. Germany had declared the seas around Britain to be a war zone, and for months, its U-boats had brought terror to the North Atlantic. But the Lusitania was one of the era’s great transatlantic “Greyhounds” and her captain, William Thomas Turner, placed tremendous faith in the gentlemanly strictures of warfare that for a century had kept civilian ships safe from attack. He knew, moreover, that his ship – the fastest then in service – could outrun any threat.
Germany, however, was determined to change the rules of the game, and Walther Schwieger, the captain of Unterseeboot-20, was happy to oblige. Meanwhile, an ultra-secret British intelligence unit tracked Schwieger’s U-boat, but told no one. As U-20 and the Lusitania made their way toward Liverpool, an array of forces both grand and achingly small – hubris, a chance fog, a closely guarded secret, and more–all converged to produce one of the great disasters of history.
It is a story that many of us think we know but don’t, and Erik Larson tells it thrillingly, switching between hunter and hunted while painting a larger portrait of America at the height of the Progressive Era. Full of glamour, mystery, and real-life suspense, Dead Wake brings to life a cast of evocative characters, from famed Boston bookseller Charles Lauriat to pioneering female architect Theodate Pope Riddle to President Wilson, a man lost to grief, dreading the widening war but also captivated by the prospect of new love. Gripping and important, Dead Wake captures the sheer drama and emotional power of a disaster that helped place America on the road to war.
If you are into history or non-fiction, I cannot recommend this more highly. Larson masterfully tells the story of the time leading up to the disaster and the results that followed. I was totally engrossed in his account of the disaster itself. From the moment that the torpedo is spotted until the moment Lusitania sinks is presented in great detail.
He presents the stories of many passengers and what they did from the torpedo’s impact until the sinking. After you read all of those accounts and all the things that they did, you almost have to remind yourself that it all happened in the time it took Lusitania to sink – just 18 minutes!
Larson doesn’t sugarcoat anything. It is a tragedy and he is honest about the horrors that were brought about by the event. Despite it being a beautiful sunny day, the water was only 55 degrees. It was not as cold as the waters that Titanic sunk in, but it was still cold enough to cause people to pass of hypothermia. Not every ending was a happy one.
After reading this book, I had a clearer understanding of the events surrounding Lusitania and a better understanding of the way that the US entered World War I. It was truly one of the best books I’ve read this year.
Today is Bernie Kopell’s 92nd birthday. Many will remember him best as Doc Adam Bricker on the Love Boat, but he was around long before that. He appeared on The Jack Benny Show, That Girl, Ben Casey, When Things Were Rotten, Bewitched, The Danny Thomas Show, The Doris Day Show, Chico and the Man and many more classic shows. I always loved him as Siegfried, the Kaos agent, on Get Smart.
Here he talks a bit about that role:
Here he talks about the show:
Back in 2022, I took part in a TV Show Draft. It was like a fantasy football draft, except we picked TV shows instead of football players. One of my picks was Get Smart. While the blog isn’t completely about Bernie, it is worth sharing again. You can read about it here.
It’s the first day of summer, but “the boys of summer” have been playing for sometime. As a long time Detroit Tigers fan, I have to admit that I am enjoying their season so far. They’ve really had some players come through. Both offensively and defensively they have done quite well.
In all of baseball, both American and National Leagues, they remain the best team.
The Cubs are sitting at .608 (45-29) followed by the Dodgers at .605 (46-30). I am excited for the rest of the season.
I say all of that as an intro into my Friday Photo Flashback. I truly do not know how old I am in the photo. If I had to guess I would say maybe three-ish.
I am not sure if the yellow tint to this photo is because of age or just the way the camera film was developed. I spent a long time looking at this picture. It cannot be the back yard of the first house we lived in because there would have been a field behind me if it was. So, I think that this was taken in my Grandma D’s back yard. The reason I say that is because of the privacy fence along the back of the yard.
There was a cemetery directly behind my grandma’s house. There was a gate where you could actually walk out into it, if desired. It always freaked me out a bit. I also remember her having rose bushes and other plants against the fence that is behind me in the picture. At some point, the owners of that house put up a privacy fence there. I remember that because I recall it being there when I would cut her grass.
I have no idea whose baseball mitt that is. It could be my dad’s because he played softball with some guys he worked with and there is a softball in it. It might also be his because he is sitting on the grass in front of me. I remember him wearing many of those “fishing” hats. I’m sure they have a name, but I always called them fishing hats. Eventually, I would have my own collection of them that I would wear.
That boy in the photo would dream about being a baseball pitcher. I would spend hours throwing the ball to my friends and my dad, who would call the balls and strikes. Even though the dream never came true, I still love a good game of catch. Sadly, my shoulder won’t allow me to throw like I used to.
Rest assured, though, if my kids were to ask me to toss the ball around, I’d have my mitt on in a heartbeat.
I’ve said this numerous times, but it is so special when I can get all of my kids together. My oldest had called and asked if we could go to dinner on Father’s Day. I told him that I would like that and suggested we go somewhere cheap. My thoughts were to go to a place that had one of those indoor playscapes in it for the little ones. That was the plan, anyway.
About an hour and a half before we were supposed to meet, he texted and asked if we could go to Applebee’s instead. I told him we could, but I wasn’t sure how the little ones would behave. I shouldn’t have worried as they did well. They truly love seeing their big brothers. They always seem to rush them for hugs when they see them.
The lighting was not so great for the above picture, but I love that they are all together. Before we left the restaurant, I was able to grab a waitress to take a picture of me with them.
After dinner, we went to Dairy Queen (after seeing how packed the other ice cream place was) and grabbed dessert. It was a very good way to wrap up Father’s Day.
I did have one “sad” moment. Both older boys were like, “Wow, they are getting so big,” and such. All I could think of was how much I wish they’d get together with them more often. I do understand, however, that I cannot force them to do anything.
It’s been raining pretty good the last couple days, so the kids have been cooped up in the house. On Monday, the kids wanted to take a walk, which I loved. I need to get out and walk more, but all too often, they just want to stay home. Our walk, or should I say, MY walk, was me playing “catch up.”
Ella had her evaluation for kindergarten this week. She is way above what is expected. Her reading is at like a 2nd grade level, math is about 1st grade, and there was one more thing that they tested where she is at a 2nd-3rd grade level. They asked if we wanted her placed in 1st grade. We said no, as we feel that kindergarten “interaction” is something that she really needs (the social stuff).
This is sort of a continuation of the Music of My Life feature. It focused on music from 1970-2025. It featured tunes that have special meaning to me, brought back a certain memory or a tune that I just really like. I found that with the first three decades, there were songs that I didn’t feature. So I sat down with my original lists and selected some songs that “bubbled under,” so to speak. Songfacts.com helped me a lot with stories and background info.
I figured a good way to present them was to focus on a decade. 10 years = 1 song per year = 10 songs. Last week we looked at the 2000’s and we’ll so that again this week. You may remember that the more current I got, the less music I connected with. Perhaps there will be enough to look at the 2010’s next week. So, let’s check out a few “Decade Extras.”
2000
I used to love VH1’s Behind the Music and Pop-Up Videos. You could always count on trivia or a great story. That’s the case with Kryptonite from 3 Doors Down. From Songfacts…
Picture this: 3 Doors Down lead singer/songwriter Brad Arnold at 15 years old, sitting in math class bored out of his skull, begins tapping on his desk. The tapping turns into drumming, and pretty soon he’s unknowingly written the first monster hit for his future band.
He laughs at the memory: “Thank God for the little dude that sat in front of me, that dude deserves credit on the album! I was so bad in math. So bad. But my teacher knew I was not good, not paying attention, but he just kind of let me go. I believe I wrote the lyrics to some other songs in that same class. I wrote probably about half of that Better Life album sitting in that math class.”This song is also, according to Arnold, only the 3rd or 4th song he’d ever written, period. “The skippy little drumbeat in the song was just me beating on my desk. It’s almost exactly the beat we played to, just kind of drumming, just skipping along with it.”
Brad says this song is a question. As it turns out, it was a rather prophetic one. “Its question is kind of a strange one. It’s not just asking, ‘If I fall down, will you be there for me?’ Because it’s easy to be there for someone when they’re down. But it’s not always easy to be there for somebody when they’re doing good. And that’s the question it’s asking. It’s like, ‘If I go crazy, will you still call me Superman?’ It’s asking, ‘If I’m down, will you still be there for me?’ But at the same time, ‘If I’m alive and well, will you be there holding my hand?’ That’s kind of asking, ‘If I’m doing good, will you be there for me? Will you not be jealous of me?’ And maybe throughout the years of singing that song, I might have come up with more meanings for it than it actually might have originally had,” he laughs.
The fact that he wrote this song when he was only 15 doesn’t seem remarkable to Brad, because, he says, “every 15-year-old has those questions in their head. They might not know quite how to say it, or they might not feel like it’s acceptable to say something. And the biggest thing that I’ve had as an honor to be able to do is to be able to say something, and after I say it, it’s okay. After an artist says it, if a rock star says it, okay, it’s fine. That really boils down to why rock and roll inspires pop culture so much, or just music in general, not just rock and roll. Because artists push the envelope, and they go out on a limb to say something else. But it also comes with responsibility; you gotta watch what you say, because kids listen. And I try to watch what I say, too.”
Here are the deep thoughts of a 15-year old….
Kryptonite
2001
I remember hearing Turn Off The Light on the radio and kind of liking it. When they said the artist’s name, I actually chuckled. It sounded like something I’d order at a Mexican restaurant. “I’ll have a Furtado with a side of beans and rice….”
The song is part of Furtado’s debut album, Whoa, Nelly! It was released when she was just 21. She wrote the song herself and produced it along with Gerald Eaton and Brian West. People in the business took notice of her right from the get-go.
She was born in British Columbia to Portuguese parents. At 17, she moved to Toronto and started a trip-hop band called Nelstar. Pop music at the time was dominated by Disney-bred singers like Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. Furtado stood out from this crowd with an underground sensibility and terrific songwriting skills. In “Turn Off The Light” she was able to take a pretty much universal experience – the outgoing public persona that is a lot more insecure in private – and flesh it into a compelling song.
I can’t speak for everyone, but I can tell you that I could relate to the song. I have always felt insecure when I wasn’t out in the public. I was radio guy with big personality out there, and at home I felt like I was never enough or couldn’t do anything right.
Turn off the Light
2002
I really liked a lot of Carlos Santana’s later stuff. I loved that his music was still being played and that he was having hits all these years later. One of the songs I really liked was The Game of Love which featured him and Michelle Branch.
Branch is the lead vocalist on this song. She earned an audition through the song’s writer, Gregg Alexander, who suggested her – members of his band The New Radicals also played in Branch’s touring band. “I didn’t think I got it,” Branch told Songfacts: “I was really nervous. I went on tour and thought that was the end of it, and then I got a call saying they loved my version and they had decided that I was the singer.The next thing you know, I was going to Chicago to film the music video. The first time I met Carlos was on set for ‘The Game Of Love.'”
Branch was still a teenager when she recorded her vocal, but she had the poise and confidence to suggest a change to the lyric. Instead of “a little bit of laughs,” she wanted “a little bit of lust,” and the line “I’m telling you my babe” changed to “I’m turning in my bed.” Her suggestions were politely declined.
In her Songfacts interview, she said: “I was thinking of being lovesick, unable to sleep, turning in the bed. Like lusting after someone. But they wanted it a little more lighthearted. But I love the song and I’m honored that I was chosen to sing it.”
Michelle Branch was an excellent pairing for Santana. She was a TRL favorite with a young, female fanbase, but sounded great to the ears of Santana fans, who were much older. Branch wrote her own songs and was a student of emotions, able to sing convincingly about romantic love before she had experienced it herself. She could also play acoustic guitar, providing a nice symmetry in the video while Carlos Santana played electric.
The Game of Love
2003
When I worked in country radio, it always seemed that there were 5-10 new artists trying to get a spot on the play list. Many of them were just average, but there were some who really “fit” what the station wanted to sound like.
Pat Green was a singer-songwriter who released an album in 2003. The first single was also the title of the album – Wave on Wave. The song was written by Green, David Neuhauser and Justin Pollard. I admit that I didn’t care for the song at first. After a few listens, I began to change my mind. We played it quite a bit. It became his first and, to date, only Top 10 hit. I find that crazy because he has recorded at least 7 or 8 studio albums.
I can’t for the life of me remember one of the follow ups to Wave on Wave, but I can remember that one sounded almost exactly like it – only faster.
Wave on Wave
2004
I’m sure that this next song was one that I heard on Christian radio. The message struck me and reminds me that when all is said and done, All I Need is Him.
Bethany Dillon began singing when she was thirteen years old. Three years later, she released her self-titled 2004 debut album. It was the highest selling female solo debut for that year, and attracted Gospel Music Association nominations for both Female Vocalist and New Artist of the Year. All I Need from that album was released on April 20, 2004.
I try to begin each day thankful to God for another day. Her words would be appropriate for any time of the day.
You are all I need when I’m surrounded You are all I need if I’m by myself You fill me when I’m empty There is nothing else You’re all I need
All I Need
2005
By 2005, I had met Martina McBride at least once. I have always loved her voice. When I heard she was going to be releasing an album of classic country songs, I was intrigued. I wondered what songs she might cover.
The album was called “Timeless” and it featured Lynn Anderson’s Rose Garden. Anderson almost didn’t sing it, though. Because of lyrics like “I could promise you things like big diamond rings,” Anderson’s producer (and husband) Glenn Sutton considered this a man’s song and tried to dissuade her from covering it. Only when they had some extra studio time left did he consider it for an album cut, but with some changes. They reworked the track with an uptempo arrangement that included a string section and mandolin. When Columbia Records’ exec Clive Davis heard it, he insisted it be released as a single.
Martina’s version landed at #98 on the pop chart and #18 on the country chart.
Rose Garden
2006
I was introduced to Lips of an Angel while working in country radio. It was covered by Jack Ingram. I had no idea that the original was done by Hinder. The song has an interesting backstory. From Songfacts:
Sometimes inspiration for songs comes quickly. Hinder singer Austin Winkler wrote this song in just 20 or 30 minutes with drummer Cody Hanson while the two sat in Hanson’s living room. Winkler came in with the first line – “Honey, why you calling me so late?” – And the rest of the song just flowed out naturally.
The story in the song about having trouble letting go of a former love is real – it’s what Winkler was going through with an ex-girlfriend. He told the story to Hanson, who already had a guitar progression in mind, and the two finished the song very quickly.
“Lips Of An Angel” sold over 3 million ringtones – more than any other rock song. It was popular at a time when everyone was buying up ringtones for their new phones. Man, how much money did I waste to have those 20 second ringtones?!
Lips of an Angel
2007
The next song is from back when Taylor Swift wasn’t “pop-a-fide.” It was also a peak into how she would toss real people into her songs, often to call them out on something. Teardrops on My Guitar really stuck out as a great song and did very well on country radio.
Written by Taylor Swift and Liz Rose, this song of unrequited love is based on a true experience during Taylor’s schooldays when she had a crush on a boy she was friends with. However there was no chance of him reciprocating her feelings as he already had a girlfriend whom he was madly in love with and he used to tell Swift all about her.
In an interview with the HMV magazine, Taylor revealed that this song was written for a boy named Drew, who only ever saw her as a friend, despite Taylor having feelings for him. She went on to explain what happened when he realized the song was about him. Said Taylor:
“About two years after the album came out in the States, he showed up in my driveway. Apparently he and his girlfriend had broken up so that was his first stop when he was back in town. I was like ‘you are so late, y’know. If you’d stopped by right after the album came out then that would be one thing, but…’ I remember reading on his MySpace page one time ‘My name’s Drew and I have a famous song written about me. Email me and I’ll give you details.’ I was like, right, wow, note taken.”
MySpace!! Remember that?! If you’re wondering about Drew, things didn’t go too well for him. In 2015, he and his wife, Joni, were arrested in Hendersonville, Tennessee on charges of child abuse.
Teardrops on My Guitar
2008
I love Mel Torme’. Once I discovered him, I went looking for his albums. He did quite well in the time of the Crooners, but his chart presence faded with the birth of a new type of music. With the advent of rock and roll, the Velvet Fog fell out of favor with the younger crowd and was reluctant to try to fit in. “Rock music is heinous,” he claimed. “I’m not a teenagers’ singer. My steady market is the Young Marrieds.”
Mel was absent from the charts for 10 years. However, there was one song that brought him back to the Top 40 in 1962. That song was one that Torme’ did not really want to record. In the early ’60s he joined Atlantic Records. It was there that producer Nesuhi Ertegun convinced him to record the beat-centric R&B scorcher “Comin’ Home Baby.”
It took a fair bit of arm-twisting to get Tormé to agree. The singer recalled: “It was a minor-key blues tune with trite repetitious lyrics and an ‘answer’ pattern to be sung by the Cookies, a girl trio that had once worked for Ray Charles.” To his surprise, his rendition – arranged by Claus Ogerman – peaked at #36 on the Hot 100 and notched a #13 entry on the UK chart. It proved to be a bittersweet success in the long run, as it marked his final appearance on both charts.
But Keith, we are supposed to be talking about 2008. Yes, that is true. As much as I love the Mel Torme’ version, Michael Bublé recorded a version featuring Boyz II Men for his 2007 album, Call Me Irresponsible. It isn’t as cool as Mel’s, but I love that this great song came back so many years later. Buble’s version was released as a single in Germany, where it peaked at #17.
Comin’ Home Baby
2009
DJing high school dances was sometimes difficult because of song content. Many of them had references to sexual acts, profanity, violence or drug use. There were a few artists that all the kids seemed to love. The screams from girls when I first played a Justin Bieber song still has my ears ringing. Another artist who always seemed to work was Miley Cyrus.
Party in the USA was scheduled to make its radio debut on August 4, 2009. However, due to an illegal leak of a demo version, it was released early on July 29 for airplay. The song’s producers, Katy Perry and Kelly Clarkson collaborators Dr. Luke and Claude Kelly, broke the news to Miley about the leak. The teenage singer expressed irritation but seemed more concerned about the response of the audience to the earlier than expected release of the song.
Director Chris Applebaum told MTV News that in the song’s music video, Miley wanted to pay tribute to her favorite movie, Grease. He explained: “Miley did have an idea – one of her favorite movies is Grease. Everything kind of sprang forward from that scene in ‘Grease’ where John Travolta is singing… and he gets out of the car and goes to jungle gym and sits in one of the swings and sings the song at night as projections go in the background – she came to me [with that].”
In addition to the Grease tribute, Miley also wanted to pay tribute to her parents’ courting days. He explained: “Interesting enough, Miley’s parents Tish and Billy Ray, when they were first dating they went to a drive-in in Kentucky, I think, called the Corral Drive-In – so we named the drive-in after that as an homage to them. In addition, Miley’s mom Tish used to drive ’79 black Pontiac Trans Am, Smokey and the Bandit style, and obviously that’s the car that Miley arrives in.”
Miley Cyrus began to disassociate herself from the song a few years after recording it. “That’s not where I want to sing, that’s not what I want to sing, and that’s not what I want my voice to sound like,” she told V magazine. I’m not sure, but did any of her other songs do as well as Party in the USA? I don’t know, but why distance yourself from it? To each his own, I suppose.
Party in the USA
That wraps up the 2000’s. As I said earlier, if there are enough songs from the 2010’s worth featuring, the feature will return next week.
Thank you for listening and for reading. I really hope you enjoyed this trek through the decades.
Happy 82nd birthday to Barry Manilow. Over his 60 year career, many folks have made fun of Barry. A buddy of my dad’s called him “Barely Man-enough,” while a radio DJ friend called him “Barry Banana Nose.” Despite the jokes and such, you cannot deny that the guy was a musical success!
Manilow has recorded and released 51 Top 40 singles on the Adult Contemporary Chart, including 13 that hit number one, 28 that appeared within the top ten, and 36 that reached the top twenty. He has also released 13 platinum and six multi-platinum albums. He came a long way from creating jingles.
Fun Fact: Barry wrote the jingles for State Farm Insurance (“Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there”), McDonald’s (“you deserve a break today”), and Band-Aid (“I am stuck on Band-Aid, ’cause Band-Aid’s stuck on me!”)along with many others!
My mom loved Barry’s music and it was often on the radio or a tape that my dad had made for her. She loved Even Now, I Can’t Smile Without You, Mandy, and a ton of others. One of Barry’s songs that I remember hearing for the first time on a drive with mom was Could It Be Magic. At the time I had no idea why, but I remember thinking that the piano intro sounded familiar.
It sounded familiar because Barry basically stole the intro from one of the greatest piano players of all time – Chopin. It all started one evening in 1971 when Manilow was playing Chopin’s “Prelude Op. 28, No. 20 in C Minor” at his Manhattan studio apartment. After taking a dinner break, he sat down at his spinet piano and wrote “Could It Be Magic,” unaware he’d lifted the chord changes from the classic piece’s chorus until he played back the recording.
He said, “Thank goodness the melody and verses were my own.”
Barry wasn’t surprised when the song finally became a hit because he’d consistently wowed huge audiences with the tune before it ever landed on the radio. At the time, he was Bette Midler’s music director and piano player, so when Bell Records wanted him to hit the road to promote his debut album, he felt guilty at the thought of abandoning Midler. Instead, he asked if she’d be willing to let him perform some songs during her own shows – to audiences of thousands of people. She agreed, and he brought down the house every time he sang the ballad.
Barry thinks the best songs are the ones the come the quickest, like this one. He says,
“I knew I was onto something. Sometimes you just know it. It came so fast – the ones that come fast I know that I have something going. The ones that I struggle with never work. But the ones that come fast, something’s in it. All I could tell you was that I loved this song.”
47 years ago today, Grease opened in theaters starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. In its opening weekend, the film grossed $8,941,717 in 862 theaters in the United States and Canada, ranking at number 2 (behind Jaws 2).
The soundtrack album for Grease featured some original songs (Grease, Summer Nights, You’re the One That I Want) and covers mostly sung by Sha-Na-Na (Blue Moon, Hound Dog, Tears on My Pillow). It wound up being the second best selling album of the year. The soundtrack that was number one was from Saturday Night Fever, which also starred Travolta.
Fun fact: Two of the bass players who recorded on the Grease soundtrack were members of the band Toto.
Olivia Newton-John’s contract for Grease stipulated that she should have a solo spot. However, nobody had any ideas for a song for her character, Sandy, until Olivia’s producer John Farrar came up with “Hopelessly Devoted To You” halfway through the shoot. Director Randal Kleiser wasn’t wholly convinced by the song at first and had to come up with an entirely new scene to fit it in. It was eventually filmed and recorded after the movie had wrapped and it earned the film’s only Oscar nomination, for Best Music – Original Song.
John Travolta evoked this song when he introduced the In Memoriam segment at the Oscars in 2023, seven months after Olivia Newton-John died of cancer at 73. “In this industry we have the rare luxury of getting to do what we love for a living, and sometimes getting to do it with people we come to love,” a tearful Travolta said. “They’ve touched our hearts, they’ve made us smile, and became dear friends that we will always remain hopelessly devoted to.”
Happy Father’s Day to my “Dad” friends! I hope you are being celebrated today.
Andrew and Ella couldn’t wait for today, so they gave me my gifts yesterday. When they got up today and Sam reminded them that it was Father’s Day, Ella said, “That was yesterday.” Ever since, she has referred to yesterday as “pretend Father’s Day” and today is the “real” one.
I was presented with some books to read:
Ella read one of them to me! That made it even more special. Then, they presented me with a pretty cool Father’s Day Gift Set.
I plan on taking the tumbler to work to keep water in. I have already hung the dish towel in the kitchen and I will wear my “dad” socks to work this week!!
Later today, my son’s and I will be meeting for dinner. I’m excited as I love getting ally kids together.
I have written many times about my dad and his instruction and influence. Along with him, I have had many men who have proven to also be mentors and “father figures” to me. Their wisdom has proven to be invaluable. I pray that I do the same for my children.
In thinking about what to write today, I stumbled on some great quotes about Fathers. Some of these I may have shared in the past, but they are worth repeating.
If you are a Father – you are so important to your children. If you doubt that, read on.
“The power of a dad in a child’s life is unmatched.” —Justin Ricklefs
“Dad: A son’s first hero, a daughter’s first love.” —Unknown
“No music is so pleasant to my ears as that word―father.” —Lydia Maria Child
“A father is someone you look up to no matter how tall you grow.” —Unknown
“Dads are most ordinary men turned by love into heroes, adventurers, storytellers and singers of song.” —Unknown
“A dad is someone who wants to catch you when you fall. Instead he picks you up, brushes you off and lets you try again.” —Unknown
“My father didn’t do anything unusual. He only did what dads are supposed to do—be there.” —Max Lucado
“She did not stand alone, but what stood behind her, the most potent moral force in her life, was the love of her father.” —Harper Lee
“A father is neither an anchor to hold us back, nor a sail to take us there, but a guiding light whose love shows us the way.” —Unknown
“A father is the one friend upon whom we can always rely. In the hour of need, when all else fails, we remember him upon whose knees we sat when children, and who soothed our sorrows; and even though he may be unable to assist us, his mere presence serves to comfort and strengthen us.” —Émile Gaboriau
“When you need real understanding, when you need someone to care, when you need someone to guide you … A father’s always there.” —Thomas J. Langley
“Every son quotes his father, in words and in deeds.” —Terri Guillemets
“A man knows when he is growing old because he begins to look like his father.” —Gabriel Garcia Marquez
“A father is a man who expects his son to be as good a man as he meant to be.” —Frank A. Clark
“By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he’s wrong.” —Charles Wadworth
“When you’re young, you think your dad is Superman. Then you grow up, and you realize he’s just a regular guy who wears a cape.” —Dave Attell
“[Fatherhood is] the greatest thing that could ever happen. You can’t explain it until it happens; it’s like telling somebody what water feels like before they’ve ever swam in it.” —Michael Bublé
“My father didn’t tell me how to live. He lived and let me watch him do it.” —Clarence Budington Kelland
“The thrill of being a great father is not seeing your children go on to become successful adults. The thrill of a great father is the journey, experiencing your child’s successes along the pathway to their greatness.” —Reed Markham
“A man’s worth is measured by how he parents his children. What he gives them, what he keeps away from them, the lessons he teaches and the lessons he allows them to learn on their own.” —Lisa Rogers
“Grandpas bring a little wisdom, happiness, warmth and love to every life they touch.” —Unknown
“We never know the love of a parent till we become parents ourselves.” —Henry Ward Beecher
“My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person: he believed in me.” —Jim Valvano
“A good father is one of the most unsung, unpraised, unnoticed and yet one of the most valuable assets in our society.” —Billy Graham
“It is admirable for a man to take his son fishing, but there is a special place in heaven for the father who takes his daughter shopping.” —John Sinor
“Any man can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a dad.” — Anne Geddes
“Becoming a dad is one thing; being a dad is many things.” — Steve Chapman
“The imprint of a father remains forever on the life of the child.” —Roy Lessin
Every once in a while I need to bump a book on my “To be read” list up. This happens for various reasons. Sometimes the audiobook becomes available sooner than expected. Other times it is because I really have waited to read the book. This one – well, it was the book my wife got me for my birthday. It was Paranoia from James Patterson and James O. Born.
My wife had been out shopping and saw the title and cover. She read the back of the book and thought it might be something I’d enjoy, so she picked it up for me.
I was a bit worried about reading it because I found out that this is actually the 17th book featuring the character of Michael Bennett. There have been a lot of “series” that I stopped reading because the books were often half recaps of previous books and half new story. I didn’t know what to expect. My hope was that it would read well as a stand alone story. Thankfully, it did.
Thinking back on it now, I can see where some of the things that were briefly mentioned might be familiar to readers of the series. As a new reader, I took those things as something used to further the story.
Here is the Goodreads Synopsis:
NYPD Detective Michael Bennett will stop at nothing to protect family: his wife, his kids—and his fellow officers—in the latest psychological thriller from bestselling author James Patterson.
At every death scene, Bennett says a prayer over the victim. But recently, too many of the departed have been fellow cops. “I want you to look at these deaths on special assignment,” NYPD Inspector Celeste Cantor says. “Report only to me.” Bennett excels as a solo investigator. But he’s chasing a killer who feeds on isolation… and paranoia.
The synopsis doesn’t really say much. So I will expand just a bit, which may make it more intriguing to you.
Deaths tied to drugs and gangs are commonplace in New York City. They are nothing out of the ordinary. Strange and multiple deaths of retired police officers, however, raise a red flag. As the deaths pile up, it becomes clear that the dead police officers and the dead drug/gang members have something in common – an interest case from the past.
When Bennett is approached by Inspector Cantor to “look into the matter,” he does so. The more he investigates, the more complex and odd the case becomes.
The book was actually quite good. I had my suspicions about characters who may or may not be involved in the murders throughout the first half of the book. My pick changed a bit throughout the story, but I was able to figure it out. The fact that I did, didn’t make the rest of the story a bad read.
Will I go out and pick up another Michael Bennett book? Maybe. It was good, but it wasn’t necessarily a character that I was like, “I gotta read more about that guy!”
37 years ago this week I graduated from high school. I was such a band nerd in high school. Band was my life in high school. It was a place where you were accepted, you worked together, and core memories were made.
I remember my sophomore and junior years playing music before the commencement ceremony began. The entire band played together until a couple minutes before the senior class walked out and to their seats. The seniors from band would get up shortly before then and take their place in line. After one more song, the remaining lower classmen would play Pomp and Circumstance as the seniors walked in.
I have posted pictures on this blog before of me conducting the band at graduation. That is a memory that will not fade any time soon. It was such an amazing moment. After the number I conducted, another senior (our drum major) got his turn to conduct the band. I can’t recall the number we played before we had to leave the band and get in line, but I remember the sadness that overwhelmed me as our group of seniors got up.
Our band director, Tom Shaner, was such a mentor and friend to me. That remained the case long after high school. When he passed away, I wrote about him. You can read that here.
As we walked to join our class, my friend Joe (who is in at the right of the photo) and I took a detour and walked past Mr. Shaner. There was no way I was walking by without hugging him. I was so grateful that my parents caught this moment on camera. I’m not sure, but I was probably crying. LOL
One thing that I never really noticed in the picture is that my friend Mary (who went on to teach) is actually snapping a picture of the moment, too. Next to her is my friend Theresa whose left leg is in a pink cast. If memory serves me right, she had broke it just a couple weeks before dancing at our band banquet.
If I go back and compare this photo to the one of me conducting, I could probably tell you who is next to Theresa. I don’t recognize the legs or shoes in this picture. LOL
I cannot even believe that it has been 37 years. What I wouldn’t give to be able to experience sitting in band class again. What I wouldn’t give to have one more chat with Mr. Shaner.
I’m not sure kids today realize just how special those high school years are. Good high school experiences will stay with you for a lifetime. The bad experiences will too. I pray that kindness, encouragement, and friendships overcome bullying, hatred, and the cruelty that is found in so many schools today.
I’m glad that I can look back fondly at mostly good memories from high school.
Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian 