My latest article appears in this month's issue of Leatherneck, the official magazine of the U.S. Marine Corps Association. You can view a preview of the article by clicking here. (Sorry, for now the full article is only accessible to Leatherneck subscribers.)
The article is about the Warriors & Quiet Waters Foundation, Inc., an incredible organization. Their mission is as follows: "To provide traumatically injured U.S. servicemen and women from Iraq and Afghanistan with a high quality restorative program, utilizing the therapeutic experience of fly fishing on Montana waters."
Click here to view a photo gallery from the article.
Check out my new article in Smithsonian Air&Space Magazine's April/May issue. This year is the 50th Anniversary of the Bay of Pigs invasion, and Jim Storie — an aircraft maintenance technician who participated in the mission — told me a unique tale about his experiences at the secret base in Nicaragua.
Jim and I met while I was working on The "12 O'Clock High" Logbook: The Unofficial History of the Novel, Motion Picture, and TV Series. As a brand-new enlisted airman in the Air Force, Jim was assigned to Eglin Air Force Base in Florida and found himself appearing as an extra in the movie version of Twelve O'Clock High, which filmed on base in 1949. (That's Jim in the photo on the right, at Eglin that year.)
Thanks to everyone who downloaded an eBook copy of History in Blue: 160 Years of Women Police, Sheriffs, Detectives, and State Troopers during Kaplan Publishing's free eBook offer last month. Almost 6,000 people downloaded the book for their personal libraries! This includes the readers produced by Amazon.com, iTunes, Sony, and Barnes & Noble.
If you haven't checked out GoodReads.com yet, head on over and take a look. Lots of book lovers talking to each other and recommending titles. You can see the page for History in Blue at this link.
Versions are available for the Barnes & Noble Nook, Apple iPad, and Sony eReader. A version for the Kindle will be released shortly. Happy reading, and Happy New Year!
The Women's Conference, hosted by California First Lady Maria Shriver, is an annual event that draws a huge crowd to the Long Beach Convention Center. At Big Life Films I had the privilege of working on a number of multimedia programs that were shown at the conference, including films that honored the recipients of the 2010 Minerva Awards.
Created by California First Lady Maria Shriver in 2004, The Minerva Awards have become the country’s most prestigious awards given to women “who serve on the front-lines of humanity,” celebrating their extraordinary legacies of service and contributions to California, the nation and the world.
Here's one of the films we produced. It's about Carolyn Blashek, founder of Operation Gratitude. From the very start of this country’s longest war, Carolyn Blashek has not gone a day without thinking about the men and women who put their lives on the line overseas for the freedoms we enjoy at home. Carolyn was so moved by the enormity of 9/11, that she tried to enlist in the military at age 46. She was sent home for being “too old,” and so began the odyssey that led to Operation Gratitude, the largest military support organization sending personalized care packages to deployed soldiers in US history.
Enjoy my new article about Colonel George Zamka, a United States Marine who also happens to be one of our astronauts. The article appears in the July issue of LeatherneckMagazine, the official publication of the Marine Corps Association.
Zamka’s nearly three-decade Marine career is packed with diversity and tremendous achievements. He has served as a pilot, racking up more than 5,000 hours in some 30 aircraft types. Out of the cockpit, Zamka completed tours as a forward air controller, maintenance officer and, since his appointment in June 1998, as one of America’s 95 astronauts. To date Zamka has logged nearly 700 hours in space.
Some songs just stick in your head. Breakfast Club's 1987 hit "Right On Track" is a bouncy pop number about a guy that's trying to impress a girl by showing off his dance skills. Problem is, every time he busts a move, she's looking in the other direction or moving away from him. I've always loved this tune, from Dan Gilroy's smooth voice to the insistent beat to lines like, "How far away can you go -- and still be dancing with me?" Did the guy ever get the girl to notice him? Maybe.
Fun fact: Lead singer Dan Gilroy is now a screenwriter and is married to actress Rene Russo.
Whether you found "Lost" fascinating or frustrating (or both), you have to give kudos to one of the series' key components: its music. Composer Michael Giacchino's evocative score gave the show a heartbeat that was sometimes tearjerking and sometimes terrifying. The Los Angeles Times just ran a story about Giacchino, who talked about his childhood love of film music:
"I made my dad buy me the soundtrack album, because in those days, the
only way to relive the experience of the film was to get the soundtrack.
I'd sneak tape recorders into movie theaters, record the sounds of the
movies and then listen to them at night on a little speaker I'd rigged
up in bed by my pillow. I was always into the story that a film told,
and sometimes the soundtrack album would take everything out of order.
So I made my own tapes, so I could always be sure to hear the story in
the right sequence."
I love to read about childhood dreams that blossom into adult professions. This is why I'm a writer today.
You can check out Giacchino's music at his website, which has tons of sample tracks. Meanwhile, if you haven't seen this funny video about the unanswered questions of "Lost," here you go:
Many thanks to Dr. Elaine Showalter for reviewing History in Blue in the Washington Post last Sunday! Check out full the review by clicking here. Here's an excerpt:
In Washington, D.C., we have become quickly accustomed to seeing
Chief of Police Cathy Lanier and other women police officers report on
violent crimes on the nightly news, although only 13 percent of
municipal police officers nationally are women. And while women serve in
support roles in the armed forces, they are banned from combat. Many
argue that women should not put themselves in harm's way on the mean
streets and the fields of battle, facing injury, capture and death at
the hands of criminals or enemies, and that their presence undermines
crucial male camaraderie....
Police work and military service are complex
case studies for debate about women and work.
Both "History in Blue," by Allan T. Duffin, and "A Few Good Women," by
Evelyn M. Monahan and Rosemary Neidel-Greenlee, document women's work
history and provide fascinating individual stories. There have been
women in police work since the beginning of the 20th century, initially
as mother-figures "with a badge," who would stop juveniles from smoking,
advise wayward girls and patrol saloons.... In
1943, the NYPD issued a "combination gun holster and makeup kit" to
female officers. Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia told women cops to "use your
gun as you would your lipstick. . . . Don't overdo either one." But in
the 1970s, federal law, mass media and popular culture, including Angie
Dickinson's hit TV series "Police Woman" and the police procedural
novels of Dorothy Uhnak, made the female police officer a familiar and
respected figure.
Dr. Katherine Ramsland has published 37 books, 16 short stories, and
over 900 articles. She is professor of forensic psychology and criminal
justice at DeSales University, and her latest books are Inside the
Minds of Sexual Predators and The Forensic Psychology of Criminal
Minds.
Check out the review here. Dr. Ramsland includes great archival photos to illustrate what she's talking about. You can see her website at www.katherineramsland.com.
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