BookSpeak Network

BookSpeak Network

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BookSpeak Network episodes

  • Michael L. Hawley Discusses Jack the Ripper on the Sunbury Press Books Show!
    One of the most talked about serial killers was the infamous Jack the Ripper, who terrorized the Whitechapel section of London from 1888 to 1891. At least eleven murders were attributed to the Ripper, who did not merely kill his victims, but mutilated and tortured them. The Ripper's identity has been the subject of speculation for over a century, and author Michael L. Hawley believes Scotland Yard had the suspect in their sights.Jack the Ripper Suspect Dr. Francis Tumblety is the result of Hawley's examination of more than 700 pages of never-before-seen sworn testimonies. The picture of Tumblety is one of an antisocial narcissist with a desire for exploitation, and within, evidence that he may well have been the killer.Michael L. Hawley is a retired aviator who achieved the rank of Commander in the US Navy. He holds a Masters degree in science from the State University of New York, College of Buffalo, a Bachelor's in geology and geophysics from Michigan State University and teaches secondary science education. His books include The Ripper's Haunts, Jack's Lantern and The Ripper's Hellbroth. He has appeared on the History Channel, the Travel Channel and NBC Radio's "House of Mystery" program.
    27 min
  • The Deepest Part of Dark -- Poet Anne Elezabeth Pluto on the BPP Show!
    A collection in seven parts, "The Deepest Part of Dark" is an exploration by Dr. Anne Elezabeth Pluto, which taps into themes of family, love, death, and spirituality. Written in a sparse, yet direct style, these poems have been gathered together to make a redolent experience for the reader. They delve into aspects of human nature and emotions and find hope even in the darkest areas.Anne Elezabeth Pluto is a Professor of Literature and Theatre at Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She also serves as the Artistic Director and one of the founders of the Oxford Street Players. Anne is an alumna of Shakespeare & Company, a member of the Worcester Shakespeare Company, and a founder of Nixes Mate Review. Her writings have appeared in the Buffalo Evening News, Mat Hat Lit, Yellow Chair Review, and the Muddy River Review, among others. Her books of poetry include "The Frog Princess" and "Lubbock Electric." Anne lives in Boston.
    47 min
  • Author Caitlin Hicks on The Sunbury Press Books Show!
    The coming of age of Annie Shea is documented in two novels by Caitlin Hicks. Set in 1963 California, "A Theory of Expanded Love" finds a young Annie, desperate for attention in a family of 13 kids, a military father and a strong Catholic faith. With the passing of Pope John XXIII, a family friend stands to be the first American to be his successor. Annie seizes the moment to create a web of lies, but then discovers a family's hidden secret, which they will keep at all costs.Annie's life takes a turn in "Kennedy Girl." Now seventeen, Annie stands to further break the mores of her family, through her crush with a black fellow student, Lucas Jones and her volunteering for the campaign of Robert F. Kennedy. The world comes crashing down for both Annie and Lucas with Kennedy's assassination--later joined by Annie's brother, the three head for the Canadian border, where the latter's own secrets are uncovered, and Annie must sort out a changing world and what it all means for her.An author and actress, Caitlin Hicks drew on her own upbringing for Annie and the cast of characters in these two works. First released in 2015, "A Theory..." won awards from the likes of Forward Indies and iTunes for Best New Fiction. Her writing has appeared in newspapers such as the Vancouver Sun, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle and Milwaukee Journal Sentiel, plus Atlantic Canada's International literary journal, The Fiddlehead. She lives in British Columbia.
    30 min
  • That Our Daughters May Be As Cornerstones--Chad Leinaweaver on the SPB Show
    Circumstances cannot be contrived. While researching the long-closed Irving College, Sunbury Press founder and presenter Lawrence Knorr discovered the master's thesis of Chad Leinaweaver, which for the first time is in book form, with "That Our Daughters May Be As Cornerstones."Founded in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania in 1856, Irving Female College was created at a time when educational opportunities were opening up for women. Leinaweaver takes us through the history of the college, its founder, Solomon Gorgas, and the naming of the school after George Washington Irving. He details how these institutions, also referred to by some as "Women's Colleges," gave them instruction in liberal arts. The curriculum also provided more choices for women of the time, including a Conservatory of Music.Leinaweaver also discusses the closure of the school in 1883 and its rebirth in 1888 under the leadership of Dr. E.E. Campbell. A businessman and instructor, Campbell's acumen and charismatic style brought him to both the presidency and eventual ownership, as he led Irving College into the twentieth century. The school, however, could not withstand competition and a lack of endowment, with the final class graduating in 1929. A Mechanicsburg native and Northeastern University graduate, Chad Leinaweaver is the Director of the Morristown & Morris Township Library in New Jersey. He has authored sections of the Dictionary of New Jersey History (New Library Press), and Preserving Local Writers, Geneology, Photographs, Newspapers, and Related Materials (Scarecrow Press).
    30 min
  • Scottie Miller Brings his "Carnival Cocoon" to the Brown Posey Press Show!
    The career of Scottie Miller is one that cannot be confined...the Minneapolis, Minnesota native is a three-time inductee of the state's Blues Hall of Fame. He has toured the world with a long list of famous artists, including the likes of Bo Diddley, and currently with multiple Grammy nominee Ruthie Foster. His songs have been recorded by Foster and the Blind Boys of Alabama. In addition, Miller has recorded nearly a dozen albums of his own music, largely self-produced. "Carnival Cocoon" started as a collection of poems Miller wrote throughout his career; out of more than a hundred ideas, he chose the best, and put 23 of these to music. The collection is the subject of this edition of the Brown Posey Press Show.Miller discusses his upbringing, and the encouragement and inspiration music gave him in this program. He attended the Berklee School of Music in Boston, where matriculation ended when the money did the same. Miller also has stories to tell about those he has performed and written with, audiences in different places and his unique, ongoing journey.His book, music, and history can be found at scottiemiller.com.
    1 hr
  • "Deals, Danger, Destiny" Author John LaCasse on The Sunbury Press Books Show!
    The term "Renaissance Man" is used far too often today, but if anyone is a contender to hold the title, John LaCasse could be one. A 25-year career as a Seattle yacht broker brought him in contact (and in business) with money people, magnates, politicians, actors, members of royalty, and a certain organized crime boss, but that was not all for LaCasse.Years of good living, fine homes, sports cars, motorcycles, and partying (wait till you hear what happened to former Sec. of State George Schultz!) led LaCasse to a moment of clarity that made him ask himself, Why? This leads us to "Deals, Danger, Destiny," the memoir of John LaCasse's life, well, lived. (Thanks to Ray Wylie Hubbard)LaCasse spares no detail in how his life led him to not only the highs of such a lifestyle but indeed its lows. Along the way, he speaks for his love of Paris, and how while hanging out at his favorite bookshop, he entered into discussions with a 13th-century theologian,...in real time. A native of Missoula, Montana, LaCasse was kicked out of three universities, but returned as a middle-aged student of Transcendental Studies, earning an MBA and a Doctorate. He still lives in Seattle.
    31 min
  • Author Elizabeth Bodien on the Sunbury Press Books Show
    As Alzheimer's Disease robs Elizabeth Bodien's brother Pete of his ability to speak, she finds she can still communicate with him, even after he has passed on. How is this possible?Elizabeth Bodien appears on the Sunbury Press Books Show to discuss her relationship with her brother, which travels beyond the physical plane in "Bigger Pete: Conversations Between Life and Afterlife," released on the Ars Metaphysica imprint. She talks of how her brother dealt with Down Syndrome and did not allow this to dictate his life. In his later years as his health failed, Elizabeth was able to communicate with Pete while he slept through a process known as "automatic writing." Bigger Pete became his higher self, and these talks continued for another eight years after he passed. Their story resonates with those who have family that suffered from Alzheimer's, and especially caregivers in the final years of life.Elizabeth grew up in the "burned-over" district of Western New York. Her education and travels took her around the world with the International School of America, and she earned a degree in cultural anthropology from the University of California. Her graduate work brought degrees in consciousness studies from John F. Kennedy University and phenomenology of religion from the Graduate Theological Union. She also taught English in Japan, was a childbirth instructor in West Africa, an organic farmer in Oregon, and a Montessori teacher. Post-retirement, she earned an MFA in poetry from Western Colorado State.Elizabeth is also the author of two books of poetry, "Blood, Metal, Fiber, Rock" and "Oblique Music: A Book of Hours" plus other works. She lives near Hawk Mountain, Pennsylvania.
    31 min
  • Matt Di Paoli brings Old West legend to life in "Holliday" on Sunbury Press Show
    John "Doc" Holliday was many things in his short life. It may surprise readers to learn that Holliday graduated from The Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery in Philadelphia, with his doctoral thesis on Diseases of the Teeth. While he practiced in various locations, Holliday was also a keeper of gaming tables and was involved in the events that surrounded the famous 1882 shootout at the OK Corral in Tombstone, Arizona (in which Holliday was wounded).Hard-drinking and suffering from tuberculosis, author Matt Di Paoli brings "Holliday" to life in his new novel. Drawing on Val Kilmer's performance in Tombstone, Di Paoli shows Doc in a charismatic light, seeking to outrun his illness by moving to dryer climes, but also in search of a spring that could well cure him. Along the way, he helps his old friend Wyatt Earp in his ongoing feud with the Clanton/McLaury gang, is followed by paparazzi, and indulges in his fascinations for alcohol, gambling, women, and death.Matt Di Paoli earned his MFA in Fiction at Columbia University. He has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize three times, and "Holliday" brought him the Wilbur & Niso Smith Adventure Writing Prize. His works include "Killstanbul" (El Balazo Press), and his stories have appeared in "Boulevard," "Fjords," "Post Road," and "Cleaver." He currently teaches writing in New York City.
    27 min
  • PA Mountain Landmarks Author Jeffrey Frazier on the Sunbury Press Books Show
    Jeffrey Frazier has made it his life's work to collect accounts, legends and tales of Keystone State history and culture. "Pennsylvania Mountain Landmarks, Volume 1" offers an armchair journey to some of the most unusual and inaccessible landmarks in the state. These include treks to the Devil's Dining Room, Indian Steps and Umbrella Rock, among others, in this book, released on the Catamount Press imprint of Sunbury Press Books.A Central PA native, Frazier discusses with Lawrence Knorr his Tom Sawyer-like upbringing and how a case of homesickness led him to search out for himself the unique, the unusual and the strange of Pennsylvania. Sunbury Press will be re-releasing his "Fireside Tales" series in the near-future.
    31 min
  • "Wild Mountain" Author Nancy Hayes Kilgore on the Brown Posey Press Show!
    Nancy Hayes Kilgore brings to life a small town in Vermont at a time of great change, and the fears of what this may bring in her second novel, "Wild Mountain." Mona Duval runs the local general store, and when the nearby covered bridge is destroyed in a flood it is just one more matter that weighs on her.It is 2008, and Vermont is facing the potential shift to permitting gay marriage, a subject the locals have opinions on, and some will do whatever they can to stop it. While Mona weighs her relationship with her dear friend Roz, there is the question of Frank, a seasonal cabin-dweller whose own style makes itself known. Atop this, Mona's abusive ex-husband Johnny is back, and what purpose does he have in mind? Then, too a mysterious watcher believed part of Green Mountain folklore, the changing times and lives of all are examined in "Wild Mountain."A winner of the Vermont Writers Prize, Nancy's works include "Bitter Magic," released by Sunbury Press in 2021, and "Sea Level," released in 2012. Sunbury Press is proud to bring "Wild Mountain" to its shelf as well. A parish pastor, psychotherapist and teacher of unique creative writing classes, Nancy discusses her spiritual and literary journey with Tory Gates on this program. Her stories have appeared in Vermont Magazine, Bloodroot Literary Magazine, the Bottle Imp and on Vermont Public Radio. She lives in Burlington, VT with her husband and pets.
    41 min

About BookSpeak Network

From the publisher's feed

Three different shows. One common theme: celebrating the world of books.This podcast network is for readers and writers interested in hearing about awesome new books spanning a wide variety of…