People of the Victorian period (until 1901) and the Edwardian period (1901-1914) have acquired a reputation — if countless television programs and movies are any guide — as uptight, stuffy Puritans who call people’s legs ‘limbs’, faint dead away at the mere mention of sex, and drape linen loincloths around Michelangelo’s David.
Halloween is my favorite holiday. Is it a holiday?
I’m not sure, but it feels like one to me—perhaps because I grew up in the greatest Halloween region on the planet, where the season always brought with it the tang of apple cider, the crunch of falling leaves, and a brisk wind off Lake Erie—on which might float the first flakes of winter snow.
The lovely Delaware Park Golf Course, which rolls over one of Frederick Law Olmsted’s many beautiful Buffalo parks, has been a favorite of golfers since the 1890s.
But it was also once the setting for some of the rough-and-tumble social climbing of the young and striving Elmwood Set, who were determined to establish themselves as separate, distinct – and possibly superior – to the the city’s old-money stiffs.
I don’t know if kids still do this, but used to be when school was back in session after the summer break, the obligatory first assignment was to write a short essay entitled '‘What I Did on My Summer Vacation.’
In the spirit of that tradition—if a couple weeks early—I thought I might revisit that with some updates and odd undertakings over the past few months.
In my lifetime, I’ve had the pleasure of living with quite a few, too – cats, a dog, and a herd of bison (one of my more quixotic ventures, but very rewarding spiritually). As a boy I rode horses, and as an adult I’ve driven a mule team in a National Park. These days my wife and I live with (and at the pleasure of) two rather adorable British Shorthair cats, James and Penelope.
Did you know that Amazon.com carries 33 million different books? It’s true … and now there are 33,000,001.
That’s because now available for pre-order is A Murder in Ashwood, the second installment in the Avenging Angel Detective Agency™ Mysteries. This story is quite a wild ride, and I think you'll enjoy it.
Since The Unsealing (finally!) published on February 28th, I’ve been very gratified by all of the attention it’s received from critics and readers alike. Thank you!
I’ve also received quite a number of questions submitted via my website and email, which I love getting!
I really enjoy hearing from you and I’ll be happy to answer (mostly) anything you ask. So today here are a few of the questions posed, along with my replies. I’ll try to answer all of them in due course, but I try to keep my blog posts short, so it’ll be a few at a time.
Victorians are (rightly) thought to have been more reserved than we are, and certainly were less ‘expressive’ (or explicit) about expressing their views, feelings, and desires, except among family and close friends.
Even then, proper etiquette and a degree of restraint were prized as virtues and as evidence of a good upbringing.
To paraphrase Winston Churchill, ‘this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.’
Now Mr. Churchill uttered his lapidary sentiment in a very serious context — the growing certainty of an Allied victory in World War II — but as he was a man whom I respect for his tenacity and his stunning linguistic skills, I hope he won’t mind my borrowing his quote today.
Those of us old enough to remember December 31, 1999, may recall doing some thinking at that time about what the twenty-first Century might bring.
I think it’s fair to say that the twentieth was a mixed bag: increasing human prosperity and scientific progress around the world, certainly, but punctuated by spasms of truly horrific violence and inhumanity.
Greetings, I’m Robert Brighton, and I appreciate your coming to spend a few minutes with me. If you’ve not heard of me, you’re not alone. (Though I hope we can change that.) While I’ve been writing most of my life, only recently did I decide to pursue it full-time.
