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Category Archives: writing
April 24, 1916- Easter Monday
Mike Scanlon continues in his journal: Easter Monday is a holiday in Ireland, marking the second day of the ending of Lent, the end of self-induced prohibitions from such activities as drinking, gambling and smoking. By all reports the weather … Continue reading
Countdown to an Uprising- Easter week,1916
Mike Scanlon–worker, wanderer and dreamer–kept an informal journal during his years spent out West. In spring of 1916 he was working in the engine room of the Hyak, one of the Seattle-based “mosquito fleet” of small steamboats plying the waters … Continue reading
A Prelude to the Easter Rising, 1916. Pt. 2
28-year-old Mary Scanlon continues her narrative letter of March 31, 1916, to her brother Mike in Seattle. With longtime family associate Steve O’Hanlon, she is in the office of John Devoy–New York-based Irish revolutionary. An imminent uprising against British rule … Continue reading
A Prelude to the Easter Rising, 1916. Pt. 1
This coming week marks the 98th anniversary of the Irish Easter Rebellion, also known as the Rising. Following is an excerpt from a letter, dated March 31, 1916, sent by 28-year-old Mary Scanlon–of Riverport, New Jersey–to her older brother Mike, … Continue reading
Along Chuckanut’s Shore
July 4th, 1890 Following a winter of separation, Susie Taylor teaching school in Seattle and Jimmy Scanlon working railroad construction up in Fairhaven, the couple are reunited for the holiday. Excerpt from Beyond The Divide: Leaving behind the throngs on … Continue reading
Posted in history, labor, love, railroading, writing
Tagged Chuckanut Bay, Fairhaven, handcars, John Keats, Lummi Indians
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Mike, growing up back East
As Seattle begins recovery from a June fire that leveled nearly its entire commercial district, Jimmy Scanlon continues working railroad construction in the booming, more-northerly Puget Sound city of Fairhaven. Learning his girlfriend Susie Taylor came through the Seattle … Continue reading
Posted in history, labor, writing
Tagged Catholic sacraments, Fairhaven boom, growing up Catholic, Irish-American life, Rahway N.J., Seattle Fire
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Paddle, Paddle, George E. Starr
Twice I’ve made the approximately 600-mile trip up the inside passage from Puget Sound to Southeast Alaska in a salmon troller–and one return trip. Averaging 5 to 6 knots, anchoring or tying up each night, seven to ten days from … Continue reading
Blizzard of Books, Queries, Reviews, Blogs
Originally posted on J.P. Kenna:
Waiting for the train from Jersey City. Aftermath of the Blizzard of ’88Sketch by J.P. Kenna OK, the accompanying sketch–from a photograph of the Pennsylvania Railroad depot in Rahway, New Jersey, following a late-19th…
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Where Have You Gone, Maxwell Perkins?
Originally posted on J.P. Kenna:
Was it easier to get a book published before the recent onset of mass-digital (mostly self) publishing? It may depend on the type of book. Media celebrities, no matter how vacuous, seem to have…
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Joe Hill–Not Forgotten
Originally posted on J.P. Kenna:
Last Friday, in our local, mainstream daily rag, there appeared in the “Today in History” feature a posting, announcing that on January 10th, 1914, A Salt Lake City grocer (a former policeman) named John…
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