Keenan's Book Reviews: Search results for MIssouri

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Wednesday, January 28, 2009

What's New Jan. 28, 2009

American Water Works Association Chooses New Officers
Amtrak May Benefit from Tunnel Bill
Book Review: The Unfinished Game by Keith Devlin
Civil Engineers Give American Infrastructure a Low Grade
Congress to Consider Recovery Bill
Drinking Water Not Getting as Much of Stimulus Package as Advocates Hoped
Environmental Protection Agency Announces Decision on Missouri Impaired Waters List
Glossary (Amended)
God Wants You to Be Rich by Paul Zane Pilzer
Googleganger: high school football player
Government Accountability Office Summarizes Shipments on the Missouri River
http://truman.missouri.edu/uploads/newsletters/PlainSpeakingWS03.pdf http://truman.missouri.edu/uploads/newsletters/PlainSpeakingWS05.pdf http://engineering.missouri.edu/alumni/magazine/EngrMagazine06.pdf http://www.columbiatribune.com/2005/Aug/20050803News015.asp http://www.flouridealert.org/news/2338.html http://www.dddnews.com/story/1248425.html
Network with Infrastructure Watch on Facebook
New Infrastructure Report Card to be Released January 28
Ray H. LaHood Appointed Secretary of Transportation
Ritual
Spirituality
Take Small Steps to Improve Financial Outlook
The Unfinished Game by Keith Devlin
What’s New Jan. 19, 2009
XING - Groups - All Groups - Consulting Business - Article thread ...
XING - Groups - All Groups - Entrepreneurs Playground - Article ...

Monday, January 9, 2012

On the Mainlines by William B. Claycomb & Katy Depot Historic Site edited by Deborah Biermann

Claycomb, William B. On the Mainlines: Railroading in Sedalia, Missouri. Sedalia, MO: Sedalia Heritage Foundation, 2003.

Biermann, Deborah, ed. Katy Depot Historic Site. Sedalia, MO: Sedalia Heritage Foundation, 2002.

Two small books describe the import of the railroads to the town of Sedalia, Missouri, and one of the architectural remnants that era, the Katy Depot. On the Mainlines by William B. Claycomb and Katy Depot Historic Site edited by Deborah Biermann are published by the Sedalia Heritage Foundation.

Neither book has the volume to be comprehensive histories of Sedalia railroading, though only the most die-hard devotees of railroad or Missouriana might read such a book. For the more casual reader, Claycomb’s monograph has lots of interesting tidbits about both of the major railroads that operated in Sedalia. Each short chapter covers an element of the railroad operations there, the depots, the shop yards, even the railroad hospital. A few stories and anecdotes are thrown in to spice it up.

Katy Depot Historic Site focuses on one structure and its part in the Sedalia rails. Built by the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad (MKT or Katy), the depot was once hub of activity with rails running on both sides and features that might normally be found only in larger stations. Now it’s part of a state park and sets on an open stretch with easy access to a trail that follows the old rail line. The book briefly covers the history of the depot and the efforts of local organizations to preserve it.

Sedalia was built with the hope of attracting the railroads. The Missouri Pacific was the major railway, but the Katy railroad was also significant to the town. Sedalia’s fortunes rose and fell with the railroads, too. The state fair still attracts travelers to the town, and if you’re there you might check out some of town’s preserved railroad heritage.

If you’re interested in these books, you may also be interested in
Dreams of Iron and Steel by Deborah Cadbury

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Saturday, September 5, 2015

Miss Mizzou by J. B. Winter

Miss Mizzou was a secondary character in the Steve Canyon comic strip. She may not have stood out from the other bombshells in the cartoon pilot’s adventures, but she made quite an impression on the university from which she took her name (my alma mater, the University of Missouri) and the town that proudly housed it (Columbia). J. B. Winter talks about the girl in the overcoat (and maybe nothing else) and her impact in a mid-Missouri community in his book Miss Mizzou: A Life Beyond Comics.

Milton Caniff was a very well regarded cartoonist. His work on Terry and the Pirates was an inspiration to many in the field. He left that strip in 1947 to start another adventure comic, Steve Canyon, which he would own. He spoke at the University of Missouri in 1949. It bore the nicknamed Mizzou even before then though the university did not officially embrace it until 2004. Caniff apparently enjoyed the trip because he chose Mizzou as the name of a character he introduced in 1952, and made Columbia her hometown.

Caniff took inspiration from waitress he knew as a student at Ohio State University, Marilyn Monroe, and, more directly, dancer and model Bek Stiner. Miss Mizzou, played by Stiner, appeared was introduced on television before appearing in newspapers. Caniff and Stiner, in the characters overcoat, appeared on the Bob Considine Show about a month before her adventure with Canyon ran.

Columbians and Mizzou students jumped on the opportunity to celebrate. The Missouri Student Government Association organized publicity events that Stiner attended over a weekend about a month after the character appeared in newspapers. In 1954, a journalism fraternity proposed a Miss Mizzou-themed contest and calendar as a fundraiser; Caniff agreed to let them do it. The contest ran from 1955 to 1971, and the skits that became associated with it were popular.

Winter’s slender book is a quick read, but still very informative. He concentrates mostly on the character’s impact on the titular school and city than on her adventures in the comics. Even so, comics fans may enjoy the book because few character have been embraced by community in this fashion or had such an influence

If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in

Men of Tomorrow by Gerard Jones

Superman versus the Ku Klux Klan by Rick Bowers

Will Eisner by Michael Schumacher

Winter, J. B. Miss Mizzou: A Life Beyond Comics. Lexington, KY: CreateSpace, 2014.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Interesting Stuff April 17, 2011

A funny Superman comic by Kerry Cullen
Banana Peels Can Remove Lead, Copper from Water
Boy Scouts to Add Merit Badge for Robotics
Commodore 64 is Back (I had a Vic 20)
The Day the Typewriter Died

Missouri Floods
-Missouri's Black River levee fails. Where floodwaters could hit next.
-MoDOT Traveler Information Map Offers Flood Information
-Volunteers work to stop flooding in Midwest, South

Interesting Stuff March 18, 2011
Nicolas Cage’s Stolen Action Comics #1 Recovered Unders Super Sketchy Circumstances
S.846: To designate the United States courthouse located at 80 Lafayette Street in Jefferson City, Missouri, as the Christopher S. Bond United States Courthouse
Should we tear down I-70 in St. Louis?
Urban Buildings Unplug from Water Grid
U.S. Population Centered in Missouri
Yuri Gagarin: First Man in Space

Friday, April 17, 2009

What's New April 17, 2009

Action Packed (10)

Alternative Fuels and Energy Resources Articles and Links (Updated)

Asset Management Presentation Available

Bill Would Limit Greenhouse Gas Considerations in Endangered Species Decisions

Bridge Bill Could Require States to Address Corrosion

The busy googleganger: Keenan Patterson - Silicon Valley, CA Facebook
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Congress Considers Dam Safety Bills

Economic Stimulus Funds 2000 Transportation Projects (Infrastructure Watch, Apr. 14, 2009)

Infrastructure Watch can now be reached at www.infrastructurewatch.net

Infrastructure Watch has a New URL

Missouri Gets Economics Stimulus Fund for Clean Diesel Projects

More Federal Environment and Infrastructure Appointees Announced

Missouri Selects Transportation Projects for Economic Stimulus Funding

Missouri to Hold Public Meeting on Economic Stimulus for Weatherization Program

New Chief of Natural Resources Conservation Service Named

New Commissioner Appointed to Missouri Highways & Transportation Commission

Pharmaceuticals in Water (Updated)

Progress Report Proposed House Resolution Supports National Public Works Week

Transportation Headlines for Wednesday, March 18, 2009

What I Read

What's New March 27, 2009

www.keenanpatterson.net now redirects to Keenan’s Book Reviews

Wednesday, May 27, 2020

Bigger than Life by Marilyn Cannaday

Doc Savage starred in a pulp magazine that ran for 16 years. It was one of the most popular adventure magazines of the time. Each of the 182 issues featured a novel-length story by Kenneth Robeson, a house name owned by publisher Street & Smith. Each was supervised by the author contracted to produce them, Lester Dent, who wrote 165 of them himself. That was on top of writing stories and articles for other magazines and later in his career writing six novels.

Dent, a native of La Plata, Missouri, was remarkable in ways that go far beyond his prolific catalogue of pulp adventure tales. Marilyn Cannady tells his personal story in Bigger Than Life.

Bigger Than Life is the only book-length biography of Dent that I’m aware of. It is, unfortunately, a fairly short book. There is not much know about Dent’s childhood, partly because he didn’t talk or write much about it, though he was clearly shaped by his upbringing on isolated ranches and farms in Oklahoma, Wyoming and Missouri.

Savage pursued fantastical adventures in the magazine; Dent was a real-world adventurer. He learned to sail, and hunted for treasure in the Caribbean using a metal detector of his own design. He was a pilot and ham radio operator. His interest in sailing, aircraft and technology informed many of his stories, both in Doc Savage and other magazines.

Each chapter is written somewhat like an essay that focuses on a particular aspect of Dent’s life or career. This can make the book seem a bit disjointed, especially in comparison to biographies that take a more strictly chronological approach.

Cannady, like Dent, grew up in La Plata. Her own experiences in the area, including a brief stint working at Dent’s aerial photography business, provide a flavor of what his life was like in Missouri.

If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in

The Astounding, the Amazing, and the Unknown by Paul Malmont

The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril by Paul Malmont

Men of Tomorrow by Gerard Jones

Mr. America by Mark Adams

1939 by David Gelernter

Pulp Art by Robert Lesser

Cannaday, Marilyn. Bigger Than Life: The Creator of Doc Savage. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1990.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Interesting Stuff Nov. 9, 2008

Bill Would Make Ice Cream Cone Missouri’s Official Dessert
Designer To Show Off His Mini-Helicopter
Did El Nino Help Magellan Sail?
Engineers Need A Universal Directive on Responsibility
Gov. Blunt's Faith-Based Initiative Offers Tools to Better Prepare Missouri for Emergency Response
Hydrogen Fuel Cells Used to Make Water
In Space, No One Can Hear You Flush
Interesting Stuff Nov. 5, 2008
Measure seeks to name sewage plant after Bush (As a friend likes to say, “What the monkey?”)
"Phenomenal" Bug Repellants Identified
Robot Digger Set to Land on Mars
Rocket Man Feels Wind Beneath His Wings
Scientists Witness Star's Explosive End
Surgeons Save Rescue Dog With Pacemaker (right here in Missouri)
Treated Wastewater for Thirsty Power Plants

Saturday, April 6, 2019

Haunted Jefferson City by Janice Tremeear

I don’t believe in ghosts, but I often enjoy a good ghost story. Janice Tremeear collected such tales of central Missouri, my stomping grounds, in Haunted Jefferson City.

Tremeear is, among other things, a paranormal investigator. Some of the stories in the book draw on her experiences and investigations or those of her acquaintances.

The book is not entirely about hauntings. Tremeear also recounts some of the weird and bloody history of the area, especially relating to the Civil War and its aftermath.

In some ways the book read like a travelogue. A tourist to central Missouri might find parts of the book interesting. Of course, the tourist attracted to this book may be looking for something off the beaten path. I found the actual history interesting. And of course, there are the ghost stories.

Tremeear, Janice. Haunted Jefferson City: Ghosts of Missouri’s State Capital. Charleston, SC: Haunted America, 2012.