Mysterious: Recent Episodes
Robin Barefield
Mysterious explores the mysteries in the world around us. Brought to you by authors from a variety of genres, we each tell you about a mystery related to our particular field of expertise. From mysterious disappearances and UFOs to the unexplainable behavior of a pig to an unsolved mass murder at sea to a nun who suddenly disappeared. We will explore mysteries in nature, mysterious occurrences in history, and the enigmas of space. Join us and take a closer look at the mysterious world around us.
Episode 75: The Murderer Who Helped Write The Oxford English DictionaryWords build worlds. They shape laws, compose prayers, ignite wars, and whisper love. Every word we speak carries centuries of meaning Chester Minor, was a murderer and one of the greatest architects of the English language.
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Now Available________________________
Get to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club_______________
Join the Excitement! It’s Happening Now!A Facebook Event.###### Learn about the Aurora, share your photos, and talk with other Aurora lovers. We’ll see you there -November 18 – 25!
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Meet Evan Swensen, your host for Episode 75: : The Murderer Who Helped Write The Oxford English DictionaryEvan Swensen, book publisher, editor, author, and Author Masterminds charter member, along with his wife, Lois, publishes books by authors worldwide. He has been the publisher and editor of Alaska Outdoors magazine and producer of Alaska Outdoors television show and outdoor videos, and host of Alaska Outdoor Radio Magazine. He has been an Alaska resident since 1957.
As a pilot, he has logged more than 4,000 hours of flight time in Alaska, in both wheel and float planes. He is a serious recreation hunter and fisherman, equally comfortable casting a flyrod or using bait, or lures. Evan has been published in many national magazines and is the author of five books and publisher of more than 1,000 books by other authors.
Evan claims to have the best job in the world; he gets up in the morning, puts on his fishing vest, picks up his fly rod, kisses his wife goodbye, tells her he’s going to work—and she believes him.
Author Masterminds: https://authormasterminds.com/evan-swensen
Author Masterminds One Last Cast book: https://authormasterminds.com/details/XLxrX
One Last Cast on Amazon: https://bit.ly/3H0OzTo
One Last Cast short video: https://youtu.be/2wzwWmim-2g
Alaska Outdoors https://alaskaoutdoorsmagazine.com.
Alaska Outdoors Blog: https://alaskaoutdoorsmagazine.com/blog/
Alaska Outdoors Videos: https://bit.ly/37xjUzl
Episode 74: The Mysterious Plagues of EgyptMost people know the biblical story about the Ten Plagues of Egypt. I learned the story in Sunday School. However, in recent months, I have learned more subtle facts about the story that can only be understood with knowledge of ancient Egyptian society. First, I need to share the biblical history that led to why the Egyptian Plagues occurred.
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Get to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club_______________
Join the Excitement!A Facebook Event.###### Learn about the Aurora, share your photos, and talk with other Aurora lovers. We’ll see you there -November 18 – 25!
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Meet Rebecca Wetzler, your host for Episode 74:Rebecca J Wetzler, originally a California girl, has lived in Alaska since she was eight years old. From early in life, she has been an avid reader, and hoped to write her own books someday. From her earliest memories she has been a believer. Shortly after moving to Alaska, she asked Jesus into her heart during Sunday School. As her life progressed, Rebecca realized her faith gives her steady spiritual regrounding to weather the drama of real life. She challenges the untruths forecast by the world’s darkness by believing the Light of God’s Word, and she wants to share the spiritual truths with others. Bread Box for the Broken is her first book.
www.rebeccawetzler.net
https://authormasterminds.com/rebecca-j-wetzler
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebecca-j-wetzler-7b763a49/
https://www.facebook.com/authorrebeccajwetzler
https://www.facebook.com/holyspiritdove
Episode 73: The Valley of Headless Men: Nahanni National ParkWith landmarks bearing the names of Deadmen Valley, Headless Creek, Funeral Range, and Hell’s Gate Rapids, you might think twice before planning a trip to Nahanni National Park in Canada. However, the legends behind these names make the park even more daunting.
SourcesBerge, Chloe. “The haunting history of this Canadian National Park.” March 9, 2020. Fodors.com.
Malbeuf, Jamie. “Families call for case of mysterious 2005 deaths to be reopened.” May 7, 2018. CBS News.
Peters, Hammerson. Legends of the Nahanni Valley. 2018. Western Canada. Hammerson Peters.
Vučkovič, Aleska. “Valley of Headless Men: Mysterious decapitations in Canada’s Nahanni Valley.” December 2021. Ancient Origins.
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Get to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club_______________
Coming in November — Stay Tuned!_________
Meet Robin Barefield, Your Host of Episode 73: The Valley of Headless Men: Nahanni National ParkRobin Barefield lives in the wilderness on Kodiak Island, where she and her husband own a remote lodge. She has a master’s degree in fish and wildlife biology and is a wildlife-viewing and fishing guide. Robin has published six novels: Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, The Fisherman’s Daughter, Karluk Bones, Massacre at Bear Creek Lodge, and The Ultimate Hunt. She has also published two non-fiction books: Kodiak Island Wildlife and Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. She draws on her love and appreciation of the Alaska wilderness as well as her scientific background when writing.
Robin invites you to join her at her website: https://robinbarefield.com, and while you are there, sign up for her free monthly newsletter about true crime in Alaska. Robin also narrates a podcast, Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. You can find it at: https://murder-in-the-last-frontier.blubrry.net
Episode 72: The Lost PagesPicture this: You walk into the New York Public Library. Those marble halls, the whispered conversations of scholars, the smell of old paper and binding glue. You might think you’re in one of the safest places in the world for precious documents. You’d be wrong.
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Now Available________________________
Get to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club________________
Meet Evan Swensen, your host for Episode 72: The Lost PagesEvan Swensen, book publisher, editor, author, and Author Masterminds charter member, along with his wife, Lois, publishes books by authors worldwide. He has been the publisher and editor of Alaska Outdoors magazine and producer of Alaska Outdoors television show and outdoor videos, and host of Alaska Outdoor Radio Magazine. He has been an Alaska resident since 1957.
As a pilot, he has logged more than 4,000 hours of flight time in Alaska, in both wheel and float planes. He is a serious recreation hunter and fisherman, equally comfortable casting a flyrod or using bait, or lures. Evan has been published in many national magazines and is the author of five books and publisher of more than 1,000 books by other authors.
Evan claims to have the best job in the world; he gets up in the morning, puts on his fishing vest, picks up his fly rod, kisses his wife goodbye, tells her he’s going to work—and she believes him.
Author Masterminds: https://authormasterminds.com/evan-swensen
Author Masterminds One Last Cast book: https://authormasterminds.com/details/XLxrX
One Last Cast on Amazon: https://bit.ly/3H0OzTo
One Last Cast short video: https://youtu.be/2wzwWmim-2g
Alaska Outdoors https://alaskaoutdoorsmagazine.com.
Alaska Outdoors Blog: https://alaskaoutdoorsmagazine.com/blog/
Alaska Outdoors Videos: https://bit.ly/37xjUzl
Episode 71: George Hinton Henry, The Father osf Alaska Journalism Found at Last —MaybeNo chapter on newspapers in Alaska would be complete without a section on the most-sued member of the press, George Hinton Henry. Henry published/edited six papers in four cities between 1907 and 1915. These included the Yukon Press, Tanana Citizen, Hot Springs Echo, Tanana News, Free Press (Fairbanks), and Socialist Press in Fairbanks. He was responsible for a great number of newspapers in a great number of towns, all of which went broke. Further, he probably holds the record for the number of times an editor has been sued for slander, though the true number is unknown as most of the records for that time period have been lost. While some of the historical documentation still exists, the bulk of the information on his sordid career appears in the various papers not published by him.
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Get to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club________________
Now AvailableMeet Steve Levi, Your Host for Episode 71:George Hinton Henry, The Father osf Alaska Journalism Found at Last —MaybeSteve Levi is a 70-something writer in Alaska. He specializes in the impossible crime and the Alaska Gold Rush. An impossible crime is one in which the detective must figure out HOW the crime was committed before he can go after the perpetrators. As an example, in THE MATTER OF THE VANISHING GREYHOUND, the detective must figure out how a Greyhound bus with four bank robbers, a dozen hostages, and $10 million can vanish off the Golden Gate Bridge. Steve’s books can be seen at www.authormasterminds.com/steve-levi and www.steverlevibooks.com. He also does two historical uploads a week. Send Steve your email, and he will include it in the mailings.
Episode 70: Voynich Manuscript MysteryThere is a book, a book that has broken the minds of the world’s greatest codebreakers, a book that has resisted every attempt at translation for over a century. A book that shouldn’t exist but does. Today we’re diving deep into the Voynich manuscript. A 600 year old enigma that has stumped the NSA defeated World War the Second cryptographers and continues to mock every attempt to unlock its secrets. But here’s what makes this story truly extraordinary. We now have scientific proof that everything about this book is real except our ability to read it.
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Coming Soon!This podcast is sponsored by the Readers and Writers Book Club.Get to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club__________________________________________________
Meet Evan Swensen, your host for Episode 65: Portlock: The Silent ShoreEvan Swensen, book publisher, editor, author, and Author Masterminds charter member, along with his wife, Lois, publishes books by authors worldwide. He has been the publisher and editor of Alaska Outdoors magazine and producer of Alaska Outdoors television show and outdoor videos, and host of Alaska Outdoor Radio Magazine. He has been an Alaska resident since 1957.
As a pilot, he has logged more than 4,000 hours of flight time in Alaska, in both wheel and float planes. He is a serious recreation hunter and fisherman, equally comfortable casting a flyrod or using bait, or lures. Evan has been published in many national magazines and is the author of five books and publisher of more than 1,000 books by other authors.
Evan claims to have the best job in the world; he gets up in the morning, puts on his fishing vest, picks up his fly rod, kisses his wife goodbye, tells her he’s going to work—and she believes him.
Author Masterminds: https://authormasterminds.com/evan-swensen
Author Masterminds One Last Cast book: https://authormasterminds.com/details/XLxrX
One Last Cast on Amazon: https://bit.ly/3H0OzTo
One Last Cast short video: https://youtu.be/2wzwWmim-2g
Alaska Outdoors https://alaskaoutdoorsmagazine.com.
Alaska Outdoors Blog: https://alaskaoutdoorsmagazine.com/blog/
Alaska Outdoors Videos: https://bit.ly/37xjUzl
Episode 69: The Greenbrier Ghost: A True Tale of Murder and the SupernaturalIn the misty hills of 1897 Greenbrier County, a young woman’s sudden death sparked a chilling mystery that would echo through history. Join us as we unravel the haunting tale of the Greenbrier Ghost, where a spirit’s whisper from beyond the grave led to a murderer’s conviction.
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Take a stroll through a haunted amusement park!__________________________________________________________________________________________________
Want more MYSTERIOUS? Be sure to subscribe!
__________________________________________________________________This podcast is sponsored by Author Masterminds and the Readers and Writers Book Club.Check out the Author Masterminds WebsiteGet to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club________________________________________________________________________________________________
Met Mary Ann Poll, your host for Episode 69:The Greenbrier Ghost: A True Tale of Murder and the SupernaturalMary Ann Poll is the author of five Supernatural Thriller novels, Ravens Cove, Ingress, Gorgon, Dullahan, and Andalusia Forest.
Sign up to subscribe for free information about upcoming events at www.maryannpoll.com and check out her podcast Real Ghost Chatter.
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Episode 68: Gift MortgagesHERE’S A DOUBLE MYSTERY FOR YOU! THE FIRST ONE IS: DIDN’T YOU KNOW YOU CAN GET THE MORTGAGE ON YOUR HOUSE PAID OFF FOR FREE? THE SECOND MYSTERY IS WHY ARE YOU LETTING THE BANKS GIVE AWAY YOUR TAX MONEY FOR FREE?
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Check out the Author Masterminds WebsiteGet to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club_______________
Meet Steve Levi, your host for Episode 68: Gift MortgagesM
Episode 67: The Mothman of Point Pleasant###### Welcome to a journey through one of America’s most haunting enigmas—the Mothman of Point Pleasant.
Plus — The Phantom Dogsled by Steve Levi.
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Take a stroll through a haunted amusement park!__________________________________________________________________________________________________
Want more MYSTERIOUS? Be sure to subscribe!
__________________________________________________________________This podcast is sponsored by Author Masterminds and the Readers and Writers Book Club.Check out the Author Masterminds WebsiteGet to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club________________________________________________________________________________________________
Meet Mary Ann Poll, your host for Episode 67: The Mothman of Point PleasantMary Ann Poll is the author of five Supernatural Thriller novels, Ravens Cove, Ingress, Gorgon, Dullahan, and Andalusia Forest.
Sign up to subscribe for free information about upcoming events at www.maryannpoll.com and check out her podcast Real Ghost Chatter.
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The Phantom Dog Sled was written and performed by Steve Levi. Check out his books at Author Masterminds.
Episode 66: The Clara Nevada — Accident or Murder?No saga of the Alaska Gold Rush would be complete without a touch of the mysterious. Every rush has its eerie events, and the Alaska Gold Rush was no exception. Perhaps the most perplexing incident of that era was the saga of the Clara Nevada. Here was a tale of greed, robbery, and murder, along with a ghostly re-visitation. But it was more than that. It is also one of the largest successful robberies in American history combined with the third largest mass murders in American history as well, surpassed only by the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 and the 911 attack on the World Trade Center.
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Coming Soon!Check out the Author Masterminds Website
Get to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club
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Meet Steve Levi, Your Host for Episode 66: The Clara Nevada — Accident or Murder?Steve Levi is a 70-something writer in Alaska. He specializes in the impossible crime and the Alaska Gold Rush. An impossible crime is one in which the detective must figure out HOW the crime was committed before he can go after the perpetrators. As an example, in THE MATTER OF THE VANISHING GREYHOUND, the detective must figure out how a Greyhound bus with four bank robbers, a dozen hostages, and $10 million can vanish off the Golden Gate Bridge. Steve’s books can be seen at www.authormasterminds.com/steve-levi and www.steverlevibooks.com. He also does two historical uploads a week. Send Steve your email, and he will include it in the mailings.
Episode 64: The Mysterious Grand CanyonSince well before the “Americans” discovered the magnificent Grand Canyon, the incredible geologic formation has been shrouded in mystery. The Hopis—who live there on the southern escarpments of Black Mesa in eastern Arizona--are one of the oldest living cultures in documented history, with a past stretching back thousands of years. The Hopi trace their ancestry to the Ancient Puebloan and Basketmaker cultures, which built many stone structures and left many artifacts at the Grand Canyon and across the area of the present day Southwestern United States. Little is known about that mysterious culture beyond what they left behind.________________Grab your copy of this epic trilogy._______________________Share your Alaska photos and tales at the Explore Alaska Facebook Event!Visit our Facebook Event: Explore Alaska from June 16 to June 30 and share your tales and post photos of Alaska._________________________This podcast is sponsored by Author Masterminds and the Readers and Writers Book Club. Check out the Author Masterminds WebsiteGet to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club__________________________________________________Meet Carl Douglass, your host for episode 64: The Mysterious Grand Canyon.My pseudonym as an author is Carl Douglass, adopted as a means of telling stories with gripping realism—the truth of which would not bring trouble to my door. My writing of gripping, realistic fiction began after I was obligated to retire from the private practice of neurosurgery due to sudden blindness in my left eye from a retinal detachment which caused loss of stereoscopic vision. I carried with me decades-long knowledge of doctors, hospitals, and institutions of higher learning, including some less than laudatory information. My military experience during the years of the recent unpleasantness in Vietnam also gave me considerable insight. Both of those lengthy experiences provided true grist for the mill of my writing, but neither of them need to connect the stories to the lives of the real people and places where the stories took place. In that sense, I know too much and have no wish to incriminate or to bring harm or embarrassment to real individuals or institutions. My rich and varied life has provided even more fodder to feed my mind and contribute realism to my written work. In my time, I have had to work due to lacking a sugar daddy. I have been a grease monkey, a lumber mill and forest worker, a lifeguard, a slaughterhouse worker, a diener in a morgue, a lab rat, an academic writer, a medical officer in a mental hospital, a naval officer and surgeon, a brig doctor, and a deep diving officer. I have been the husband of one fine wife, the father of four children—one deceased—eleven grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren. All of them have enriched the depth and breadth of my storytelling.
Episode 63: What Happened to the Edmund Fitzgerald?The legend lives on from the Chippewa on downof the big lake they called Gitchee GumeeThe lake it is said never gives up her deadwhen the skies of November turn gloomyGordon Lightfoot's lyrics memorialize the tragedy of the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, but the mystery remains - what sunk the great ship?Sources:Stonehouse, Frederick. The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. Avery Color Studios, Inc. Gwinn, Michigan. 1977.Charles River Editors. The Sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald: The Loss of the Largest Ship on the Great Lakes. KindleSchumacher, Michael. The Trial of the Edmund Fitzgerald: Eyewitness Accounts from the U.S. Coast Guard Hearings. University of Minnesota Press. Minneapolis, MN. 201___________________________Now Available________________Explore Alaska with the Readers and Writers Book Club.Visit our Facebook Event: Explore Alaska from June 16 to June 30 and share your tales and post photos of Alaska.______________________This podcast is sponsored by Author Masterminds and the Readers and Writers Book Club. Check out the Author Masterminds WebsiteGet to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club________________________________________________________________________________________________Meet Valerie Winans, your host for Episode 63: What Happened to the Edmund Fitzgerald?Valerie Winans is a graduate of Northwestern Michigan College, a retired state government manager, and a former campground host in Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska. Valerie is the author of four books: Alaska’s Savage River: Inside Denali National Park and Preserve, Road Trip with Remington Beagle: Michigan to Alaska and Back, and A Hero’s Journey: Life Lessons From A Dog And His Friends, and The Extraordinary Life of Edwin B. Winans: From the Stampede for Gold in California to the Capitol of Michigan. A writer of both fiction and non-fiction, her books are written to inform and entertain readers of all ages. She currently resides with her husband in Traverse City, Michigan. More information can be found at www.valeriewinans.com.
Episode 62: Where's Joe?The endless supply of larger-than-life characters in Alaska makes the state fertile ground for reality television shows and movies based on true stories. If you made a list of the strong, fascinating individuals in the history of this vast state, though, Joe Vogler would rank near the top. Picture a sharply dressed man, wearing a fedora, a bolo tie, and a plaid flannel shirt while he stands in front of a group of rowdy people and proclaims his controversial opinions in a booming voice.SourcesBrenan, Tom. Cold Crime. 2005. Epicenter Press. Death of a Maverick.Coppock, Michael. “On Joe Vogler, an independent Alaska.”March 14, 2008. Juneau Empire.Ice Cold Killers. Season 2, Episode 6. “Guns, Gold, and Murder.”_________________________________ Check out the Author Masterminds Website________________________________________________________________Get to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club___________________________________________Meet Robin Barefield, your host for Episode 62: Where's Joe?Robin Barefield lives in the wilderness on Kodiak Island, where she and her husband own a remote lodge. She has a master’s degree in fish and wildlife biology and is a wildlife-viewing and fishing guide. Robin has published six novels: Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, The Fisherman’s Daughter, Karluk Bones, Massacre at Bear Creek Lodge, and The Ultimate Hunt. She has also published two non-fiction books: Kodiak Island Wildlife and Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. She draws on her love and appreciation of the Alaska wilderness as well as her scientific background when writing.Robin invites you to join her at her website: https://robinbarefield.com, and while you are there, sign up for her free monthly newsletter about true crime in Alaska. Robin also narrates a podcast, Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. You can find it at: https://murder-in-the-last-frontier.blubrry.net
Episode 61: Ghosts in the GoldfieldsAlaska has always been a land of extremes—untamed, ruthless, and seductive to those who believe they can master its wilderness. It has lured explorers, trappers, and fortune seekers into its vast and treacherous landscapes for centuries. Many never returned, but those who did were forever changed by the unforgiving land, where survival depended on grit, resourcefulness, and a willingness _to endure hardships few could imagine._________________________________________Check out the Author Masterminds Website________________________________________________________________Get to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club___________________________________________Meet Evan Swensen, your host for Episode 61: Ghosts in the Goldfields.Evan Swensen, book publisher, editor, author, and Author Masterminds charter member, along with his wife, Lois, publishes books by authors worldwide. He has been the publisher and editor of Alaska Outdoors magazine and producer of Alaska Outdoors television show and outdoor videos, and host of Alaska Outdoor Radio Magazine. He has been an Alaska resident since 1957.As a pilot, he has logged more than 4,000 hours of flight time in Alaska, in both wheel and float planes. He is a serious recreation hunter and fisherman, equally comfortable casting a flyrod or using bait, or lures. Evan has been published in many national magazines and is the author of five books and publisher of more than 1,000 books by other authors.Evan claims to have the best job in the world; he gets up in the morning, puts on his fishing vest, picks up his fly rod, kisses his wife goodbye, tells her he’s going to work—and she believes him.Author Masterminds: https://authormasterminds.com/evan-swensenAuthor Masterminds One Last Cast book: https://authormasterminds.com/details/XLxrXOne Last Cast on Amazon: https://bit.ly/3H0OzToOne Last Cast short video: https://youtu.be/2wzwWmim-2gAlaska Outdoors https://alaskaoutdoorsmagazine.com.Alaska Outdoors Blog: https://alaskaoutdoorsmagazine.com/blog/Alaska Outdoors Videos: https://bit.ly/37xjUzl
Episode 60: Mysterious Area 51 and The Skunk WorksIn the mid-1980s, I was involved in a civil trial in Lancaster, California. Both sets of attornies came from Los Angeles. One of them was openly scornful of the northern part of LA county where the trial was being held. He loved LA with its chewable air, and Hollyweird. During voir dire, he took exception to the answers given him by several potential jurors. The Q & A went like this:Q-What kind of work do you do.A-I can’t say.Q-Why not?A-I can’t say.Q-Where do you work?A-I can’t say.Q-How many people work where you work?A-I can’t say.Q-What can you say?A-Nothing… about work.“Your honor, please instruct the juror to cooperate.”“Mr. Conrad, just accept my word and direction that I know where they work and what they do. You do not need to know. Go onto a different set of questions.”He muttered but went on. Everyone else in the courtroom had a very good idea of where those people worked: either at Area 51 or the skunk works, places as secret and mysterious as the dark side of the moon or the Manhattan Project. Many actual employees of Area 51 listed their occupations where legally required as “Nuclear energy.” One retired brigadier general always responded that he repaired typewriters in Las Vegas during his stint in the Air Force._______________________________________________________________________________ Join the Readers and Writers Book Club for a Spring Fling Facebook Event and Explore the Haunted Harding House: April 15 - 29________________________________Check out the Author Masterminds Website________________________________________________________________Get to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club___________________________________________Meet Carl Douglas, your host for Episode 60: Mysterious Area 51 and The Skunk WorksMy pseudonym as an author is Carl Douglass, adopted as a means of telling stories with gripping realism—the truth of which would not bring trouble to my door. My writing of gripping, realistic fiction began after I was obligated to retire from the private practice of neurosurgery due to sudden blindness in my left eye from a retinal detachment which caused loss of stereoscopic vision. I carried with me decades-long knowledge of doctors, hospitals, and institutions of higher learning, including some less than laudatory information. My military experience during the years of the recent unpleasantness in Vietnam also gave me considerable insight. Both of those lengthy experiences provided true grist for the mill of my writing, but neither of them need to connect the stories to the lives of the real people and places where the stories took place. In that sense, I know too much and have no wish to incriminate or to bring harm or embarrassment to real individuals or institutions. My rich and varied life has provided even more fodder to feed my mind and contribute realism to my written work. In my time, I have had to work due to lacking a sugar daddy. I have been a grease monkey, a lumber mill and forest worker, a lifeguard, a slaughterhouse worker, a diener in a morgue, a lab rat, an academic writer, a medical officer in a mental hospital, a naval officer and surgeon, a brig doctor, and a deep diving officer. I have been the husband of one fine wife, the father of four children—one deceased—eleven grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren. All of them have enriched the depth and breadth of my storytelling
Episode 59: The Hex Hollow MurderPicture this: late November, 1928. York County, Pennsylvania. The trees are bare, clawing at a gray sky, and the air’s thick with the kind of chill that seeps into your bones. In a little farmhouse tucked away in Rehmeyer’s Hollow, a man named Nelson Rehmeyer is going about his evening. He’s tall, quiet—a farmer and a healer known to the locals. But not everyone sees him as a friend. Some whisper he’s more than a man who knows herbs. They say he’s a pow-wow doctor—a conjurer of spells, a wielder of hexes. And in a world where superstition runs as deep as the roots of the old oaks, that’s a dangerous reputation to have._____________________Join the Readers and Writers Book Club for a Spring Fling Facebook Event and Explore the Haunted Harding House: April 15 - 29________________________________Check out the Author Masterminds Website________________________________________________________________Get to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club___________________________________________Meet Mary Ann Poll, your host for Episode 59:The Hex Hollow Murder.Mary Ann Poll is the author of five Supernatural Thriller novels, Ravens Cove, Ingress, Gorgon, Dullahan, and Andalusia Forest.Sign up to subscribe for free information about upcoming events at www.maryannpoll.com and check out her podcast Real Ghost Chatter.__________________________________________________________________________________________________
Episode 58: The Mystery of the First Broken ArrowFat-Boy BombThe U.S. military defines a “Broken Arrow” as an “unexpectedent involving nuclear weapons that result in the accidental launching, firing, detonating, theft, or loss of the weapon.” The first Broken Arrow event occurred in 1950 during a mission from Eielson Air Force Base near Fairbanks, Alaska. Questions still surround this event and the mystery of what happened to the B-36 aircraft and the Mark IV atomic bomb it carried.Royal Aviation Museum of Western CanadaSourcesAdams, Sharon. “The lost nuke of British Columbia.” January 26, 2022. Legion.Clearwater, John M. “The first one to get away.” November/December 2004. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.Liefer, Gregory P. Chapter 12: “Broken Arrow.” 2011. Anchorage, AK. Publication Consultants.Roos, Dave. “’Broken Arrow’: When the first U.S. atomic bomb went missing.” January 13, 2020. History._____________________What Would You Do if Someone was Hunting You?_____________________________________________Check out the Author Masterminds Website________________________________________________________________Get to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club___________________________________________Meet Robin Barefield, your host for Episode 58: The Mystery of the First Broken ArrowRobin Barefield lives in the wilderness on Kodiak Island, where she and her husband own a remote lodge. She has a master’s degree in fish and wildlife biology and is a wildlife-viewing and fishing guide. Robin has published six novels: Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, The Fisherman’s Daughter, Karluk Bones, Massacre at Bear Creek Lodge, and The Ultimate Hunt. She has also published two non-fiction books: Kodiak Island Wildlife and Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. She draws on her love and appreciation of the Alaska wilderness as well as her scientific background when writing.Robin invites you to join her at her website: https://robinbarefield.com, and while you are there, sign up for her free monthly newsletter about true crime in Alaska. Robin also narrates a podcast, Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. You can find it at: https://murder-in-the-last-frontier.blubrry.net _____
Episode 57: With all the Chaos Surrounding it, How Was the Alaska Railroad Ever Built?One of the greatest mysteries in Alaska – even though it is quite visible to the naked eye – is the Alaska Railroad. Every year, more than 400,000 visitors to Alaska ride the Alaska Railroad from Anchorage to Fairbanks with a stop in Denali National Park. And it is not a modest railway. It has 656 miles of track and carries 5.11 million tons of freight annually. It has only been owned by the State of Alaska since 1985, but before that, it was the only federally owned and operated railroad.___________________________________________________________________________ Check out the Author Masterminds Website________________________________________________________________Get to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club___________________________________________Meet Steve Levi, your host for Episode 57:With all the Chaos Surrounding it, How Was the Alaska Railroad Ever Built? Steve Levi is a 70-something writer in Alaska. He specializes in the impossible crime and the Alaska Gold Rush. An impossible crime is one in which the detective must figure out HOW the crime was committed before he can go after the perpetrators. As an example, in THE MATTER OF THE VANISHING GREYHOUND, the detective must figure out how a Greyhound bus with four bank robbers, a dozen hostages, and $10 million can vanish off the Golden Gate Bridge. Steve’s books can be seen at www.authormasterminds.com/steve-levi and www.steverlevibooks.com. He also does two historical uploads a week. Send Steve your email, and he will include it in the mailings.
Episode 57: Justice for Jon BenetOn December 26, 1996, the police responded to a kidnapping call, which later turned into a murder investigation. There were two possibilities: an intruder murdered Jon Benet Ramsey or someone in the house killed her.SourcesABC News. Ex-DA Opens Up About Why She Cleared the Ramsey Family of JonBenet’s Murder. October 28, 2016 Netflix. Trial by Murder. “Dingo’s Got My Baby.” https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2024/11/25/netflix-who-killed-jonbenet-ramsey-docuseries-revelations-bombshells/76403399007/ Netflix. Trial by Murder. “Brian Dorian’s Story.” https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2024/11/25/netflix-who-killed-jonbenet-ramsey-docuseries-revelations-bombshells/76403399007/National Policing InstituteIn-depth Training of Police Officers Results in Less Crime, Fewer Arrests, and Improved Community Views Toward Police in High Crime Hot Spots.https://www.policinginstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/NPI-Research-in-Brief-Hot-Spots-Jun-2022.pdf__________________________________Now Available__________________________________________________________Check out the Author Masterminds Website________________________________________________________________Get to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club___________________________________________Meet Valerie Winans, Your Host for Episode 57: Justice for Jon BenetValerie Winans is a graduate of Northwestern Michigan College, a retired state government manager, and a former campground host in Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska. Valerie is the author of four books: Alaska’s Savage River: Inside Denali National Park and Preserve, Road Trip with Remington Beagle: Michigan to Alaska and Back, and A Hero’s Journey: Life Lessons From A Dog And His Friends, and The Extraordinary Life of Edwin B. Winans: From the Stampede for Gold in California to the Capitol of Michigan. A writer of both fiction and non-fiction, her books are written to inform and entertain readers of all ages. She currently resides with her husband in Traverse City, Michigan. More information can be found at www.valeriewinans.com.
Episode 56: The Mystery of Artificial IntelligenceIn 1950, a robotic mouse named Theseus found its way through a maze and remembered the route. AI had taken its first baby step, the first step in a journey that would change the world as we know it. It is doubtful that the significance of this achievement was fully understood at the time.________________________________Grab a copy of Crystal Shards!_________________________________________________Check out the Author Masterminds Website________________________________________________________________Get to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club___________________________________________Meet Cil Gregoire, your host for Episode 56: The Mystery of Artificial IntelligenceI was born to write. Fortunately, life provided me with plenty to write about. As a young woman, I moved from South Louisiana to Alaska, seeking the Alaska dream. And I found it. Or should I say, the Alaska dream found me? For decades, I was too busy living the adventure to write more than highly descriptive letters to folks back home. I did it all, from teaching school in the bush, to commercial fishing in Bristol Bay and Norton Sound, to building a log cabin in the woods. My novels reflect all these experiences and more.
Episode 55: The Mysterious PigHow did a 200-pound pig become the "darling" on an Arabian horse ranch?Owning a ranch isn’t very mysterious. It’s a lot of plain hard work. But some mysterious things have happened here. I’m going to tell you about one of them._____________________________________Prince Ali had everything: talent, charisma, and a devoted best friend, Becky Howard. He won every time he set a hoof in a show ring. He garnered more fans from personal and TV appearances. Becky was with him every step of the way, even riding him in the Swallows Day Parade in their hometown, San Juan Capistrano. Disaster struck when two thugs put Becky in a coma, drugged him and dragged Prince Ali off to sell for diabolical purposes. When their buyer realized who Ali was, he nixed the deal. That landed the pampered show horse high in the mountains in late March. One night, a week later, he discovered the corral gate unlatched. Prince Ali mustered every ounce of strength, courage, and stamina he had to walk into the wilderness, searching for the best friend he couldn't live without.______________________________________Check out the Author Masterminds Website________________________________________________________________Get to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club___________________________________________Meet Victoria Hardesty, Your Host for Episode 55: The Mysterious PigVictoria Hardesty has owned, bred, and shown Arabian Horses for more than 30 years. She and her husband operated their own training facility, serving many young people who loved and showed their own horses. She is the author of numerous articles in horse magazines and was the editor of two Arabian Horse Club newsletters, one of which was given the Communications Award of the Year by the Arabian Horse Association at their national convention. An avid reader from childhood, she read every horse story she could get her hands on. Victoria and her writing partner, Nancy Perez, have written seven novels about Arabian horses. Check out their website at http://www.wonderhorsebooks.com/author-bio and see their books at Victoria Hardesty and Nancy Perez | Bookshelf (authormasterminds.com).
Episode 54: The Mysterious Alaska TriangleFirst named in 1972, the Alaska Triangle stretches from Anchorage in southcentral Alaska to Juneau in the southeast panhandle to Utqiagvik (formerly Barrow) on Alaska's northern coast. Since 1988, more than 16,000 people have vanished from this area, and every year, approximately four people go missing per every 1000 Alaska residents. This rate is twice the national average.SourcesAlexander, Kathy. “The Alaska Triangle – Disappearing Into Thin Air.” March 2023. Legends of America.Dundas, Suzie. “Why do so many people go missing in the Alaska Triangle?” January 25, 2023. MapQuest Travel.Dunning, Brian. “The Japan Airlines Alaska UFO.” November 10, 2020. WayBack Machine.Gough, Cody. 2019. “Thousands of People Have Mysteriously Disappeared in Alaska's Bermuda Triangle.” Discovery.LeBlanc, Jocelyne. 2018. “10 Facts About the Little-Known Alaska Triangle.” ToptenzLiefer, Gregory P. 2011. Without a Trace. Aviation Mysteries of the North. Chapter 11: Anchorage, AK. Publication Consultants.Locations Unknown Team. “The strange stories of the Alaska Triangle.” November 26, 2019. Strange Outdoors.Weiss, Lawrence D. “Unfriendly skies: The extraordinary flight of JAL 1628. Alaska's best known UFO encounter.” October 28, 2019. The Anchorage Press._____________________________________________Read True Stories of Murder and Mystery in Alaska________________________Check out the Author Masterminds Website________________________________________________________________Get to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club___________________________________________Meet Robin Barefield, your host for Episode 54: The Mysterious Alaska TriangleRobin Barefield lives in the wilderness on Kodiak Island, where she and her husband own a remote lodge. She has a master’s degree in fish and wildlife biology and is a wildlife-viewing and fishing guide. Robin has published six novels: Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, The Fisherman’s Daughter, Karluk Bones, Massacre at Bear Creek Lodge, and The Ultimate Hunt. She has also published two non-fiction books: Kodiak Island Wildlife and Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. She draws on her love and appreciation of the Alaska wilderness as well as her scientific background when writing.Robin invites you to join her at her website: https://robinbarefield.com, and while you are there, sign up for her free monthly newsletter about true crime in Alaska. Robin also narrates a podcast, Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. You can find it at: https://murder-in-the-last-frontier.blubrry.net
Episode 53: Will a Massive Deportation of Aliens Work?Donald Trump has said that on Day One of his Presidency, he would begin the largest deportation of aliens in American history. Best of luck, President Trump. We tried that before. In 1919. It didn’t go as planned. Well, what happened? For an answer, let’s look back in history._________________________________________________________Now Available!___________________________________________________________Check out the Author Masterminds Website________________________________________________________________Get to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club___________________________________________Meet Steve Levi, your host for episode 53: Will a Mass Deportation of Aliens Work?Steve Levi is a 70-something writer in Alaska. He specializes in the impossible crime and the Alaska Gold Rush. An impossible crime is one in which the detective must figure out HOW the crime was committed before he can go after the perpetrators. As an example, in THE MATTER OF THE VANISHING GREYHOUND, the detective must figure out how a Greyhound bus with four bank robbers, a dozen hostages, and $10 million can vanish off the Golden Gate Bridge. Steve’s books can be seen at www.authormasterminds.com/steve-levi and www.steverlevibooks.com. He also does two historical uploads a week. Send Steve your email, and he will include it in the mailings.
Episode 52: A Texas Christmas Murder MysteryWho murdered Latricia White, and what happened to her boyfriend, Lee Wackerhagen (nicknamed Dub), and his nine-year-old son, Chance? This tragic tale occurred in 1993 in McMahon, Texas.Sources: “Episode 47: Murdered and Missing in Lockhart.” March 12, 2019. All Murder, No Cattle.Cargile, E. “New hope for a Caldwell Co. cold case.” June 25, 2010. KXAN.“Dub’s Last Stand.” March 15, 2010. Unsolved Mysteries.“Dub and Chance Wackergan: Last Christmas.” July 14, 2019. Lost n Found Blogs. __________________________________________________________What would you do if someone was hunting you in the Alaska wilderness?Check out the Author Masterminds Website________________________________________________________________Get to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club___________________________________________Meet Robin Barefield, Your Host for Episode 52: A Texas Christmas Murder MysteryRobin Barefield lives in the wilderness on Kodiak Island, where she and her husband own a remote lodge. She has a master’s degree in fish and wildlife biology and is a wildlife-viewing and fishing guide. Robin has published six novels: Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, The Fisherman’s Daughter, Karluk Bones, Massacre at Bear Creek Lodge, and The Ultimate Hunt. She has also published two non-fiction books: Kodiak Island Wildlife and Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. She draws on her love and appreciation of the Alaska wilderness as well as her scientific background when writing.Robin invites you to join her at her website: https://robinbarefield.com, and while you are there, sign up for her free monthly newsletter about true crime in Alaska. Robin also narrates a podcast, Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. You can find it at: https://murder-in-the-last-frontier.blubrry.net
Episode 51: Secret CargoA thick, impenetrable overcast concealed the heavily forested hills below, leaving only the jagged peaks of the snow-capped Rocky Mountains visible as they pierced the night sky. Far above, a U.S. Army Air Forces C-49K military transport aircraft navigated the cold, unforgiving skies of British Columbia. The plane, a Douglas C-49K—a variant of the Douglas DC-3—was a sturdy, reliable workhorse routinely used for administrative missions along the Northwest Staging Route during World War II. This route connected Fort Nelson and Fort St. John, threading its way through the remote wilderness of Canada.On February 5, 1943, the C-49K, operating under the command of the Air Transport Command’s Alaska Wing, departed Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, bound for Edmonton, Alberta. On board were three crew members, including the experienced Lieutenant Colonel Mensing, and eight passengers—four military personnel and four civilian technicians contracted by the U.S. Army. The aircraft also carried several sacks of mail and an unidentified cargo, whose contents were a mystery to all but a few._____________________________Now AvailableFive Dollars: How One Act of Kindness Changed the World tells the uplifting story of a single five-dollar bill that moves from person to person, sparking acts of kindness that ripple across communities and cultures. Each chapter introduces a new character touched by a simple act of generosity, revealing how even the smallest gesture can create a lasting impact. Whether shared with friends, family, coworkers, or community members, Five Dollars makes a heartfelt gift perfect for inspiring others. You can buy 20 copies for only $5 each—a wonderful way to pass it along to loved ones, neighbors, or even strangers, spreading its powerful message of kindness and encouraging others to join in creating positive change. To order your Five Dollars for $5 and start changing the world, kindly visit https://publicationconsultants.com/?s=five+dollars. For an extra 25% discount, type in Christmas on checkout.___________________________________________Check out the Author Masterminds Website________________________________________________________________Get to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club______________________________________________________________________________________Meet Evan Swensen, your host for Episode 51: Secret CargoEvan Swensen, book publisher, editor, author, and Author Masterminds charter member along with his wife, Lois, publishes books by authors worldwide. He has been the publisher and editor of Alaska Outdoors magazine and producer of Alaska Outdoors television show and outdoor videos, and host of Alaska Outdoor Radio Magazine. He has been an Alaska resident since 1957.As a pilot, he has logged more than 4,000 hours of flight time in Alaska, in both wheel and float planes. He is a serious recreation hunter and fisherman, equally comfortable casting a flyrod or using bait, or lures. Evan has been published in many national magazines and is the author of five books and publisher of more than 1,000 books by other authors.Evan claims to have the best job in the world; he gets up in the morning, puts on his fishing vest, picks up his fly rod, kisses his wife goodbye, tells her he’s going to work—and she believes him.Author Masterminds: https://authormasterminds.com/evan-swensenAuthor Masterminds One Last Cast book: https://authormasterminds.com/details/XLxrXOne Last Cast on Amazon: https://bit.ly/3H0OzToOne Last Cast short video: https://youtu.be/2wzwWmim-2gAlaska Outdoors https://alaskaoutdoorsmagazine.com.Alaska Outdoors Blog: https://alaskaoutdoorsmagazine.com/blog/Alaska Outdoors Videos: https://bit.ly/37xjUzl
Episode 50: Why Did Japan Twice Attempt to Take Alaska?It almost happened, you know.Japan almost took Alaska.Not during the Second World War; just after the First World War.It was a very clever plan and almost succeeded.Now, let me tell you the whole story!! _____________________________________________________Now Available! Use the Code "Christmas" at the Publication Consultants Website to get 25% off the Cover Price!Vi___________________________________Visit the BazaarMeet the AuthorsWin PrizesFind Great Deals on Excellent Books____________________________________Meet Steve Levi, your host for Episode 50: Why Did Japan Twice Attempt to Take Alaska?Steve Levi is a 70-something writer in Alaska. He specializes in the impossible crime and the Alaska Gold Rush. An impossible crime is one in which the detective must figure out HOW the crime was committed before he can go after the perpetrators. As an example, in THE MATTER OF THE VANISHING GREYHOUND, the detective must figure out how a Greyhound bus with four bank robbers, a dozen hostages, and $10 million can vanish off the Golden Gate Bridge. Steve’s books can be seen at www.authormasterminds.com/steve-levi and www.steverlevibooks.com. He also does two historical uploads a week. Send Steve your email, and he will include it in the mailings.
Stone circles found in many places in the world are remnants of the Neolithic Age and are predominantly found in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Most people are familiar with Stonehenge on the Salisbury Plain in England. It was built about 5,000 years ago and continues to make the curious wonder – who and why. The 300 stone circles found in Britain and Ireland are interesting, and people have been seeking answers about them for thousands of years. But what about a Stonehenge in Michigan’s Grand Traverse Bay? A recently discovered Stonehenge on the North American continent is amazing news and fires up a whole new line of inquiry.
SourcesClonehenge A blog about Stonehenge Replicas. We kid you not. https://clonehenge.com/2013/12/06/a-quick-list-of-stonehenge-movies-part-one-2nd-part-not-implied/
English Heritage. Avebury https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/avebury
English Heritage. Castlerigg Stone Circle https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/castlerigg-stone-circle/history/
Exploring Lake Michigan’s 10,000 Year Old “Stonehenge”: Journey Into the Past https://medium.com/the-masterpiece/exploring-lake-michigans-10-000-year-old-stonehenge-journey-into-the-past-8afd6594e642
Holley, Mark. 2019. https://holleyarchaeology.com/index.php/the-truth-about-the-stonehenge-in-lake-michigan/
Jana, Rosalind. Stonehenge and the eerie allure of ancient stone circles. June 2022. https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20220615-stonehenge-and-the-eerie-allure-of-ancient-stone-circles
Mardenfeld, Sandra. Sept. 2020. https://www.grunge.com/253934/the-truth-about-the-stonehenge-replica-in-lake-michigan/
Moul, Dr. Russell. Edited by Simmons, Laura. What Is A Henge, And Why Were They Built? IFLSCIENCE https://www.iflscience.com/what-is-a-henge-and-why-were-they-built-73755
Shavit, Joseph. 9000-year-old ‘Stonehenge-like’ monument discovered in Lake Michigan. The Brighterside of News. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/9000-year-old-stonehenge-like-monument-discovered-in-lake-michigan/ar-AA1rPaHF
The Archaeologist. January 24, 2023 https://www.thearchaeologist.org/blog/9000-year-old-stonehenge-like-structure-found-under-lake-michigan
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Meet Valerie Winans, Your Host for Episode 47:How Many People Did Mary McKnight Murder, and Why?Valerie Winans is a graduate of Northwestern Michigan College, a retired state government manager, and a former campground host in Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska. Valerie is the author of four books: Alaska’s Savage River: Inside Denali National Park and Preserve, Road Trip with Remington Beagle: Michigan to Alaska and Back, and A Hero’s Journey: Life Lessons From A Dog And His Friends, and The Extraordinary Life of Edwin B. Winans: From the Stampede for Gold in California to the Capitol of Michigan. A writer of both fiction and non-fiction, her books are written to inform and entertain readers of all ages. She currently resides with her husband in Traverse City, Michigan. More information can be found at www.valeriewinans.com.
Episode 48: E. T. Barnette, the man who embezzled the entire town of Fairbanks – AND GOT AWAY WITH IT!The citizens of Fairbanks should have been so lucky. Fairbanks, like Juneau and Nome, was founded by accident. In August of 1901, Elbridge Truman Barnette convinced a gullible steamboat captain that his steamship could easily ascend the Tanana River without striking bottom. However, when it became apparent that Barnette did not know what he was talking about, the steamboat captain angrily evicted the protesting Barnette along with 135 tons of his supplies onto the nearest shore – which happened to be on the Chena Slough. As Barnette’s supplies were being offloaded, a sourdough by the name of Felix Pedro suddenly appeared on the bank. He had just made a major find in the area and was wondering if Barnette would have any food to sell since he, Pedro, did not want to walk the 360 miles round trip to Circle for supplies. Then and there was established Chenoa City, later to become known as Fairbanks.
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Meet Steve Levi, Your Host for Episode 48:E. T. Barnette, the man who embezzled the entire town of Fairbanks – AND GOT AWAY WITH IT!Steve Levi is a 70-something writer in Alaska. He specializes in the impossible crime and the Alaska Gold Rush. An impossible crime is one in which the detective must figure out HOW the crime was committed before he can go after the perpetrators. As an example, in THE MATTER OF THE VANISHING GREYHOUND, the detective must figure out how a Greyhound bus with four bank robbers, a dozen hostages, and $10 million can vanish off the Golden Gate Bridge. Steve’s books can be seen at www.authormasterminds.com/steve-levi and www.steverlevibooks.com. He also does two historical uploads a week. Send Steve your email, and he will include it in the mailings.
Episode 47: How Many People Did Mary McKnight Murder, and Why?Accurately recognizing and treating many diseases, including mental illness, was not prevalent in the 19th or early 20th centuries. Rural farm communities were accustomed to injuries and illnesses that often resulted in death. Some deaths could not be explained that’s just the way it was.
On Monday, April 20, 1903, Gertrude Murphy left her three-month-old baby, Ruth, in the care of her sister-in-law, Mary McKnight. Gertrude left the baby with Mary to help with work at a new house she and her husband, John Murphy, were building on a nearby piece of land. When Gertrude and John came back at lunch time, Mary told them that baby Ruth had died. Baby Ruth’s death was only the beginning of a cascading series of deaths that resulted in the exposure of a mass murderer living in a little town in northern Michigan.
John Murphy Death CertificateSources:Buhk, Tobin T. Michigan’s Strychnine Saint: The Curious Case of Mrs. Mary McKnight. The History Press. Charleston, SC 2014
(When Nurses Kill by Katherine Ramsland Ph.D. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/shadow-boxing/201204/when-nurses-kill)
Lucy Letby: Inside the mind of a serial killer – the psychology behind healthcare murders by Gemma Peplow, culture reporter.
https://news.sky.com/story/lucy-letby-inside-the-mind-of-a-serial-killer-the-psychology-behind-healthcare-murderers-12941902
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Visit the Christmas Book Bazaar Event on Facebook, Beginning October 22_______________________________________________________
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Get to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club___________________________________________
Meet Valerie Winans, Your Host for Episode 47:How Many People Did Mary McKnight Murder, and Why?Valerie Winans is a graduate of Northwestern Michigan College, a retired state government manager, and a former campground host in Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska. Valerie is the author of four books: Alaska’s Savage River: Inside Denali National Park and Preserve, Road Trip with Remington Beagle: Michigan to Alaska and Back, and A Hero’s Journey: Life Lessons From A Dog And His Friends, and The Extraordinary Life of Edwin B. Winans: From the Stampede for Gold in California to the Capitol of Michigan. A writer of both fiction and non-fiction, her books are written to inform and entertain readers of all ages. She currently resides with her husband in Traverse City, Michigan. More information can be found at www.valeriewinans.com.
Episode 46: The Mystery of Edgar Allan Poe’s DeathEdgar Allan Poe, born January 19, 1809, was an American writer, poet, author, editor, and literary critic, who is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. Probably the best known–and least understood–mystery he authored was that of his own death on October 7, 1849. There have been many descriptions of his last days, the possible causes of his demise, and even debates in the present time. None of them have lasted the test of time. The enigmatic mystery has.
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Meet Carl Douglass, your host for episode 46: The Mystery of Edgar Allan Poe’s DeathMy pseudonym as an author is Carl Douglass, adopted as a means of telling stories with gripping realism—the truth of which would not bring trouble to my door. My writing of gripping, realistic fiction began after I was obligated to retire from the private practice of neurosurgery due to sudden blindness in my left eye from a retinal detachment, which caused loss of stereoscopic vision. I carried with me decades-long knowledge of doctors, hospitals, and institutions of higher learning, including some less than laudatory information. My military experience during the years of the recent unpleasantness in Vietnam also gave me considerable insight. Both of those lengthy experiences provided true grist for the mill of my writing, but neither of them need to connect the stories to the lives of the real people and places where the stories took place. In that sense, I know too much and have no wish to incriminate or to bring harm or embarrassment to real individuals or institutions. My rich and varied life has provided even more fodder to feed my mind and contribute realism to my written work. In my time, I have had to work due to lacking a sugar daddy. I have been a grease monkey, a lumber mill and forest worker, a lifeguard, a slaughterhouse worker, a diener in a morgue, a lab rat, an academic writer, a medical officer in a mental hospital, a naval officer and surgeon, a brig doctor, and a deep diving officer. I have been the husband of one fine wife, the father of four children—one deceased—eleven grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren. All of them have enriched the depth and breadth of my storytelling.
Episode 45: The Mystery of SpaceSpace has always been filled with mystery. Strangely, the more astronomers and astrophysicists learn about the makeup of the Universe, the more mysterious space becomes.
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Meet Cil Gregoire, your host for Episode 45: The Mystery of SpaceI was born to write. Fortunately, life provided me with plenty to write about. As a young woman, I moved from South Louisiana to Alaska, seeking the Alaska dream. And I found it. Or should I say, the Alaska dream found me? For decades, I was too busy living the adventure to write more than highly descriptive letters to folks back home. I did it all, from teaching school in the bush, to commercial fishing in Bristol Bay and Norton Sound, to building a log cabin in the woods. My novels reflect all these experiences and more.
Episode 44: What Killed Chris McCandless?On September 6, 1992, two young hikers from Anchorage arrived at the old Fairbanks city bus #142, a makeshift shelter located on the Stampede Trail, twenty-five miles west of Healy. They immediately noted a stench emanating from the bus. A red leg warmer swung from an alder branch near the vehicle’s rear door. A note taped to the door terrified the hikers. It read:
S.O.S. I NEED YOUR HELP. I AM INJURED, NEAR DEATH, AND TOO WEAK TO HIKE OUT OF HERE. I AM ALL ALONE. THIS IS NO JOKE. IN THE NAME OF GOD, PLEASE REMAIN TO SAVE ME. I AM OUT COLLECTING BERRIES CLOSE BY AND SHALL RETURN THIS EVENING. THANK YOU, CHRIS MCCANDLESS. AUGUST ?
Sources:Holland, Eva. “Alaska Airlifts ‘Into the Wild’ Bus Out of the Wild.” June 28, 2020. Outside Magazine.
Holland, Eva. “Another ‘Into the Wild’ Pilgrimage Has Ended in Death.” July 29, 2019. Outside Magazine.
Krakauer, Jon. “How Chris McCandless Died.” September 12, 2013. The New Yorker
Krakauer, Jon. 1996. Into the Wild. 1996. New York. Anchor Books.
Saverin, Diana. “The Chris McCandless Obsession Problem.” December 18, 2013. Outside Magazine.
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Meet Robin Barefield, Your Host for Episode 44: What Killed Chris McCandless?Robin Barefield lives in the wilderness on Kodiak Island, where she and her husband own a remote lodge. She has a master’s degree in fish and wildlife biology and is a wildlife-viewing and fishing guide. Robin has published six novels: Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, The Fisherman’s Daughter, Karluk Bones, Massacre at Bear Creek Lodge, and The Ultimate Hunt. She has also published two non-fiction books: Kodiak Island Wildlife and Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. She draws on her love and appreciation of the Alaska wilderness as well as her scientific background when writing.
Robin invites you to join her at her website: https://robinbarefield.com, and while you are there, sign up for her free monthly newsletter about true crime in Alaska. Robin also narrates a podcast, Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. You can find it at: https://murder-in-the-last-frontier.blubrry.net
Episode 43: What REALLY Happened to the SS Jessie?One of the oddest and most mysterious stories of the Alaska Gold Rush is the fate of the steamship Jessie. Depending on who you choose to believe, it is either the largest massacre of whites by Indians in Alaska history or it is absolute historical garbage. Further, this being said, the entire saga of the steamship Jessie is odd, and it will take a knowledge of the Alaska Gold Rush to explain the intricacies.
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Meet Steve Levi, your host for Episode 43: What Really Happened to the SS Jessie?Steve Levi is a 70-something writer in Alaska. He specializes in the impossible crime and the Alaska Gold Rush. An impossible crime is one in which the detective must figure out HOW the crime was committed before he can go after the perpetrators. As an example, in THE MATTER OF THE VANISHING GREYHOUND, the detective must figure out how a Greyhound bus with four bank robbers, a dozen hostages, and $10 million can vanish off the Golden Gate Bridge. Steve’s books can be seen at www.authormasterminds.com/steve-levi and www.steverlevibooks.com. He also does two historical uploads a week. Send Steve your email, and he will include it in the mailings.
Episode 42: Who Killed Frances Lacey?Mackinac Island is perched aesthetically in the Straits of Mackinac. The island is unique, historic, and timeless. There is a sense when stepping from the dock into the town that a switch has been flipped, and you are plunged back in time to the 19th century. Cars were outlawed in 1898. The ferries drop visitors within steps of the main street but be careful where you step because wagons and carriages take the place of cars, and they are pulled by draft horses. There are horses to rent for a ride around the island, or bicycles if you prefer. The town is arranged for the tourist trade with hotels, gift shops, restaurants, bars, and the famous Mackinac Island Fudge. It’s such a beautiful setting that the movie Somewhere in Time was filmed there, and that’s what you feel when you step off the ferry and enter the town – you feel as though you have been transported in time to a simpler, peaceful era. Thoughts of violence or murder are the farthest thing from anyone’s mind, but murder did happen there on June 24, 1960.
Sources:Herald-Palladium. Benton Harbor, Mi. Search For Suit Jacket of Widow. July 30, 1960.
Indianapolis Star. Suspects Freed in Strangling of Wealthy Widow. July 30, 1960.
Lansing State Journal. Lansing, Michigan. Mackinac Slaying Is Unsolved. July 30, 1960.
Petoskey News-Review. Police Admit Dead End, May Release Suspect. July 30, 1960.
Sadler, Rod. Grim Paradise: The Cold Case Search for the Mackinac Island Killer. Wild Blue Press. Denver, Colorado 2023
Sault Star. Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada. Police Continue Nation-wide Hunt For Murderer of Mackinac Widow. July 21,1962.
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Check out the Author Masterminds Website________________________________________________________________
Get to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club___________________________________________
Meet Valerie Winans, your host for Episode 42: Who Killed Frances Lacey?Valerie Winans is a graduate of Northwestern Michigan College, a retired state government manager, and a former campground host in Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska. Valerie is the author of four books: Alaska’s Savage River: Inside Denali National Park and Preserve, Road Trip with Remington Beagle: Michigan to Alaska and Back, and A Hero’s Journey: Life Lessons From A Dog And His Friends, and The Extraordinary Life of Edwin B. Winans: From the Stampede for Gold in California to the Capitol of Michigan. A writer of both fiction and non-fiction, her books are written to inform and entertain readers of all ages. She currently resides with her husband in Traverse City, Michigan. More information can be found at www.valeriewinans.com.
Episode 41: The Yogurt Shop MurdersOn Friday night, December 6, 1991, a heinous crime was committed in the I Can’t Believe Its Yogurt shop in Austin, Texas, located in a small strip mall near the Northcross Mall.
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Prince Ali had everything: talent, charisma, and a devoted best friend, Becky Howard. He won every time he set a hoof in a show ring. He garnered more fans from personal and TV appearances. Becky was with him every step of the way, even riding him in the Swallows Day Parade in their hometown, San Juan Capistrano. Disaster struck when two thugs put Becky in a coma, drugged him and dragged Prince Ali off to sell for diabolical purposes. When their buyer realized who Ali was, he nixed the deal. That landed the pampered show horse high in the mountains in late March. One night, a week later, he discovered the corral gate unlatched. Prince Ali mustered every ounce of strength, courage, and stamina he had to walk into the wilderness, searching for the best friend he couldn’t live without.
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Check out the Author Masterminds Website________________________________________________________________
Get to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club___________________________________________
Meet Victoria Hardesty, Your Host for Episode 41: The Yogurt Shop MurdersVictoria Hardesty has owned, bred, and shown Arabian Horses for more than 30 years. She and her husband operated their own training facility, serving many young people who loved and showed their own horses. She is the author of numerous articles in horse magazines and was the editor of two Arabian Horse Club newsletters, one of which was given the Communications Award of the Year by the Arabian Horse Association at their national convention. An avid reader from childhood, she read every horse story she could get her hands on. Victoria and her writing partner, Nancy Perez, have written seven novels about Arabian horses. Check out their website at http://www.wonderhorsebooks.com/author-bio and see their books at Victoria Hardesty and Nancy Perez | Bookshelf (authormasterminds.com).
Episode40: The Mysterious Disappearance of British Spy Ian MackintoshOn the evening of July 7th, 1979, a plane disappeared near Kodiak Island in fair weather and moderate seas. News agencies in Alaska reported little about the missing plane and its occupants. Although reports of the apparent fatal crash made more of a splash in Great Britain, official sources offered no comment about the loss of a man who had done so much to protect Britain against the USSR during the Cold War. Even now, the disappearance of Ian Mackintosh is cloaked in secrecy, and many wonder if he died in the plane crash or if the accident was a cover story, allowing Mackintosh to disappear.
Sources:
Folsom, Robert G. The Life and Mysterious Death of Ian Mackintosh.2012. Washington, D.C. Potomac Books, Inc.
Mackintosh, Lawrie. “My brother, Ian Mackintosh.” OpsRoom.Org.
MacLeod, Calum. “Did spy writer’s disappearance mirror his fiction?” January 3, 2013. John O’Groat Journal and Caithness Courier.
Ian Mackintosh. Check-Six.Com.
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Read about Murder and Mystery in Alaska________________________________________________________
Check out the Author Masterminds Website________________________________________________________________
Get to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club___________________________________________
Meet Robin Barefield, your host for Episode 40:The Mysterious Disappearance of British Spy Ian MackintoshRobin Barefield is the author of six Alaska wilderness mystery novels, Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, The Fisherman’s Daughter, Karluk Bones, Massacre at Bear Creek Lodge, and The Ultimate Hunt. She has written two nonfiction books, Kodiak Island Wildlife and Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. Sign up to subscribe to her free monthly newsletter on true murder and mystery in Alaska and check out her podcast: Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. Read more about Robin’s books at Author Masterminds.
Episode 39: Summer Solstice MysteriesThe Summer Solstice, the day marking the longest period of daylight in the year, has been celebrated across the globe since time immemorial. The significance of this celestial event transcends geographical and cultural boundaries, weaving a tapestry of traditions, myths, and scientific observations. Here, we explore six captivating mysteries linked to the solstice. These mysteries include the solstice alignment at Stonehenge, the legend of the Phoenix, Midsummer’s Eve and its supernatural beliefs, the ancient Egyptian connection, Native American Sun Dances, and the secrets of the Nordic Midsummer Pole.
We’re Having a Summer Solstice Party!Join Beach Blanket Books—a Facebook Event. It is happening now and lasts until the Summer Solstice on June 21st. Join in the games and win some prizes. Sign up now so you don’t miss a thing!_________________________________________________________
Individual Event Times for June 21The event begins at 10:00 a.m. EDT and ends at 9:00 p.m. EDT on June 21
Individual Event Times for June 21
- Magdel Roets 10:00 a.m. EDT
- Mary Flint 11:00 a.m. EDT
- Mary Ann Poll 12:00 Noon EDT
- Valerie Winans 1:00 p.m. EDT
- Carl Douglass 2:00 p.m. EDT
- Victoria Hardesty 3:00 p.m. EDT
- Evan Swensen 4:00 p.m. EDT
- Rebecca Wetzler 5:00 p.m. EDT
- Cil Gregoire 6:00 p.m. EDT
- Steve Levi 7:00 p.m. EDT
- Robin Barefield 8:00 p.m. EDT
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Check out the Author Masterminds Website________________________________________________________________
Get to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club______________________________________________________________________________________
Meet Evan Swensen, your host for Episode 39: Summer Solstice MysteriesEvan Swensen, book publisher, editor, author, and Author Masterminds charter member along with his wife, Lois, publishes books by authors worldwide. He has been the publisher and editor of Alaska Outdoors magazine and producer of Alaska Outdoors television show and outdoor videos, and host of Alaska Outdoor Radio Magazine. He has been an Alaska resident since 1957.
As a pilot, he has logged more than 4,000 hours of flight time in Alaska, in both wheel and float planes. He is a serious recreation hunter and fisherman, equally comfortable casting a flyrod or using bait, or lures. Evan has been published in many national magazines and is the author of five books and publisher of more than 1,000 books by other authors.
Evan claims to have the best job in the world; he gets up in the morning, puts on his fishing vest, picks up his fly rod, kisses his wife goodbye, tells her he’s going to work—and she believes him.
Author Masterminds: https://authormasterminds.com/evan-swensen
Author Masterminds One Last Cast book: https://authormasterminds.com/details/XLxrX
One Last Cast on Amazon: https://bit.ly/3H0OzTo
One Last Cast short video: https://youtu.be/2wzwWmim-2g
Alaska Outdoors https://alaskaoutdoorsmagazine.com.
Alaska Outdoors Blog: https://alaskaoutdoorsmagazine.com/blog/
Alaska Outdoors Videos: https://bit.ly/37xjUzl
Episode 38: Mysterious Loss of Billions of Crab in AlaskaSince 1975, the surveilling authorities of Alaskan fisheries tallied snow crab in the billions. It was observed and confirmed over the years that animal populations rarely remain steady, owing to poor survey procedures, over-harvesting, movement of life based upon changes to the environment, and simple poor management of a resource. About ten years ago, scientists declared that they had “found the largest number of juvenile snow crab ever.” That was important because the juveniles produce the next generation of the crab.
However, in 2021 they found “the fewest juvenile snow crab” since population surveys began being recorded on crab species 46 years ago. That result forced the closure of the snow crab season, which is one of the most important one in Alaska’s economy and for the world’s crab lovers. The first question was what happened to create that mystery?
Join Beach Blanket Books—a Facebook Event. It is happening now and lasts until the Summer Solstice on June 21st. Join in the games and win some prizes. Sign up now so you don’t miss a thing!_________________________________________________________
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This podcast is sponsored by Author Masterminds and the Readers and Writers Book Club.Check out the Author Masterminds Website________________________________________________________________
Get to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club______________________________________________________________________________________
Meet Carl Douglas, the host for Episode 38: Mysterious Loss of Billions of Crab in AlaskaMy pseudonym as an author is Carl Douglass, adopted as a means of telling stories with gripping realism—the truth of which would not bring trouble to my door. My writing of gripping, realistic fiction began after I was obligated to retire from the private practice of neurosurgery due to sudden blindness in my left eye from a retinal detachment which caused loss of stereoscopic vision. I carried with me decades-long knowledge of doctors, hospitals, and institutions of higher learning, including some less than laudatory information. My military experience during the years of the recent unpleasantness in Vietnam also gave me considerable insight. Both of those lengthy experiences provided true grist for the mill of my writing, but neither of them need to connect the stories to the lives of the real people and places where the stories took place. In that sense, I know too much and have no wish to incriminate or to bring harm or embarrassment to real individuals or institutions. My rich and varied life has provided even more fodder to feed my mind and contribute realism to my written work. In my time, I have had to work due to lacking a sugar daddy. I have been a grease monkey, a lumber mill and forest worker, a lifeguard, a slaughterhouse worker, a diener in a morgue, a lab rat, an academic writer, a medical officer in a mental hospital, a naval officer and surgeon, a brig doctor, and a deep diving officer. I have been the husband of one fine wife, the father of four children—one deceased—eleven grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren. All of them have enriched the depth and breadth of my storytelling
Episode 37: Wall of Silver — The Lost MineWho can resist a story about a lost mine? King Solomon’s Mine in Africa, the Lost Dutchman’s Mine in Arizona, and The Wall of Silver in Michigan. They all have a story. Historically, Michigan had vast iron ore and copper deposits in its Upper Peninsula. Gold and silver were also found there, but no mother loads were found in Michigan. Richard Kellogg says he has seen a wall of pure silver at least 90 feet long in a mine in the Keweenaw peninsula of Michigan.
Source:
Kellogg, Richard. Wall of Silver: A Treasure Hunter’s Dream. Avery Color Studios, Inc. 2004
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Join Beach Blanket Books—a Facebook Event. The Fun begins on May 15th and lasts until the Summer Solstice on June 21st. Join in the games and win some prizes. Sign up now so you don’t miss a thing!This podcast is sponsored by Author Masterminds and the Readers and Writers Book Club.Check out the Author Masterminds Website________________________________________________________________
Get to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club______________________________________________________________________________________
Meet Valerie Winans, the host for Episode 37: Wall of Silver — The Lost MineValerie Winans is a graduate of Northwestern Michigan College, a retired state government manager, and a former campground host in Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska. Valerie is the author of three books: Alaska’s Savage River: Inside Denali National Park and Preserve, Road Trip with Remington Beagle: Michigan to Alaska and Back, and A Hero’s Journey: Life Lessons From A Dog And His Friends. A writer of both fiction and non-fiction, her books are written to inform and entertain readers of all ages. She currently resides with her husband in Traverse City, Michigan. More information can be found at www.valeriewinans.com.
Episode 36: The Most Mysterious Bombing in American HistoryWithout a doubt, the single most misused word in America today is terrorism. It is the word used or hinted at when any act of violence occurs. And 911 is constantly called a terrorist attack.
This is an error.
911 was not a terrorist attack. We know what did it and why. A terrorist attack is one where no one knows who did it, why they did it, and no one claims credit for it. The act is done to strike terror in the hearts of citizens and, more importantly, to get the population to distrust the government. Why didn’t the police know this act of violence was coming? Why didn’t the government stop it from happening? And, critically, could it happen again in my neighborhood or where my children are going to school?
There have been very few large-scale terrorist attacks in US history. Four of the largest occurred between 1910 and 1920.
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Join Beach Blanket Books—a Facebook Event. The Fun begins on May 15th and lasts until the Summer Solstice on June 21st. Join in the games and win some prizes. Sign up now so you don’t miss a thing!This podcast is sponsored by Author Masterminds and the Readers and Writers Book Club.Check out the Author Masterminds Website________________________________________________________________
Get to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club______________________________________________________________________________________
Meet Steve Levi, the host for Episode 36: The Most Mysterious Bombing in American HistorySteve Levi is a 70-something writer in Alaska. He specializes in the impossible crime and the Alaska Gold Rush. An impossible crime is one in which the detective must figure out HOW the crime was committed before he can go after the perpetrators. As an example, in THE MATTER OF THE VANISHING GREYHOUND, the detective must figure out how a Greyhound bus with four bank robbers, a dozen hostages, and $10 million can vanish off the Golden Gate Bridge. Steve’s books can be seen at www.authormasterminds.com/steve-levi and www.steverlevibooks.com. He also does two historical uploads a week. Send Steve your email, and he will include it in the mailings.
Episode 35: Mysterious and Deadly CrittersKissing BugTo find this deadly mystery and the murderers involved, Victoria looked no further than her backyard.
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Join Beach Blanket Books—a Facebook Event. The Fun begins on May 15th and lasts until the Summer Solstice on June 21st. Join in the games and win some prizes. Sign up now so you don’t miss a thing!This podcast is sponsored by Author Masterminds and the Readers and Writers Book Club.Check out the Author Masterminds Website________________________________________________________________
Get to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club______________________________________________________________________________________
Meet Victoria Hardesty, the host for Episode 35: Mysterious and Deadly CrittersVictoria Hardesty has owned, bred, and shown Arabian Horses for more than 30 years. She and her husband operated their own training facility, serving many young people who loved and showed their own horses. She is the author of numerous articles in horse magazines and was the editor of two Arabian Horse Club newsletters, one of which was given the Communications Award of the Year by the Arabian Horse Association at their national convention. An avid reader from childhood, she read every horse story she could get her hands on. Victoria and her writing partner, Nancy Perez, have written seven novels about Arabian horses. Check out their website at http://www.wonderhorsebooks.com/author-bio and see their books at Victoria Hardesty and Nancy Perez | Bookshelf (authormasterminds.com).
Episode 34: The Female Robinson Crusoe and Wrangel Island Expedition MysteryAda Blackjack’s story reflects the harrowing experiences faced by those who venture into the Arctic and the often-overlooked capabilities and contributions of indigenous peoples to Arctic expeditions. In the annals of Arctic exploration, few tales evoke the blend of mystery and tragedy quite like the Wrangel Island Expedition. The year was 1921, and under the auspices of Arctic explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson, a team was assembled to claim the desolate Wrangel Island.
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Join Beach Blanket Books—a Facebook Event. The Fun begins on May 15th and lasts until the Summer Solstice on June 21st. Join in the games and win some prizes. Sign up now so you don’t miss a thing!This podcast is sponsored by Author Masterminds and the Readers and Writers Book Club.Check out the Author Masterminds Website________________________________________________________________
Get to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club______________________________________________________________________________________
Meet Evan Swensen, your host for Episode 34:The Female Robinson Crusoe and Wrangel Island Expedition MysteryEvan Swensen, book publisher, editor, author, and Author Masterminds charter member along with his wife, Lois, publishes books by authors worldwide. He has been the publisher and editor of Alaska Outdoors magazine and producer of Alaska Outdoors television show and outdoor videos, and host of Alaska Outdoor Radio Magazine. He has been an Alaska resident since 1957.
As a pilot, he has logged more than 4,000 hours of flight time in Alaska, in both wheel and float planes. He is a serious recreation hunter and fisherman, equally comfortable casting a flyrod or using bait, or lures. Evan has been published in many national magazines and is the author of five books and publisher of more than 1,000 books by other authors.
Evan claims to have the best job in the world; he gets up in the morning, puts on his fishing vest, picks up his fly rod, kisses his wife goodbye, tells her he’s going to work—and she believes him.
Author Masterminds: https://authormasterminds.com/evan-swensen
Author Masterminds One Last Cast book: https://authormasterminds.com/details/XLxrX
One Last Cast on Amazon: https://bit.ly/3H0OzTo
One Last Cast short video: https://youtu.be/2wzwWmim-2g
Alaska Outdoors https://alaskaoutdoorsmagazine.com.
Alaska Outdoors Blog: https://alaskaoutdoorsmagazine.com/blog/
Alaska Outdoors Videos: https://bit.ly/37xjUzl
Episode 33: The Mystery of TimeThere was a time when we thought we mastered time by clocking it. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Fifty years ago, I thought I had mastered time when I strapped on my first Timex windup wristwatch. If I didn’t forget to wind it up every day, I had time under control. How little I understood about time back then.
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This podcast is sponsored by Author Masterminds and the Readers and Writers Book Club.Check out the Author Masterminds Website________________________________________________________________
Get to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club______________________________________________________________________________________
Meet Cil Gregoire, your host for Episode 33: The Mystery of TimeCil Gregoire is an Alaska writer who has lived in the state for more than four decades fulfilling her Alaska dream. She has built a log cabin in the woods, commercial fished Bristol Bay and Norton Sound, and lived remotely in the northern Susitna Valley, the primary setting for many of her novels. Possessing a vivid imagination, her fiction specialty is sci-fi/fantasy.
Links:
Crystalline Aura https://youtu.be/mV-offy2myA
Crystal Shards https://youtu.be/VkAxmu3Cwaw
https://www.authormasterminds.com/cil-gregoire
Facebook: https://bit.ly/3eHhE7k
Episode 32: Mysterious Sudden Collapse of the Mayan CivilizationWhat caused the mysterious demise of the Maya? What was the cause that led to the disappearance of one of the greatest civilizations in the history of Mesoamerica? The collapse did not happen all at once; instead, it occurred over time from place to place, between about the late 8th and 925—about ±100 years. Exactly why any of this transpired, though, is a mystery.
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This podcast is sponsored by Author Masterminds and the Readers and Writers Book Club.Check out the Author Masterminds Website________________________________________________________________
Get to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club______________________________________________________________________________________
Meet Carl Douglas, your host for Episode 32My pseudonym as an author is Carl Douglass, adopted as a means of telling stories with gripping realism—the truth of which would not bring trouble to my door. My writing of gripping, realistic fiction began after I was obligated to retire from the private practice of neurosurgery due to sudden blindness in my left eye from a retinal detachment which caused loss of stereoscopic vision. I carried with me decades-long knowledge of doctors, hospitals, and institutions of higher learning, including some less than laudatory information. My military experience during the years of the recent unpleasantness in Vietnam also gave me considerable insight. Both of those lengthy experiences provided true grist for the mill of my writing, but neither of them need to connect the stories to the lives of the real people and places where the stories took place. In that sense, I know too much and have no wish to incriminate or to bring harm or embarrassment to real individuals or institutions. My rich and varied life has provided even more fodder to feed my mind and contribute realism to my written work. In my time, I have had to work due to lacking a sugar daddy. I have been a grease monkey, a lumber mill and forest worker, a lifeguard, a slaughterhouse worker, a diener in a morgue, a lab rat, an academic writer, a medical officer in a mental hospital, a naval officer and surgeon, a brig doctor, and a deep diving officer. I have been the husband of one fine wife, the father of four children—one deceased—eleven grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren. All of them have enriched the depth and breadth of my storytelling.
Episode 31: Mysteries from the 1990sI’m your host, Victoria Hardesty, and in this episode, I share several mysteries from the 1990s. Welcome aboard!
Mysteries include:
Who Abucted Amber Hagerman?
Who did the Las Cruces Bowling Alley Massacre?
Where did the Oakville Blobs come from?
Who killed Yale Senior Suzanna Jovin?
Who Sabotaged Amtrak’s Sunset Limited in 1995?
What was the Cosford Incident?
If it wasn’t O. J. Simpson, who was it?
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This podcast is sponsored by Author Masterminds and the Readers and Writers Book Club.Check out the Author Masterminds Website________________________________________________________________
Get to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club______________________________________________________________________________________
Meet Victoria Hardesty, your host for Episode 31: Mysteries from the 1990sVictoria Hardesty has owned, bred, and shown Arabian Horses for more than 30 years. She and her husband operated their own training facility, serving many young people who loved and showed their own horses. She is the author of numerous articles in horse magazines and was the editor of two Arabian Horse Club newsletters, one of which was given the Communications Award of the Year by the Arabian Horse Association at their national convention. An avid reader from childhood, she read every horse story she could get her hands on. Victoria and her writing partner, Nancy Perez, have written seven novels about Arabian horses. Check out their website at http://www.wonderhorsebooks.com/author-bio and see their books at Victoria Hardesty and Nancy Perez | Bookshelf (authormasterminds.com).
Episode 30: The Doomed Wilcox ExpeditionGeorge Mallory once said, “I climb mountains because they are there.” Mallory died climbing Mt. Everest in 1924, and his body wasn’t found for 75 years. George Mallory represents both the passion and the danger for those who climb mountains.
On July 18, 1967, a catastrophic snowstorm pummeled Alaska’s Mt. Denali, killing seven of the twelve young men in the Wilcox Expedition attempting to reach the summit. This is still the worst climbing disaster ever to occur in the United States. We will never know what happened at the top of Mt. Denali. Experts can only guess the fate of those seven unlucky climbers.
SourcesMy primary source for this newsletter was Denali’s Howl by Andy Hall. If you want to learn more about this tragic event, I highly recommend this book.
Hall, Andy. 2014. Denali’s Howl. Plume, the Penguin Group. New York, NY.
Manley, Kelley McMillan. 7-2017. Disaster on Denali. 5280.com/ Magazine https://www.5280.com/2017/06/disaster-on-denali/
Duke, Kevin. 3-28-2012. Finishing the climb: Babcock finally tells his story of Denali tragedy. Gvnews.com. https://www.gvnews.com/sports/finishing-the-climb-babcock-finally-tells-his-story-of-denali-tragedy/article_d158684c-78f7-11e1-871e-0019bb2963f4.html
Worrall, Simon. 7-2014. The Denali climb that became one of the deadliest. National Geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/140720-mountain-climbing-denali-mount-mckinley-alaska-national-parks
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Read about Murder and Mystery in Alaska_________________________________________________________________
This podcast is sponsored by Author Masterminds and the Readers and Writers Book Club.Check out the Author Masterminds Website________________________________________________________________
Get to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club______________________________________________________________________________________
Meet Robin Barefield, your host for Episode 30Robin Barefield is the author of five Alaska wilderness mystery novels, Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, The Fisherman’s Daughter, Karluk Bones, and Massacre at Bear Creek Lodge. She has written two nonfiction books, Kodiak Island Wildlife and Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. Sign up to subscribe to her free monthly newsletter on true murder and mystery in Alaska and check out her podcast: Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. Read more about Robin’s books at Author Masterminds.
Episode 29: The Death of Juanita Richardson: Accident, Suicide, or Murder?On June 22, 2006, Juanita Richardson fell to her death. The investigation of her death, and the subsequent trial and conviction of her husband, Thomas Richardson, was not ordinary.
Sources:United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit on appeal from the Western District of Michiganhttps://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?s=MI&d=135150
Wife’s plunge sends Thomas Richardson to prison for life. May 20, 2008. The Associated Press https://www.mlive.com/grpress/2008/05/wifes_plunge_sends_thomas_rich.html
The Oakland Press / Schoolcraft County jury convicts man in wife’s fatal fall. https://www.theoaklandpress.com/2008/04/17/schoolcraft-county-jury-convicts-man-in-wifes-fatal-fall/
Juanita Richardson Murder Case: Where is Thomas Richardson Today? https://spikytv.com/juanita-richardson-murder-case-where-is-thomas-richardson-today/
Interview: Natalie Torres, Michigan State Trooper
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Read about Alaska’s Savage River________________________________________________________________________________
This podcast is sponsored by Author Masterminds and the Readers and Writers Book Club.Check out the Author Masterminds Website_____________________________________________________
Get to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club_________________________________________________________________________________
Meet Valerie Winans, your host for Episode 29Valerie Winans is a graduate of Northwestern Michigan College, a retired state government manager, and a former campground host in Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska. Valerie is the author of three books: Alaska’s Savage River: Inside Denali National Park and Preserve, Road Trip with Remington Beagle: Michigan to Alaska and Back, and A Hero’s Journey: Life Lessons From A Dog And His Friends. A writer of both fiction and non-fiction, her books are written to inform and entertain readers of all ages. She currently resides with her husband in Traverse City, Michigan. More information can be found at www.valeriewinans.com.
Episode 28: Richard Willoughby and “The City in the Mist”“Did Richard Willoughby really photograph a mirage in the sky, or was he conning the residents of Juneau, Alaska, and the many people who paid dearly for a copy of his photograph?”
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Grab a copy of The Human Face of the Alaska Gold Rush
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This podcast is sponsored by Author Masterminds and the Readers and Writers Book Club.Check out the Author Masterminds Website__________________________________________________________________________
Get to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club________________________________________________________________________________________________
Meet Steve Levi, Your Host for Episode 28: Richard Willoughby and “The City in the Mist”
Episode 27: Ghosts of the Desert###### Listen to ghost stories from the California desert.
Vallecito Stage StopYaqui Well_______________________________________________________________________________________________
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This podcast is sponsored by Author Masterminds and the Readers and Writers Book Club.Check out the Author Masterminds WebsiteGet to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club______________________________________________________________________________________
Meet Victoria Hardesty, your host for Episode 27: Ghosts of the DesertVictoria Hardesty has owned, bred, and shown Arabian Horses for more than 30 years. She and her husband operated their own training facility, serving many young people who loved and showed their own horses. She is the author of numerous articles in horse magazines and was the editor of two Arabian Horse Club newsletters, one of which was given the Communications Award of the Year by the Arabian Horse Association at their national convention. An avid reader from childhood, she read every horse story she could get her hands on. Victoria and her writing partner, Nancy Perez, have written seven novels about Arabian horses. Check out their website at http://www.wonderhorsebooks.com/author-bio and see their books at Victoria Hardesty and Nancy Perez | Bookshelf (authormasterminds.com).
Episode 26: Christmas Hauntings in EnglandWhen I hear the words ‘ghost’ and ‘Christmas,’ I automatically think about my favorite Christmas story, A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens and Scrooge’s nightmare evening of being visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future. But did you know other Christmas ghost stories aren’t so full of hope and the spirit of the season? You may not since hauntings are far from most people’s minds during Christmas.
Some creepy paranormal occurrences tied to Christmas revolve around certain places that, for one reason or another, become haunted at Christmas time and have been so for a long time. England has several such hauntings. Today, we are traveling across the Pond to the shores of the United Kingdom.
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New Release by Mary Ann PollWelcome to Andalusia Forest, a theme park that once bustled with excitement but now lies abandoned, steeped in mysterious legends and tales of hauntings. This once-beloved destination is still imbued with a captivating allure, a magnet for both treasure seekers and the curious. In this intriguing setting, a tenacious ghost hunter, Chloe Melbourne, teams up with the adventurous Iconoclast trio of Kat, Ken, and Bart. What starts as a straightforward mission to locate a missing friend quickly becomes an exploration of the forest’s deeper secrets. No longer home to the whimsical creatures that once danced in the minds of its audience, Andalusia Forest reveals chilling truths hidden in its shadows. Why not embark on this exciting journey? The gates are open for those willing to venture into the unknown. You’re invited to discover the enigmatic entities that inhabit these haunting woods. With a balanced blend of whimsy and reality, the tale of Andalusia Forest offers a thrilling yet measured experience. So, take a bold step, and let the answers reveal themselves through your exploration. Andalusia Forest awaits. Will you heed the call?
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This podcast is sponsored by Author Masterminds and the Readers and Writers Book Club.Check out the Author Masterminds WebsiteGet to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club________________________________________________________________________________________________
Meet Mary Ann Poll, your host for Episode 26: Christmas Hauntings in EnglandMary Ann Poll is the author of five Supernatural Thriller novels, Ravens Cove, Ingress, Gorgon, Dullahan, and Andalusia Forest.
Sign up to subscribe for free information about upcoming events at www.maryannpoll.com and check out her podcast Real Ghost Chatter.
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Episode 25: What Happened to the Christmas Tree Ship?The ship known as the Christmas Tree Ship, the Rouse Simmons, sank in November of 1912 between Kewaunee and Two Rivers, Wisconsin, during a winter storm on Lake Michigan. The ship left Thompson Pier, Michigan, reportedly needing repair, and overloaded with Christmas trees for its annual journey to the expanding Christmas market in Chicago. The story surrounding the mystery of the sinking and the legend that followed cannot be told without first sharing the story of the schooners and their masters in the late 19th century. Sources: Neuschel, Fred.Lives and Legends of the Christmas Tree Ships. The University of Michigan Press. 2007 Christmas Tree Ship, the Rouse Simmons, sank on Lake Michigan 109 years ago. Wisconsin Maritime Museum will honor its legacy Saturday.https://www.htrnews.com/story/entertainment/2021/12/01/lake-michigan-christmas-tree-ship-rouse-simmons-sank-1912/8778837002/ A ship carrying thousands of Christmas trees sank in Lake Michigan 107 years ago.https://www.wzzm13.com/article/news/history/christmas-tree-ship-sinking/69-06a7fa47-2e80-4ab0-b592-6b62bcc8e078 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________This podcast is sponsored by Author Masterminds and the Readers and Writers Book Club. Check out the Author Masterminds WebsiteGet to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Meet Valerie Winans, your host for Episode 25Valerie Winans is a graduate of Northwestern Michigan College, a retired state government manager, and a former campground host in Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska. Valerie is the author of three books: Alaska’s Savage River: Inside Denali National Park and Preserve, Road Trip with Remington Beagle: Michigan to Alaska and Back, and A Hero’s Journey: Life Lessons From A Dog And His Friends. A writer of both fiction and non-fiction, her books are written to inform and entertain readers of all ages. She currently resides with her husband in Traverse City, Michigan. More information can be found at www.valeriewinans.com.
Why do so many people disappear in Alaska? Who buried Sister Mary Janina in the basement of the church? How did a pig manage to calm the animals at an Arabian horse ranch? Are there stories about Bigfoot in Alaska? Was the sinking of the Clara Nevada an accident or mass murder? Can it rain blood? Where did the saying, “Another one bites the dust,” originate? What happened to the Grand Duchess Anastasia?Join us on the podcast Mysterious and explore the mysteries in the world around us, including unsolved murders, mysteries found in nature, intriguing historical events, paranormal experiences, and baffling enigmas of space.The author hosting each episode investigates a true mystery related to their genre. We invite you to listen to Mysterious and take a journey into the unknown.
Episode 24: A Terrible Christmas Tragedy -- Or Was It Murder? The Jon Benet Ramsey case pops into most of our minds when we are asked to relay the most terrible Christmas story we know, but seventy-eight years ago in 1945 in Fayetteville, West Virginia, the Sodder family lost five of their ten children in a house fire on Christmas Eve. Was it a tragedy, a murder, or a kidnapping? Until their deaths, George and Jennie Sodder believed their five children survived the fire, but if so, where did they go? Photo Resembling LouisSources:Abbott, Karen. “The children who went up in smoke.” December 25, 2012. Smithsonian Magazine.History’s Greatest Mysteries. Season 3, episode 9. “The Sodder children disappearance.”Horn, Stacy. “Mystery of missing children haunts W.Va. Town. All Things Considered. NPR.Newton, Michael. The Encyclopedia of Unsolved Crimes. 2009. New York, NY: Checkmark Books._________________________________________________________________________________________Want more MYSTERIOUS? Be sure to subscribe! _________________________________________________________________________________________This podcast is sponsored by Author Masterminds and the Readers and Writers Book Club. Check out the Author Masterminds WebsiteGet to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Meet Robin Barefield, your host for Episode 24:Robin Barefield is the author of five Alaska wilderness mystery novels, Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, The Fisherman’s Daughter, Karluk Bones, and Massacre at Bear Creek Lodge. She has written two nonfiction books, Kodiak Island Wildlife and Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. Sign up to subscribe to her free monthly newsletter on true murder and mystery in Alaska and check out her podcast: Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. Read more about Robin's books at Author Masterminds.Now Available: 29 True Stories about Murder and Mystery in Alaska
Episode 23: The Mystery of The Way to Go, Nassau, Buster BrownThis is the story of a gorgeous Thoroughbred horse. If he could talk, it would be interesting to listen to him talk about the many miles he put on American roads and highways. We know he crossed the entire continent twice and went halfway one additional time. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Want more MYSTERIOUS? Be sure to subscribe! __________________________________________________________________This podcast is sponsored by Author Masterminds and the Readers and Writers Book Club. Check out the Author Masterminds WebsiteGet to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club________________________________________________________________________________________________Meet Victoria Hardesty, your host for Episode 23:Victoria Hardesty has owned, bred and shown Arabian Horses for more than 30 years. She and her husband operated their own training facility serving many young people that loved and showed their own horses. She is the author of numerous articles in horse magazines, was the editor of two Arabian Horse Club newsletters, one of which was given the Communications Award of the Year by the Arabian Horse Association at their national convention. An avid reader from childhood, she read every horse story she could get her hands on. Victoria and her writing partner, Nancy Perez have written seven novels about Arabian horses. Check out their website at http://www.wonderhorsebooks.com/author-bio and see their books at Victoria Hardesty and Nancy Perez | Bookshelf (authormasterminds.com).
Episode 22: The Mothman of Point PleasantWelcome to a journey through one of America’s most haunting enigmas—the Mothman of Point Pleasant.Plus -- The Phantom Dogsled. __________________________________________________________________________________________________New Release by Mary Ann Poll__________________________________________________________________________________________________Want more MYSTERIOUS? Be sure to subscribe! __________________________________________________________________This podcast is sponsored by Author Masterminds and the Readers and Writers Book Club. Check out the Author Masterminds WebsiteGet to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club________________________________________________________________________________________________Meet Mary Ann Poll, your host for Episode 22: The Mothman of Point PleasantMary Ann Poll is the author of five Supernatural Thriller novels, Ravens Cove, Ingress, Gorgon, Dullahan, and Andalusia Forest.Sign up to subscribe for free information about upcoming events at www.maryannpoll.com and check out her podcast Real Ghost Chatter.____________________________________________________________________________________________________________The Phantom Dog Sled was written and performed by Steve Levi. Check out his books at Author Masterminds.
Episode 21: What Happened to the Edmund Fitzgerald?The legend lives on from the Chippewa on downof the big lake they called Gitchee GumeeThe lake it is said never gives up her deadwhen the skies of November turn gloomyGordon Lightfoot's lyrics memorialize the tragedy of the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, but the mystery remains - what sunk the great ship?Sources:Stonehouse, Frederick. The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. Avery Color Studios, Inc. Gwinn, Michigan. 1977.Charles River Editors. The Sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald: The Loss of the Largest Ship on the Great Lakes. KindleSchumacher, Michael. The Trial of the Edmund Fitzgerald: Eyewitness Accounts from the U.S. Coast Guard Hearings. University of Minnesota Press. Minneapolis, MN. 2019.____________________________________________________________________________________________________Want more MYSTERIOUS? Be sure to subscribe! _________________________________________________________________________________________________________This podcast is sponsored by Author Masterminds and the Readers and Writers Book Club. Check out the Author Masterminds WebsiteGet to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club________________________________________________________________________________________________Meet Valerie Winans, your host for Episode 21: What Happened to the Edmund Fitzgerald?Valerie Winans is a graduate of Northwestern Michigan College, a retired state government manager, and a former campground host in Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska. Valerie is the author of three books: Alaska’s Savage River: Inside Denali National Park and Preserve, Road Trip with Remington Beagle: Michigan to Alaska and Back, and A Hero’s Journey: Life Lessons From A Dog And His Friends. A writer of both fiction and non-fiction, her books are written to inform and entertain readers of all ages. She currently resides with her husband in Traverse City, Michigan. More information can be found at www.valeriewinans.com.
Episode 20: The Most Lovable Conman of the Alaska Gold RushOne of the most scandalous persons to be associated with Nome was Wilson Mizner, a loveable scoundrel. Mizner was involved with gambling and prize fighting in Nome, and it was said he was probably the only man with the reputation of being able to "borrow money from a lamppost and is said to be the only man who ever hired the Nome brass band on credit." In addition to these northern distinctions, in the course of Mizner’s life, he was also a mining engineer, actor, playwright, Fifth Avenue art dealer, husband of the "second richest woman in the world," proprietor of the legendary Brown Derby in Los Angeles and, with his brother Addison, a founder and promoter of Boca Raton, Florida.____________________________________________________________________________________________________________This podcast is sponsored by Author Masterminds and the Readers and Writers Book Club. Check out the Author Masterminds WebsiteGet to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club________________________________________________________________________________________________Meet Steve Levi, your host for Episode 20: The Most Lovable Conman of the Alaska Gold RushSteve Levi is a 70-something writer in Alaska. He specializes in the impossible crime and the Alaska Gold Rush. An impossible crime is one in which the detective must figure out HOW the crime was committed before he can go after the perpetrators. As an example, in THE MATTER OF THE VANISHING GREYHOUND, the detective must figure out how a Greyhound bus with four bank robbers, a dozen hostages, and $10 million can vanish off the Golden Gate Bridge. Steve’s books can be seen at www.authormasterminds.com/steve-levi and www.steverlevibooks.com. He also does two historical uploads a week. Send Steve your email, and he will include it in the mailings.Now Available: The historical key to understanding the Alaska Railroad is that it started as a Socialist dream. It was a profit-making instrument owned by the government. By the time the railroad finished, the dream of socialism as a governmental form had died. The Russian Revolution showed how flawed socialism by a national government was, the hard-core socialist, anarchist, and syndicalist radicals had been deported on the BUFORD, and the end of World War I flooded American stores with consumer goods. The Roaring Twenties had started, and everyone was making money, and there was no longer a need to have a ‘socialist’ government.
Episode 19: Mysterious Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of RussiaGrand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia was born into the most elite segment of Russian society on June 18, 1901 as the youngest daughter of Tsar Nicholas II, the last sovereign of Imperial Russia, and his wife, Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna. Anastasia was the younger sister of Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, and Maria, and was the elder sister of Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia.During WWI, Anastasia--like her sisters--volunteered as a nurse right in the royal palace at Tsarskoye Selo. Many of its rooms had been turned into hospital wards. In 1917, the February Revolution in Russia forced Czar Nicholas II to abdicate the throne. After the Revolution of 1917 and Nicholas’s abdication, Nicholas and his family (including Anastasia) were taken as prisoners to Tobolsk, then to Yekaterinburg, where on June 18, 1918, Anastasia celebrated her last birthday.Nicholas, his wife Alexandra, and their four girls and one son, were held at Czarskoye Selo palace and then taken to Ekaterinburg in the Urals after the Bolsheviks seized power in the October Revolution. Tsar Nicholas II, Tsarina Alexandra, and their five children—including 14-year-old Anastasia--were shot and bayoneted to death by Bolshevik revolutionaries under Yakov Yurovsky on the orders of the Ural Regional Soviet in Yekaterinburg on the night of July 16-17, 1918. Also murdered that night were members of the imperial entourage who had accompanied them: court physician Eugene Botkin; lady-in-waiting Anna Demidova; footman Alexei Trupp; and head cook Ivan Kharitonov.The executioners then took the bodies to the Four Brothers mine [an abandoned mine shaft some 14 miles from Ekaterinburg, in the Koptyaki forest],Anna Andersonwhere they were stripped, buried, burned in a gasoline-fueled bonfire, and the bones doused with sulfuric acid to disguise the remains further and mutilated with grenades to prevent identification. Finally, what was left was thrown into the mine pit, which was covered with dirt. After 300 years of imperial rule, the Romanov empire ended in a chaos of gunfire and bayonets._________________________________________________________________________________________________This podcast is sponsored by Author Masterminds and the Readers and Writers Book Club. Check out the Author Masterminds WebsiteGet to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club________________________________________________________________________________________________Meet Carl Douglas, your host for Episode 19:Mysterious Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia My pseudonym as an author is Carl Douglass, adopted as a means of telling stories with gripping realism—the truth of which would not bring trouble to my door. My writing of gripping, realistic fiction began after I was obligated to retire from the private practice of neurosurgery due to sudden blindness in my left eye from a retinal detachment which caused loss of stereoscopic vision. I carried with me decades-long knowledge of doctors, hospitals, and institutions of higher learning, including some less than laudatory information. My military experience during the years of the recent unpleasantness in Viet Nam also gave me considerable insight. Both of those lengthy experiences provided true grist for the mill of my writing, but neither of them need to connect the stories to the lives of the real people and places where the stories took place. In that sense, I know too much and have no wish to incriminate or to bring harm or embarrassment to real individuals or institutions. My rich and varied life has provided even more fodder to feed my mind and contribute realism to my written work. In my time, I have had to work due to lacking a sugar daddy. I have been a grease monkey, a lumber mill and forest worker, a lifeguard, a slaughterhouse worker, a diener in a morgue, a lab rat,
Episode 18: The Investor Murders What happened on a foggy September day in 1982 in the small fishing village of Craig, Alaska? Many believe they know who killed the crew and passengers of the Investor, but only the killer knows why the massacre occurred.
Sources Bovsun, Mara. “Murder on a fishing boat—and there was never a conviction.” March 31, 2019. New York Daily News. https://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/ny-justice-story-investor-boat-killings-20190331-y333ejn4qjd5vnhf33wzxg4jiy-story.html
Dodd, Johnny, and Adam Carlson. “The mystery of who murdered 8, including a family, on a fishing boat in Alaska.” December 11, 2017. People. https://people.com/crime/people-explains-investor-fishing-boat-murders-alaska/
Hale, Leland E. What Happened in Craig: Alaska’s Worst Unsolved Mass Murder. 2018. Kenmore, WA: Epicenter Press.
Kahn, Dean. “8 killed in 1982 Investor murders remembered in exhibit.” April 30, 2016. Washington Times. https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/apr/30/8-killed-in-1982-investor-murders-remembered-in-ex/
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ This podcast is sponsored by Author Masterminds and the Readers and Writers Book Club. Check out the Author Masterminds Website
Get to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club
________________________________________________________________________________________________ Meet your host for Episode 18: The Investor Murders Robin Barefield is the author of five Alaska wilderness mystery novels, Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, The Fisherman’s Daughter, Karluk Bones, and Massacre at Bear Creek Lodge. She has written two nonfiction books, Kodiak Island Wildlife and Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. Sign up to subscribe to her free monthly newsletter on true murder and mystery in Alaska and check out her podcast: Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. Read more about Robin's books at Author Masterminds.
Now Available: 29 True Stories about Murder and Mystery in Alaska
Episode 17: Where is Baby Shannon? Some of the facts in this true story have been established, but some things are still unknown. Sources: https://wbckfm.com/cold-case-cedar-springs-the-disappearance-of-baby-shannon/ Cold Case Cedar Springs: The Disappearance of Baby Shannon https://charleyproject.org/case/shannon-dale-verhage The Charley Project https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/michigan/2022/06/03/michigan-girl-still-missing-25-years-after-mother-murdered-found-dead-in-lake-killer-on-death-row/ https://www.woodtv.com/news/michigan/convicted-killer-from-mi-up-for-execution/ Citation: Timmerman, L.C. and John H. The Color of Night: A Young Mother, a Missing Child and a Cold-Blooded Killer, New Horizon Press. Far Hills, NJ 2011 __________________________________________________________________________________________________ This podcast is sponsored by Author Masterminds and the Readers and Writers Book Club. Check out the Author Masterminds Website
Get to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club
________________________________________________________________________________________________ Meet your host for Episode 17: Where is Baby Shannon? Valerie Winans is a graduate of Northwestern Michigan College, a retired state government manager, and a former campground host in Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska. Valerie is the author of three books: Alaska’s Savage River: Inside Denali National Park and Preserve, Road Trip with Remington Beagle: Michigan to Alaska and Back, and A Hero’s Journey: Life Lessons From A Dog And His Friends. A writer of both fiction and non-fiction, her books are written to inform and entertain readers of all ages. She currently resides with her husband in Traverse City, Michigan. More information can be found at www.valeriewinans.com.
Valerie is a writer for readers of all ages and dogs' best friend.
Episode 16: Alaskan Ghosts In May of 1973, the chief mate and two sailors on the Alaska State ferry Malaspina saw a sight about which they are undoubtedly still telling their grandchildren. On a clear Sunday morning near Twin Island in the Revillagigedo Channel north of Ketchikan, a huge vessel suddenly appeared dead ahead. Lying broadside to the path of the ferry, it was about eight miles away and was an "exact, natural, and real" ship.
The three men, in two different locations on the ferry, reported the same sighting. With binoculars, they scanned the strange vessel and saw sailors working on deck. The ferry crew watched the strange ship for ten minutes, and then, just as suddenly as it had appeared, it vanished into thin air.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________ This podcast is sponsored by Author Masterminds and the Readers and Writers Book Club. Check out the Author Masterminds Website
Get to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club
________________________________________________________________________________________________ Meet your host for Episode 16: Alaskan Ghosts Steve Levi is a 70-something writer in Alaska. He specializes in the impossible crime and the Alaska Gold Rush. An impossible crime is one in which the detective must figure out HOW the crime was committed before he can go after the perpetrators. As an example, in THE MATTER OF THE VANISHING GREYHOUND, the detective must figure out how a Greyhound bus with four bank robbers, a dozen hostages, and $10 million can vanish off the Golden Gate Bridge. Steve’s books can be seen at www.authormasterminds.com/steve-levi and www.steverlevibooks.com. He also does two historical uploads a week. Send Steve your email, and he will include it in the mailings.
Now Available:
The historical key to understanding the Alaska Railroad is that it started as a Socialist dream. It was a profit-making instrument owned by the government. By the time the railroad finished, the dream of socialism as a governmental form had died. The Russian Revolution showed how flawed socialism by a national government was, the hard-core socialist, anarchist, and syndicalist radicals had been deported on the BUFORD, and the end of World War I flooded American stores with consumer goods. The Roaring Twenties had started, and everyone was making money, and there was no longer a need to have a ‘socialist’ government.
A RAT’S NEST OF RAIL
Episode 15: Bigfoot in Alaska Alaska, known for its vast wilderness and diverse wildlife, has captured the imagination of many when it comes to the legendary creature known as Bigfoot. While the state is renowned for its hulking wildlife like bears, moose, caribou, and sea lions, sightings of Bigfoot in Alaska have been relatively scarce compared to other regions believed to be its natural habitat.
In Bigfoot stories, the creature is often described as elusive, hiding behind trees, and partially or entirely obscured. It provides just enough evidence for believers to support its existence and skeptics to cast doubt. So, the question remains: Is there a Bigfoot in Alaska? The answer, as always, is up to you to decide. Two outstanding first-person encounter Bigfoot books written by Dr. Matthew Johnson:
______________________________________________________________________________________ This podcast is sponsored by Author Masterminds and the Readers and Writers Book Club. Check out the Author Masterminds Website
Get to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club
________________________________________________________________________________________________ Meet your host for Episode 15: Bigfoot in Alaska
Evan Swensen, book publisher, editor, author, and Author Masterminds charter member along with his wife, Lois, publishes books by authors worldwide. He has been the publisher and editor of Alaska Outdoors magazine and producer of Alaska Outdoors television show and outdoor videos, and host of Alaska Outdoor Radio Magazine. He has been an Alaska resident since 1957.
As a pilot, he has logged more than 4,000 hours of flight time in Alaska, in both wheel and float planes. He is a serious recreation hunter and fisherman, equally comfortable casting a flyrod or using bait, or lures. Evan has been published in many national magazines and is the author of five books and publisher of more than 1,000 books by other authors.
Evan claims to have the best job in the world; he gets up in the morning, puts on his fishing vest, picks up his fly rod, kisses his wife goodbye, tells her he’s going to work—and she believes him.
Author Masterminds: https://authormasterminds.com/evan-swensen
Author Masterminds One Last Cast book: https://authormasterminds.com/details/XLxrX
One Last Cast on Amazon: https://bit.ly/3H0OzTo
One Last Cast short video: https://youtu.be/2wzwWmim-2g
Alaska Outdoors https://alaskaoutdoorsmagazine.com.
Alaska Outdoors Blog: https://alaskaoutdoorsmagazine.com/blog/
Alaska Outdoors Videos: https://bit.ly/37xjUzl
Episode 14: What Happened to Joseph Mengle? This is a mystery that spanned forty years before being solved and put to rest. Investigators from numerous countries, including the United States, West Germany, Israel, Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay, all of which made confused and futile searches for the man or hard evidence of his having died. His name was Josef Rudolf Mengele.
_______________________________________________________ This podcast is sponsored by Author Masterminds and the Readers and Writers Book Club. Check out the Author Masterminds Website
Get to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club
________________________________________________________________________________________________ Meet your host for Episode 14: What Happened to Joseph Mengle?
My pseudonym as an author is Carl Douglass, adopted as a means of telling stories with gripping realism—the truth of which would not bring trouble to my door. My writing of gripping, realistic fiction began after I was obligated to retire from the private practice of neurosurgery due to sudden blindness in my left eye from a retinal detachment which caused loss of stereoscopic vision. I carried with me decades-long knowledge of doctors, hospitals, and institutions of higher learning, including some less than laudatory information. My military experience during the years of the recent unpleasantness in Viet Nam also gave me considerable insight. Both of those lengthy experiences provided true grist for the mill of my writing, but neither of them need to connect the stories to the lives of the real people and places where the stories took place. In that sense, I know too much and have no wish to incriminate or to bring harm or embarrassment to real individuals or institutions. My rich and varied life has provided even more fodder to feed my mind and contribute realism to my written work. In my time, I have had to work due to lacking a sugar daddy. I have been a grease monkey, a lumber mill and forest worker, a lifeguard, a slaughterhouse worker, a diener in a morgue, a lab rat, an academic writer, a medical officer in a mental hospital, a naval officer and surgeon, a brig doctor, and a deep diving officer. I have been the husband of one fine wife, the father of four children—one deceased—eleven grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren. All of them have enriched the depth and breadth of my storytelling.
Episode 13: Mysterious Idioms
I find Idioms interesting; their origins are a mystery. First of all, some of them sound idiotic, nonsensical, for example ‘saved by the skin of your teeth?’ What in the world does that mean? But the word “idiom” is not related to idiocy, rather ‘idiom’ comes from the Greek word “idioma,” meaning peculiar phrasing. That perfectly describes an idiom. An idiom is a widely used saying or expression containing a figurative meaning that differs from the phrase’s literal meaning. Idioms often reflect a commonly held cultural experience, even if that experience is antiquated. For example, you might say that someone should “bite the bullet” when they need to quit procrastinating and do something they don’t want to do. Originally the phrase referred to wounded soldiers literally biting down on a bullet to avoid screaming during a wartime operation. Thus, from the past a phrase we still use today though it literally does not apply.
MUSIC
Marvin Gaye https://bit.ly/37Rhsha
California Raisins https://bit.ly/2TgXA1s This podcast is sponsored by Author Masterminds and the Readers and Writers Book Club. Check out the Author Masterminds Website
Get to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club
________________________________________________________________________________________________ Meet your host for Episode 13: Rebecca J Wetzler, originally a California girl, has lived in Alaska since she was eight years old. From early in life, she has been an avid reader, and hoped to write her own books someday. From her earliest memories she has been a believer. Shortly after moving to Alaska, she asked Jesus into her heart during Sunday School. As her life progressed, Rebecca realized her faith gives her steady spiritual regrounding to weather the drama of real life. She challenges the untruths forecast by the world’s darkness by believing the Light of God’s Word, and she wants to share the spiritual truths with others. Bread Box for the Broken is her first book.
www.rebeccawetzler.net
https://authormasterminds.com/rebecca-j-wetzler
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebecca-j-wetzler-7b763a49/
https://www.facebook.com/authorrebeccajwetzler
https://www.facebook.com/holyspiritdove
Episode 12: The Haunted Lemp Mansion
The Lemp Mansion in St. Louis, Missouri, is said to be one of the ten most haunted places in America. The mansion continues to play host to the tragic Lemp family after death. The once stately home to millionaires became office space, then decayed into a run-down boarding house. Finally restored, the Lemp Mansion is presently a fine dinner theatre, restaurant, and bed and breakfast. Sources: https://www.legendsofamerica.com/mo-lempmansion/
https://www.neatorama.com/2014/10/30/Lemp-Mansion-Tales-of-a-Cursed-Family-and-Their-Haunted-House/
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This podcast is sponsored by Author Masterminds and the Readers and Writers Book Club. Check out the Author Masterminds Website
Get to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club
________________________________________________________________________________________________ Meet your host for Episode 12: The Haunted Lemp Mansion Mary Ann Poll is the author of four Supernatural Thriller novels, Ravens Cove, Ingress, Gorgon, and Dullahan.
Sign up to subscribe for free information about upcoming events at www.maryannpoll.com and check out her podcast Real Ghost Chatter.
Blood RainEpisode 11: More Than Just Rain Falls From the SkyWhen we see precipitation forming into storm clouds, we know that rain is on the way. But this clean, life-sustaining liquid is not the only thing that falls from the sky. Can it actually rain blood? That might sound like a biblical disaster straight out of the book of Exodus, but that’s just what happened in India. Also, what is a Star Jelly, and does it come from the sky?
Star Jelly_____________________________________________________________
This podcast is sponsored by Author Masterminds and the Readers and Writers Book Club.
Check out the Author Masterminds Website
Get to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club
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Meet your host for Episode 11:My name is Adam Freestone. Apart from being an author, I have Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. I am confined to a wheelchair, and my condition requires me to use a ventilator and other medical equipment. Because of this, I am not a person most people are accustomed to seeing. My disability makes my day-to-day routine challenging, and it takes a lot of determination and patience to get anything done. Oddly enough, trying to show what I go through is what initially gave me the idea for the main character of my Sentinel Flame books, Hyroc. Hyroc is not disabled, but he is different than everyone else, and this causes him problems. I wanted to present how I live with my disability in an interesting way readers would find intriguing. Though Hyroc’s story occurs in a medieval fantasy world, what he has to deal with is very similar to what I experience in my everyday life. I tried to reflect through the character that though my situation seems dark and depressing, there is light in my life, and that’s what keeps me going.
Episode 10: Grand Island MurdersAfter the body of Edward Morrison was found in the bottom of the U.S. lighthouse boat on the shore of Lake Superior, stories began to flourish about what had happened and who was responsible — even before the facts were established. To this day, people still have strong opinions about an event that occurred more than one hundred years ago.
Sources:Graham, Loren. Death At The Lighthouse: A Grand Island Riddle. Arbutus Press, Traverse City, Michigan. 2013.
UNSOLVED MICHIGAN MYSTERY: Death of a Lighthouse Keeper | https://99wfmk.com/grand-island-lighthouse-murder/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral
https://lostinmichigan.net
https://mikelbclassen.com
Read Valerie’s companion piece to this episode at Medium or at the Readers and Writers Book Club_______________________________________________________________________
This podcast is sponsored by Author Masterminds and the Readers and Writers Book Club.
Check out the Author Masterminds Website
Get to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club
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Meet your host for Episode 10: Grand Island Murders.Valerie Winans is a graduate of Northwestern Michigan College, a retired state government manager, and a former campground host in Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska. Valerie is the author of three books: Alaska’s Savage River: Inside Denali National Park and Preserve, Road Trip with Remington Beagle: Michigan to Alaska and Back, and A Hero’s Journey: Life Lessons From A Dog And His Friends. A writer of both fiction and non-fiction, her books are written to inform and entertain readers of all ages. She currently resides with her husband in Traverse City, Michigan. More information can be found at www.valeriewinans.com.
Episode 9: The Phantom That Came Aboard: A True Gold Rush SagaPerhaps the most famous Alaska Ghost ship story is that of the Eliza Anderson. Here is the saga of a ship in distress, forced to choose between being battered to splinters by the savage sea or running around on the rocky shoals of Kodiak Island. Instead, a tall, gaunt, wind-swept, rain-soaked giant of a stranger seized control of the ship’s wheel and steered her safety. Then, his job completed, he vanished as mysteriously as he had arrived. For fifty years, the legendary “Stranger Who Came Aboard” was grist for the supernatural mill of Alaska Gold Rush stories.
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This podcast is sponsored by Author Masterminds and the Readers and Writers Book Club.
Check out the Author Masterminds Website
Get to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club
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Meet your host for Episode 9: The Phantom That Came Aboard: A True Gold Rush SagaSteve Levi is a 70-something writer in Alaska. He specializes in the impossible crime and the Alaska Gold Rush. An impossible crime is one in which the detective must figure out HOW the crime was committed before he can go after the perpetrators. As an example, in THE MATTER OF THE VANISHING GREYHOUND, the detective must figure out how a Greyhound bus with four bank robbers, a dozen hostages, and $10 million can vanish off the Golden Gate Bridge. Steve’s books can be seen at www.authormasterminds.com/steve-levi and www.steverlevibooks.com. He also does two historical uploads a week. Send Steve your email, and he will include it in the mailings.
Coming Soon:“Did you know anarchists and socialists and Bolsheviks and syndicalists built the Alaska Railroad?”
It’s true! The route between Seward and Fairbanks was approved in 1912, just before the First World War, and not completed until 1923. During the most violent period of American history, 1910 to 1920, which saw FOUR major terrorist bombings – Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York!
AND the Russian Revolution!
The Alaska Railroad was a socialist dream! It was owned by the government, all workers were paid by the government, and all benefits would go to the people, not private enterprises.
What more could a socialist or an anarchist or a syndicalist or a Bolshevik ask for?!
What could go wrong?
Want an in-the-weeds snapshot of what it was like to work on the Alaska Railroad with anarchists, socialists, syndicalists, and Bolsheviks?
IT’S COMING!!!
A RAT’S NEST OF RAIL
www.authormasterminds.com/steve-levi
Episode 8: What Happened to the Fandel Children?Most parents can imagine no nightmare worse than the disappearance of a child, but how can a parent possibly cope when both of their children vanish, swallowed by the Alaska wilderness?
Some time during the late-night hours of Sept. 5 or the early morning hours of Sept. 6, 1978, Scott Fandel, 13, and Amy Fandel, 8, disappeared from their Sterling, Alaska home on the Kenai Peninsula, 136 miles (218.9 km) south of Anchorage. The mystery of what happened to the Fandel children has baffled Alaska State Troopers for over four decades. How can two kids vanish from their home without a trace?
The following two photos are age progressions from the Charley Project. If you have any information on this crime, please contact the Alaska State Troopers.
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This podcast is sponsored by Author Masterminds and the Readers and Writers Book Club.
Check out the Author Masterminds Website
Get to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club
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Meet your host for Episode 8: What Happened to the Fandel Children?Robin Barefield is the author of five Alaska wilderness mystery novels, Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, The Fisherman’s Daughter, Karluk Bones, and Massacre at Bear Creek Lodge. Sign up to subscribe to her free monthly newsletter on true murder and mystery in Alaska and check out her podcast: Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. Read more about Robin’s books at Author Masterminds.
Now Available: 29 True Stories about Murder and Mystery in Alaska
Episode 7: Silent City HoaxSilent CityA hallucination is when something is seen that doesn’t exist.
A mirage is a real thing seen in the wrong location consisting mainly of images of distant objects. These may be steady or wavering, single or multiple, upright or inverted, vertically enlarged or reduced. A mirage is a natural optical phenomenon that can be captured on camera since light rays are refracted to form a false image at the observer’s location. However, what the image appears to represent is
Richard Willoughbydetermined by the interpretive faculties of the human mind.
I had never read or considered mirages other than mirages of pools of water standing on a highway on a hot day. And I knew nothing about the Silent City Hoax and no knowledge of any Ghost City before I experienced my North Slope phenomenon.
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This podcast is sponsored by Author Masterminds and the Readers and Writers Book Club.
Check out the Author Masterminds Website
Get to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club
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Meet your host for Episode 7: Silent City HoaxEvan Swensen, book publisher, editor, author, and Author Masterminds charter member along with his wife, Lois, publishes books by authors worldwide. He has been the publisher and editor of Alaska Outdoors magazine and producer of Alaska Outdoors television show and outdoor videos, and host of Alaska Outdoor Radio Magazine. He has been an Alaska resident since 1957.
As a pilot, he has logged more than 4,000 hours of flight time in Alaska in both wheel and float planes. He is a serious recreation hunter and fisherman, equally comfortable casting a flyrod or using bait or lures. Evan has been published in many national magazines and is the author of five books and publisher of more than 1,000 books by other authors.
Evan claims to have the best job in the world; he gets up in the morning, puts on his fishing vest, picks up his fly rod, kisses his wife goodbye, tells her he’s going to work—and she believes him.
One Last Cast on Amazon: https://bit.ly/3H0OzTo
One Last Cast short video: https://youtu.be/2wzwWmim-2g
Alaska Outdoors https://alaskaoutdoorsmagazine.com.
Alaska Outdoors Blog: https://alaskaoutdoorsmagazine.com/blog/
Alaska Outdoors Videos: https://bit.ly/37xjUzl
Episode 6: Sister Mary JaninaIsidore is a quiet little farm community. Not at all the place you think of when you hear someone has been buried alive in the basement of a church.
Sources:https://lostinmichigan.net
Where is Sister Janina? Mardi Lind https://wondersandmarvels.com
Isadore’s Secret: Sin, Murder, and Confession in a Northern Michigan Town by Mardi Link
The 1907 Murder of Sister Janina: Isidore, Michigan https://99wfmk.com
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This podcast is sponsored by Author Masterminds and the Readers and Writers Book Club.
Check out the Author Masterminds Website
Get to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club
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Meet your host for Episode 6: Sister Mary JaninaValerie Winans is a graduate of Northwestern Michigan College, a retired state government manager, and a former campground host in Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska. Valerie is the author of three books: Alaska’s Savage River: Inside Denali National Park and Preserve, Road Trip with Remington Beagle: Michigan to Alaska and Back, and A Hero’s Journey: Life Lessons From A Dog And His Friends. A writer of both fiction and non-fiction, her books are written to inform and entertain readers of all ages. She currently resides with her husband in Traverse City, Michigan. More information can be found at www.valeriewinans.com.
Episode 5: Three MysteriesFrom a small town in Utah to a mysterious mountain in Africa, mysteries fill the world around us. In this episode, I will share three mysteries.
This podcast is sponsored by Author Masterminds and the Readers and Writers Book Club.
Check out the Author Masterminds Website
Get to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club
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Meet your host for Episode 5: Three MysteriesMy pseudonym as an author is Carl Douglass, adopted as a means of telling stories with gripping realism—the truth of which would not bring trouble to my door. My writing of gripping, realistic fiction began after I was obligated to retire from the private practice of neurosurgery due to sudden blindness in my left eye from a retinal detachment which caused loss of stereoscopic vision. I carried with me decades-long knowledge of doctors, hospitals, and institutions of higher learning, including some less than laudatory information. My military experience during the years of the recent unpleasantness in Viet Nam also gave me considerable insight. Both of those lengthy experiences provided true grist for the mill of my writing, but neither of them need to connect the stories to the lives of the real people and places where the stories took place. In that sense, I know too much and have no wish to incriminate or to bring harm or embarrassment to real individuals or institutions. My rich and varied life has provided even more fodder to feed my mind and contribute realism to my written work. In my time, I have had to work due to lacking a sugar daddy. I have been a grease monkey, a lumber mill and forest worker, a lifeguard, a slaughterhouse worker, a diener in a morgue, a lab rat, an academic writer, a medical officer in a mental hospital, a naval officer and surgeon, a brig doctor, and a deep diving officer. I have been the husband of one fine wife, the father of four children—one deceased—eleven grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren. All of them have enriched the depth and breadth of my storytelling.
I put in the necessary work for my later-in-life craft of writing fiction. I spend hours each day enjoying doing the necessary research to make my historical fiction come alive and to give action and accurate place, time, and characters, to all my stories—some 40 books in print and several in the queue with my remarkable publisher, Evan Swensen, who has taught me a great deal about how to write what people like to read. I maintain a passion to learn, to read, to inform and teach, and—above all—to engage you in my yarns.
Episode 4: Edna JuneHow did a 200-pound pig become the “darling” on an Arabian horse ranch?
Owning a ranch isn’t very mysterious. It’s a lot of plain hard work. But there have been some mysterious things that happen here. I’m going to tell you about one of them.
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This podcast is sponsored by Author Masterminds and the Readers and Writers Book Club.
Check out the Author Masterminds Website
Get to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club
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Meet your host for Episode 4: Edna JuneVictoria Hardesty has owned, bred and shown Arabian Horses for more than 30 years. She and her husband operated their own training facility serving many young people that loved and showed their own horses. She is the author of numerous articles in horse magazines, was the editor of two Arabian Horse Club newsletters, one of which was given the Communications Award of the Year by the Arabian Horse Association at their national convention. An avid reader from childhood, she read every horse story she could get her hands on. Victoria and her writing partner, Nancy Perez have written seven novels about Arabian horses. Check out their website at http://www.wonderhorsebooks.com/author-bio and see their books at Victoria Hardesty and Nancy Perez | Bookshelf (authormasterminds.com).
Episode 3: The Clara NevadaNo saga of the Alaska Gold Rush would be complete without a touch of the mysterious. Every rush has its eerie events, and the Alaska Gold Rush was no exception. Perhaps the most perplexing incident of that era was the saga of the Clara Nevada. Here was a tale of greed, robbery, and murder, along with a ghostly re-visitation. But it was more than that. It is also one of the largest successful robberies in American history combined with the third largest mass murders in American history as well, surpassed only by the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 and the 911 attack on the World Trade Center.
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This podcast is sponsored by Author Masterminds and the Readers and Writers Book Club.
Check out the Author Masterminds Website
Get to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club
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Meet your host for Episode 3: The Clara Nevada
Steve Levi is a 70-something writer in Alaska. He specializes in the impossible crime and the Alaska Gold Rush. An impossible crime is one in which the detective must figure out HOW the crime was committed before he can go after the perpetrators. As an example, in THE MATTER OF THE VANISHING GREYHOUND, the detective must figure out how a Greyhound bus with four bank robbers, a dozen hostages and $10 million can vanish off the Golden Gate Bridge. Steve’s books can be seen at www.authormasterminds.com/steve-levi and www.steverlevibooks.com. He also does two historical uploads a week. Send Steve your email, and he will include you in the mailings.
Episode 2: Vile VorticesThe world is full of mysteries. On this episode, I’d like to share about specific phenomena: Vile Vortices.
So, what is a vile vortex? You’ve heard the chilling stories about the Bermuda Triangle, right? Well, there are several other mysterious places where ships and planes seem to vanish. These 12 places are collectively called the Vile Vortices, and like their more famous sibling, they all hold some rather creepy secrets. For the sake of time, I can only share a few.
To this day, scientists are not exactly sure how vile vortices work or even why they occur. What we do know is that there are areas in which strange, possibly even paranormal phenomena, disappearances, and disturbing tales seem to be commonplace. The Bermuda Triangle is most likely the most famous of the vortexes.
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This podcast is sponsored by Author Masterminds and the Readers and Writers Book Club.
Check out the Author Masterminds Website
Get to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club
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Meet your host for Episode 2: Vile Vortices
Mary Ann Poll is the author of four Supernatural Thriller novels, Ravens Cove, Ingress, Gorgon, and Dullahan
Sign up to subscribe for free information about upcoming events at www.maryannpoll.com and check out her podcast Real Ghost Chatter.
Mysterious explores the mysteries in the world around us. Brought to you by authors from a variety of genres, we each tell you about a mystery related to our particular field of expertise. From mysterious disappearances and UFOs to the unexplainable behavior of a pig to an unsolved mass murder at sea to a nun who suddenly disappeared. We will explore mysteries in nature, mysterious occurrences in history, and the enigmas of space. Join us and take a closer look at the mysterious world around us.
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Episode 1: The Alaska Triangle
First named in 1972, the Alaska Triangle stretches from Anchorage in southcentral Alaska to Juneau in the southeast panhandle to Utqiagvik (formerly Barrow) on Alaska’s northern coast. Since 1988, more than 16,000 people have vanished from this area, and every year, approximately four people go missing per every 1000 Alaska residents. This rate is twice the national average.
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This podcast is sponsored by Author Masterminds and the Readers and Writers Book Club.
Check out the Author Masterminds Website
Get to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club
___________________________________________________________________________
Meet your host for Episode 1: The Alaska Triangle
Robin Barefield is the author of five Alaska wilderness mystery novels, Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, The Fisherman’s Daughter, Karluk Bones, and Massacre at Bear Creek Lodge. Sign up to subscribe to her free, monthly newsletter on true murder and mystery in Alaska and check out her podcast: Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. Read more about Robin’s books at Author Masterminds.
Now Available: