Author Archives: Ron

How We Hear Music

One of my favorite anecdotes tells of Abraham Lincoln taking a Native American leader to an orchestral concert in Washington D.C. Three pieces were played, each by different composers such as Beethoven, Bach and Mozart. At the end of the … Continue reading

Leave a Comment

Filed under Everett Reads, Music

Let There Be Post-Punk

Recently, boys and girls, we learned all about the early punk rock movement and how it revolutionized rock music in the mid seventies. Another important genre from this time period is known as post-punk, post from the Latin for “after” … Continue reading

Leave a Comment

Filed under Music

Steampunk in the Wild West

As crazy and unlikely as this may sound, there was a time when I believed that books free of vampires existed. Ah the naiveté of youth! Of course now I realize that authors are required by writ of habeas corpus to include … Continue reading

1 Comment

Filed under Fiction, Historical Fiction, Science Fiction & Fantasy

Let There be Punk!

I’d like to think that one day two or three blokes, one named Harold, were sitting in Harold’s bedroom, bored beyond belief. Nigel (a friend of Harold’s) said, “Right, let’s start a band.” Harold pointed out that they did not … Continue reading

3 Comments

Filed under Music

I’ve Seen London, I’ve Seen France … or … Travel Tales that Aren’t

An effective travel read transports me to exotic locales, compels me to tread the road untrodden, and inspires me to learn about unfamiliar purlieus. Travel writing can tell the tale of an author’s journeys, take place in a single spot, or … Continue reading

Leave a Comment

Filed under Fiction, General Fiction, Movies & Television, Nonfiction, Travel

It’s Halloween!

While pondering the frightening stories I’ve read over the years I realized that scary is not the same thing to all people. Some might find terror in a Stephen King novella, a supernatural thriller or an installment in the Laurell … Continue reading

Leave a Comment

Filed under Fiction, Horror, Memoir & Biography, Music, Nonfiction, Society & Politics

It’s Okay, I’m in the Banned

If I were king, cartoon animals would be required to wear trousers. Sure, there would be protests and talk of constitutional violations, yet I would not rest as long as a single pig stuttered sans pantaloons. As my lust for … Continue reading

Leave a Comment

Filed under Book Lists, Children's Books, Fiction, General Fiction

If it weren’t for those meddling kids and their dog!

I would be rather alarmed if dead bodies crossed my path on a regular basis. And if they did, my first inclination would be to, oh, I don’t know, perhaps call the police and leave it to them to find … Continue reading

2 Comments

Filed under Fiction, Mystery & Crime

My Shameful Reading Disorder

This is a bit awkward. You see, usually I wax poetic, espousing pleasurable tomes I’ve enjoyed, hoping that others will savor them as did I. In a veritable love feast of title pushing I attempt to lead the unwashed masses … Continue reading

1 Comment

Filed under Book Lists, Fiction

The One and Only Elvis

 Everyone remembers their first concert. A young friend of mine recently attended his here in Everett, and many years from now he will enjoy a special memory of elderly men in scary clown make-up attacking their instruments with bone-crunching riffs. … Continue reading

Leave a Comment

Filed under Music