When All God’s Children Get Together

In case you live under a rock and have no idea, February is African American History Month. It became an official celebration in 1976, but started as an awareness week in 1926. The purpose of the celebration is to honor African American history and achievement. Pretty straight forward, right? Well many of these types of …

FRL – looking back, looking forward

As I get ready to retire next month, I find myself looking back at nearly 25 years of working for the Fontana Regional Library System.  There have been a lot of changes.  Walking into the Macon County Public Library on Wayah Street, for my first day on the job, the first thing I found myself …

The United States in the Great War

It was the 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month one hundred years ago when guns fell silence.   The combat phase of the Great War was over.  The Allies, including Great Britain, France, and the United States were victorious over the Central Powers: Germany and its allies. The United States joined the …

Georgiana, Maisie, and Amory: Detectives All, Part 2

SPOILER ALERT! Sometime ago I introduced the readers of this blog to three of my favorite mystery authors:  Jacqueline Winspear, Rhys Bowen, and a librarian turned author, Ashley Weaver (the first two authors are native Brits who live  in the  United States). All three have women as their main characters.  Winspear's Masie Dobbs started out in …

National Parks and Recreation Month

Hi Shelf Life Readers! Happy National Parks and Recreation month! I am writing to you from the Jackson County Public Library but if you tried to find me during the summer months from 2012 to 2015, you would’ve had to look deep in the wilderness of either the Sumter or Chattahoochee National Forest, where I …

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

I made my first trip to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in 1975 when I was in graduate school at UTK in Knoxville.  Three years later, forty years ago, our family made our first hiking trip, when we participated in a church sponsored outing, which included a walk up Mount LeConte.   Since then, we've …

“I’ve been to the mountaintop!”

Today (April 4, 2018) is the fifty year anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was to lead a march with striking city garbage workers.  The march had originally been scheduled for March 22,1968, but Mother Nature had dumped eighteen inches of snow on the city, so …

“Riders on the Storm,” Vietnam, Pt. 4

When Richard Nixon was elected as President of the United States in November 1968, Lyndon Johnson's administration had started talks with representatives of the Communist government of North Vietnam six months before, but when they attempted to get the South Vietnamese and the Viet Cong to join the discussions, the talks broke down.   The Tét …

“We Gotta Get Out Of This Place,” Vietnam, Part 3

This  is the third blog  in a series about the Vietnam War and focuses on the  consequences of  the Communist Tét Offensive in the spring of 1968.  It is also the fiftieth  anniversary  of the North Vietnamese Army (PAVN)/VC attack that changed the war and influenced the political climate back in the States.    Tét is …

Success in the New Year

Gratuitous cat picture. This blog post has nothing to do with cats There are many worlds held in the stacks of our libraries--some funny, some sad, some colorful and rich. Stories that are taken from real life and those that are wonderful imaginations of the Authors. Any interest one has can be found and explored, …