Jim Nolan's Blog

102 Henry Street, Plains, PA

Sarah Curry's grandson's grandson stands in front of the house she lived in when she wrote the Quartermaster Corps regarding her son Lt. John Curry's burial in the Somme American Cemetery in France. She and her husband, Gilbert, who was killed by lightning in 1898, are buried in the Irish section of Sacred Heart Cemetery not far behind the house. Their family's still going strong.

School of Practice

That's my dad in the center of the front row. The School of Practice was part of Buffalo State, back then Buffalo State Teacher's College. Now it's called the Campus School. It was formed so that student teachers could sit in the  back of class and observe, and occasionally teach. Dad says it was also created  so that teachers-to-be could experience all of Buffalo's students, but that never happened. It was kids from the neighborhood, and not more diverse than that. That's Tim Urban on Dad's right, and Larry Urban in the back row to the viewer's left. You can hear more about Tim in my audio post Niagara River Death Cruise, and Larry in Snowmobile vs. Barbed Wire Fence.

"J" Marks the Spot

The little image that sits to the left of a bookmark is called a favicon. I have this one now, a typewriter key. It had to be dead simple, or it wouldn''t read. So if you erase your old bookmark of this page, and bookmark me again, it should appear next to jimnolansblog.com on your bookmarks' list. Also, the best url for the blog these days is jimnolansblog.com, not the old typepad address or jimnolanradio.com.

Bengt a.k.a. Benekiki

My grandfather Bengt Paul visited my parents in Hawaii in 1957, right after his wife Hildegard died. He was still wearing a black suit and black armband when he got off the plane. My mother took him straight to the PX where he got Hawaiian shirts and sandals. He also got new name, "Benekiki," Hawaiian for Bengt. He never wanted to go back.

Three Reasons Hildegard Used Her Erika Typewriter

That's my mother on the right. She writes: "Dear Jimmie, the picture was taken in our little garden lot that I told you about. Benekiki liked to line us up like The Sound of Music children and take a picture. This is the result. I can still remember the dress in the picture, I loved it. Much love, P&K Christa"

My father's head has not been Photoshopped, Part II

That little boy's head would grow into a genuine size 8, an eighth of an inch bigger than my own. His brain, however, is larger on a logarithmic scale.

Yes, he could talk, but his vocabulary was limited.

A shot of my dad holding Smokey the Talking Dog. I think this was taken around 1939 in Rose Hill, Ontario, on summer vacation. From left of Smokey, my Uncle John, Uncle Ned, and grandfather Paul. I discuss Smokey's unusual ability in The Secret of Math, if you scroll down far enough.

My New Mentor, Sir Topham Hatt

Illustration for jimnolansblog.com by Isabella Bannerman. Click to hear Jim's commentary.

Click here to hear My New Mentor, Sir Topham Hatt

 

My great uncle John

Lt. John V. Curry, Company E, 28th Infantry Regiment, 1st Army