Into the Dark World of Catching Crooks, Culprits and Convicts: An Interview with Robert K. Wittman

Posted by on Mar 13, 2017 in | Comments Off on Into the Dark World of Catching Crooks, Culprits and Convicts: An Interview with Robert K. Wittman by Michael J. O’Malley III Robert King “Bob” Wittman in no way resembles the highly romanticized portrayals of FBI agents made famous over the decades by movie studios and television series. He is not the heavy-hitting, gang-busting, chain-smoking G-man, replete with fedora rakishly angled atop his head. Instead, he embodies the old-school preppy style – looking as though...
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Good Road Followed … From Metro Philly to Rock Hall: An Interview with John Oates

Posted by on Jun 6, 2016 in | Comments Off on Good Road Followed … From Metro Philly to Rock Hall: An Interview with John Oates John Oates is one half of the best-selling rock duo Hall & Oates, as well as an accomplished solo artist. Singing from the time he could talk and playing the guitar since the age of 5, John Oates was destined to be a musician. He was born in 1948 in New York City, but his family relocated to North Wales, Montgomery County, in the early 1950s, a move that would change the course of his life....
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Two Decades of PA Books: An Interview with Brian Lockman

Posted by on Apr 19, 2016 in | Comments Off on Two Decades of PA Books: An Interview with Brian Lockman PA Books is a weekly television series that has been running on the Pennsylvania Cable Network (PCN) for 20 years. Brian Lockman, president and CEO of the Harrisburg-based network, has hosted the program from the beginning, interviewing authors of books related to Pennsylvania. He does 35 to 40 new interviews a year, and PCN reruns past programs frequently. A recent survey indicated that PA...
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The Eagle Has Landed… Back in Pennsylvania: An Interview with Dick Vermeil

Posted by on Apr 12, 2016 in | Comments Off on The Eagle Has Landed… Back in Pennsylvania: An Interview with Dick Vermeil When Dick Vermeil signed a five-year contract to coach the Philadelphia Eagles on February 8, 1976, he became at age 39 the youngest head coach in the National Football League. He also inherited a football team that had not posted a winning season in nine years. Just three seasons later, Vermeil led the Eagles to their first playoff appearance in 18 years. He drove his players harder than any...
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Pithole City: Boom Town Turned Ghost Town, An Interview with James B. Stevenson

Posted by on Nov 30, 2013 in | Comments Off on Pithole City: Boom Town Turned Ghost Town, An Interview with James B. Stevenson One hundred and twenty-five years ago this summer, the placid calm of northwestern Pennsylvania’s sparsely populated but panoramic vista was ruptured when “Colonel” Edwin L. Drake’s well coughed up rich, black crude oil on August 28, 1859. The following boom years of the oil industry gave rise to numerous towns and cities, some of which were short-lived ghost towns. The...
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The Magic of Mount Gretna: An Interview with Jack Bitner

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on The Magic of Mount Gretna: An Interview with Jack Bitner Set in the picturesque Conewago Hills of central Pennsyl­vania, the village of Mount Gretna is a treasure of natu­ral beauty and quaint architecture. In 1882-1883, millionaire Robert H. Coleman built the Cornwall and Lebanon Railroad through these rolling hills to connect his vast ironmaking enterprises in Colebrook and Corn­wall to the main line of the Pennsylvania Railroad in Lebanon. At the...
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You Can Go Home Again: An Interview with James A. Michener

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on You Can Go Home Again: An Interview with James A. Michener James A Michener is a man of diverse talents, boundless energy, and seemingly countless interests. He is naturally inquisitive, passionately curious. He is fascinated by the world around him and the people who inhabit it. He collects stories about far-away places as effortlessly as one gathers seashells on the shoreline in summer. He is the Ultimate Con­noisseur. Of people. Of places. Of things....
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Sail On, O Ship of State: An Interview with Capt. Walter Rybka of the U.S. Brig Niagara

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Sail On, O Ship of State: An Interview with Capt. Walter Rybka of the U.S. Brig Niagara Summer 1992 marked the longest and most ambitious voyage of the historic United States Brig Niagara. Originally built for the fleet of Commo­dore Oliver Hazard Perry (1785-1819), the ship carried the twenty eight year old commandant to a decisive victory over the British during the bitter War of 1812 on September 10, 1813 (see “The Battle of Lake Erie: A Victory for Commodore Perry”...
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Gettysburg: The Killer Angels Comes to the Screen

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Gettysburg: The Killer Angels Comes to the Screen Writing about the Civil War in Specimen Days, poet Walt Whitman prophesied that the “real war will never get in the books.” Essentially, he issued a bold challenge to following generations of writers to capture the essence of battle – that cacophony of drama, death, smoke, stench, dauntless battle cries, and soldiers rising – in many cases, vainly – to fight again...
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Homeward Bound: An Interview with David McCullough

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Homeward Bound: An Interview with David McCullough David McCullough is a familiar name – and face. Known to millions as the author of bestselling books, including The Great Bridge, The Path Between the Seas, Truman, Mornings on Horseback, and Brave Companions, and as host of the popular PBS television series “Smithsonian World” and “The American Experience,” he is noted for his remarkable gift of writing richly...
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