This year’s holiday stocking stuffer…Cherry CHAN Candy!
It’s Christmas Eve, circa 1960! The aluminum tree is up and the children are nestled all snug in their beds. It’s time to fill those stockings hung by the chimney with care. You grab the old favorites: some jacks, a sliding puzzle square or Chinese-finger puzzle, a yo-yo, cap bombs, a ping pong paddle or…
Those Charlie Chan Eateries!
Ah November-December, the year’s end approaches and dining-out at festive gatherings abounds! Why not step away from the customary turkey or ham that will no doubt be proffered you this holiday, and get a little adventurous! There still exists a few Charlie Chan establishments in operation! Here are those I could find open and some…
The true, sad events surrounding actor Otto Yamaoka; “Kashimo” from Chan film, The Black Camel.
EXECUTIVE ORDER 9066: The President Authorizes Japanese Relocation, (February 19, 1942) Actor Otto Yamaoka was an American citizen, born 1904 in Seattle, WA. Until the 1940s he had a successful career in film, staring in no less than 31 films. He would act in some film classics: The letter (1940), Thin Ice (1937), Libeled Lady…
Those loveable “Sidekicks!” Who’s your favorite?
The Sidekick, we all love them. Robinson Crusoe had his man Friday and Tom Sawyer had Huckleberry Finn. And while Batman had Robin, Tony Stark engaged a computer-interface language system, J.A.R.V.I.S.–Just A Rather Very Intelligent System (in case you didn’t know.) But it can also get lonely when one is trying to solve those little…
Ten ways to celebrate Ohio Author Earl Derr Biggers’ 135th birthday – August 26th, 2019!
“Where were you the night of August 26, 1884?” Personally, to borrow a line from Nora Charles, The Thin Man, 1934, “I was just a twinkle in my father’s eye.” (Though in my case it would be my grandfather’s eye!) In 1920, while vacationing in Honolulu, Hawaii, Author Earl Derr Biggers thought of the perfect…
Charlie Chan at the Museum! Not the movie; Cleveland and Honolulu Police Museums.
I have a confession…I’m a philatelist. There I said it! Yes, I collect stamps. More specific, for a while I was hell bent on making my own cachet envelopes (that’s an envelope with a picture that’s stamped, printed, or embossed below the return address). I made them to have first day postmarks cancelled on them…
Two can play at that game Mr. Chan…and I never lose!
Actually, up to four players for these exciting card and board games—read on! Before the internet, cell phones, X-box, and on-line gaming, people more often gathered at a neighbor’s or relative’s house for a good old-fashioned game night. This might be a card game, such as: Bridge, Pinochle, or Hearts. Or it could entail a…
KILLER COVERS: a blog by J. Kingston Pierce – Under the Covers with Charlie Chan
You can’t always judge a book by it’s cover. Well, maybe not; however, those “KILLER COVERS” can certainly help sell books! And that is the very name of a super-cool blog I recently discovered by J. Kingston Pierce! Titled KILLER COVERS it is a companion to another blog edited by Mr. Pierce, The Rap Sheet. (one of the…
Two World-Class Sleuths: One Small Burg – Warren, Ohio
“Mr. Chan, allow me introduce Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley, who also holds title as 8th Earle of Asherton. Lord Lynley, meet our guest Inspector Charlie Chan of the Honolulu police.” “Hello Inspector Chan,” said Lynley. “Your reputation precedes you. I’ve heard many accounts of your accolades from our mutual friend, Inspector…
The Chinese Parrot…Well, perhaps not!
Author and playwright Earl Derr Biggers was an exceptional “Reconteur” (from Old French meaning to tell). And like any good storyteller he drew from his own experiences and quite often from real life. Here are some real-life associations, comparisons, and even an anagram, which the author may have borrowed from or used in writing his…
So, what-in-the-world is an Aphorism anyway?
When I first decided to write my book, The Wisdom Within Earl Derr Biggers’ Charlie Chan: The Original Aphorisms Inside The Charlie Chan Canon, I pondered that very question for quite some time. The book (in its final stages) is a collection of 175 aphorisms inside the six Charlie Chan novels by Ohio author and…
Warren, Ohio’s month-long celebration of Author Earl Derr Biggers, March 2018
Most of us familiar with the fictional sleuth Charlie Chan are aware he was created by Author Earl Derr Biggers, born Warren, Ohio, August 26, 1884. To my great surprise, while glancing through the Warren-Trumbull County Library’s website I saw under their “One Book/One Community” program, their title book for March 2018 was none other than…
The Postman on Holiday 