Occasionally I am contacted by people who have stumbled upon this blog and enjoyed reading an entry. Sometimes they want to add a comment or ask a question. Often they want to share a related memory. It is fun to discover that I have new readers – real readers out there in the world, sometimes from far away.
On October 17, this email arrived: "Dear Sandy, I am the editor of the Essex Aggie Alumni Newsletter and I am asking if I can use your article about the Hathorne Post Office in an up coming newsletter. Thanks, Pete." We exchanged emails and then had a long conversation by phone. I learned that Pete lives in Arizona, but was a student at Essex Aggie in the 1970's. For the Alumni newsletter he was researching the old train station, seeking to learn why it was called Hathorne. An Internet search pulled up a mention in my blog. Then he read other parts of my blog and wanted to tell me how much he enjoyed the Screech Owl story.
Coincidently, I had just selected that Halloween story to send to the editor of the Danvers Herald!
And today, a reader of the Facebook group "You know you grew up in Danvers Massachusetts when...." posted a link to my Screech Owl story, which had been published this week in the Danvers Herald. (I hadn't known whether it would run this week or next, so I appreciated learning of its publication.)
Other comments on that Facebook group this weekend have left me smiling. I've added replies to some questions asked (e.g., about the old Hathorne school). And I've thanked the readers there for their kind comments about my blog. It is fun to learn of new readers.
Thank you, readers!
Sunday, October 25, 2015
Saturday, September 5, 2015
Changing schools
In my elementary school years in Danvers, I was moved from school to school, each September starting in new place. I've written about this in a column published in the Danvers Herald Thursday September 3, 2015. It was posted online today; you can read it by clicking this:
Sunday, August 30, 2015
Joshua Ward House
Cousin Stuart sent me a newspaper clipping about a new chapter in the history of the Joshua Ward House on Washington Street in Salem:
Ward House in Salem to Host Chic Hotel (Salem News, Aug 17, 2015)
Our family has connections to this house, and I recall a lovely tour by Bob Murphy, then owner, in May 2009. He eagerly showed us the bedroom in which President George Washington, as a guest of Joshua Ward in 1789, had slept. Bob was in the process of restoring that room, working on some of the window shutters.
Most of the rest of the house was devoted to his business, the Higginson Book Company. My head is now spinning with questions. When did Mr. Murphy sell the house? Does his book business continue? Apparently so. See http://www.higginsonbooks.com/
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| For more photos of my 2009 visit, visit my photos of Joshua Ward House tour (In that gallery, scroll down to follow the tour in sequence, with captions.) |
Most of the rest of the house was devoted to his business, the Higginson Book Company. My head is now spinning with questions. When did Mr. Murphy sell the house? Does his book business continue? Apparently so. See http://www.higginsonbooks.com/
Today I located a January 2014 announcement of the house being for sale, but it doesn't mention Bob Murphy.
For Sale in Salem: Warning, Possibly Haunted (Salem Patch, January 2014)
"The Joshua Ward House in downtown Salem is up for sale."
In 2008 I wrote a piece about my family's connection to this house. See Which Joshua Ward?
Now I probably should write an update.
Now I probably should write an update.
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