Posts

Ben Hur

Image
I recently watched the silent version of 1925's  "Ben Hur: A Tale Of The Christ". An amazing movie with 125,000 extras. The famous chariot scene was filmed at what is now the intersection of La Cienega and Venice Boulevards in Culver City, California. This is the exact spot where Linda caught the bus to school every morning. Linda grew up in Culver City on Tilden Avenue.  Culver City was the home to MGM. She wasn't in the movie.  

Ball State University, Volleyball

Image
I was attending Ball State University, in Muncie, Indiana in 1969.  I had graduated from International Business College with an Associates Degree in Accounting and had hoped to finish my Bachelor's Degree at Ball State. I had always paid my own way in college and worked at various jobs (Gas Stations, Kresge Warehouse, General Electric, etc), mostly night jobs.  My friend Dave Mulligan and I were dating two girls who were friends and to be honest, they were tutoring Dave and I...... in Geometry.  That is where we met them, Geometry Class. I was broke.  Trying to pay for a dorm room, tuition, food and miscellaneous was a strain.  Working 25-30 hours a week and selling my blood at Ball Memorial Hospital was not paying the bills. Dave was on the Volleyball Team and they were really good.   Always one of the top teams in the nation.  Coach Shondell was from Fort Wayne, Indiana and he recruited heavy from two tiny rural schools near Ft. Wayne.  Hoagland and Monroeville high schools had p

Dr. Emeritus, Mary Caroline Linton

Image
FORT ATKINSON, WISCONSIN - Mary Catherine Linton, July 23, 1954 – June 13, 2021 This is cousin Mary Linton. Mary's father, Harold Linton was the son of Floyd and Edith Linton. Floyd and my grandmother, Laura Linton Boice were brother and sister. Mary was a wetland scientist, aquatic ecologist, educator, and published poet. She grew up on a farm near Midland, Mich., loving science and literature. She graduated valedictorian of her class from Bullock Creek High School. Alzheimer's disease took her too soon; she was spirited to the end near her family in Bay City, Michigan. Mary obtained a Bachelor of Science at Michigan State University in 1975, a master's in biology at Michigan Technological University in 1982, and a Ph.D. at the University of Kentucky in 1995. She was an assistant and then associate professor of biology from 1989-2002 at Goshen College, Ind., where she researched Ambystomatid (mole) salamanders at the Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center. Linton was a

Tule (Two Lee) Fog.

Image
As I approach the sunset of my life, I am paying more attention to the sunrises.  I have always been an early riser and placed great value on break of the day work or leisure.  It is more important to me now, at 76.  I want to see that sun rise as much as I can. Today was special.  Einstein and I departed the house in the dark.  There was an unusual heavy fog and there was that smell.  I'm going to call it a heavy, moist cloud of ozone that permeated every inch of our walk this morning.  It's a wonderful smell and Salomon Farm's landscape of fields and woods was the epicenter of the fragrance.  Dozens of beautiful spider webs dotted the yards and landscape.  Invisible during the day, the moisture collected on the webs and made a giant snowflake.  The spiders are mostly invisible but this morning's ozone blast has displayed their nightly art work. This morning's smell woke up a memory for me.  Linda and I used to visit her uncle in Sacramento, California.  The San Jo

Linda's Dad, The Lexington

Image
USS Lexington CV2. The second air craft carrier in the Navy fleet. It was converted from a cargo ship and was home to biplanes in its early history. This was the lead ship in the search for Amelia Earhart in 1939. Linda's dad was in the navigation department and wrote the map coordinates for the search.  

A Family of Strangers.

Image
This 1993 movie with Melissa Gilbert, Patty Duke and Wiliam Shatner  was based on the life of Edith Carnahan Neukom and her daughter Jody.  The movie was good but not true to actual events. A book, Jody, was written by Jody's husband in 1976 was a more accurate description of events. Edith Carnahan was the wife of my grandmother's brother, Reno Neukom.  The story:         About August, 1922, Edith Bernice Carnahan, 15 year old daughter of Sam and Flossie Carnahan (farmer from Auburn) was sexually assaulted by an older man in a barn while walking to school.       No arrests or information is available.  A document was found stating that Edith said her biological father was "Culbertson".  A neighbor to the Carnahans was Ivan Culbertson, age 38.       Edith was sent to a Woman's shelter in Fort Wayne and had twins on April 10, 1923.  There are few records as the shelter did not keep good records and kept most of girl's identities hidden.       The babies were

People Magazine. A Body to Die For.

Image
A Body to Die for. By Richard Jerome PEOPLE EDITORIAL GUIDELINES Published on October 30, 2000  LISA PETERSON She had faith in a suspect herbal supplement Her husband, John, by her side, Linda Peterson gently rocks Meeka, the mixed-breed shih tzu that belonged to their only child, Lisa, who died last fall at 26. “We think Meeka may have some of Lisa’s spirit,” says Linda, 52, a high school science teacher who lives in Ozona, Fla. A marketing specialist for a brokerage firm, her 5’9″ daughter had a fondness for Picasso prints and Victoria’s Secret catalogs—as well as burritos, chocolate and Brie, which helped push her weight to 180 lbs. In 1997 Lisa resolved to reduce. “My family is overweight,” says John, 52, a mattress distributor. “I think it concerned her.” Adds Linda: “The self-image wasn’t there. Being thin is important in business or meeting men.” Lisa devoted herself to a Jenny Craig diet and the gym. The regimen seemed to work. She lost 35 lbs. and in 1998 started datin
Image
In a Twinkling of a Eye….. By ALICIA CALDWELL Tampa Bay Times Published Dec 29, 1999 The beauty of Lisa resonated in the small things: The way the young woman and her father still could enjoy the same movies together. The time she always had to talk to her older neighbors about their grandchildren. The bond she forged with her little dog Meeka, which she rescued after the Shih Tzu-poodle mix was abandoned at a veterinarian's office. Lisa Marie Peterson died earlier this month, apparently from a massive heart attack. It shouldn't have been, say her friends and family. The Clearwater woman appeared healthy. She worked out all the time. She was only 26 years old. "It seems unbelievable," her mother, Linda Peterson, said in a recent interview. "There should have been some kind of sign. The official record thus far is devoid of absolute answers in the matter of Lisa Peterson's death. Final autopsy results still are pending. And police still are invest

Cal and Edna Peterson Biography

Image
For Peterson family. A short bio of Cal F and Edna L Peterson. Edna was the eldest daughter of Rosina Wittwer. Cal Peterson and Edna Neukom were married on 19 Dec 1924. Cal was 22, Edna 21. At the time of their marriage, Cal was a clerk for Erie Railroad. Edna was a housekeeper. Cal moved his family (at the time only baby Cal Merlin and Edna) to Indianapolis to serve as chief clerk of the Supreme and Appellate Court of Indiana. 1926-1930. Cal had aspirations of becoming a lawyer. At this time, serving an apprenticeship was needed. I suspect that the Great Depression and Edna’s eyesight played a factor in the family moving back to Decatur. It is not confirmed, but it appears that Charles, my father, was born in Indianapolis. 1927. The depression was hard on the young family; Cal reportedly left his family with Edna’s mother and rode rail cars to California (had family there) looking for work. The residence at 603 Penn St. was acquired about 1930-31. Grandma Edna told me it was pu

Louis Curdes, WW2 Flying Ace

Image
My grandmother, Edna Neukom Peterson had a sister, Irene Neukom. Irene at the age of 38, married Walter Curdes age 58. It was Irene's first marriage. Walter's son Louis was a WW2 flying ace, prisoner of war and was married to a Hollywood starlet. Louis and Svetlana's story: World War II Flying Ace Recipient of two Distinguished Flying Cross medals and a Purple Heart Louis was the son of Walter Curdes and Esther Kover. He grew up in Fort Wayne and enrolled in Purdue University. After almost three years of studying, Louis joined the Army Reserves on March 12, 1942. He was commissioned a second lieutenant, and graduated from flight school on December 3, 1942 at Luke Field, Arizona. He joined the 329th FG, but transferred to the 82nd FG, 95th FS, where he saw action over North Africa, Sardinia and Italy flying P-38Gs. On April 29, 1943 he shot down three German Me-109s and damaged a fourth near Cap Bon, Tunisia. Two more Me-109s were shot down near Villacidro, Sardini