A road for Rosie

In World War II, women working for the war effort were epitomized by Rosie the Riveter, a woman helping to build bombers in Michigan.

Now, thanks to efforts by the Kentucky Colonels and the Somerset Junior Women's Club, Rosie will be honored in her home state. Kentucky Highway 1247 at Science Hill, Kentucky, will be renamed the Rose Leigh Monroe Highway. The Lexington Herald-Leader reported on the change this morning.

Monroe, a widow and mother, moved to Michigan from Pulaski County during the war and took a job as a riveter in a plant that made B-29 and B-24 bombers. She was chosen for a Defense Department movie because of her name, and because of her resemblance to the painting of woman in a bandanna and overalls used on posters promoting women as defense plant workers.

Something I'll never experience

One of the most spectacular tourist attractions in the world opened today, and it's one that I will never experience.

The Grand Canyon Skywalk has a glass floor that protrudes 70 feet past the rim of the canyon and 4,000 feet above the canyon floor. Those three facts are precisely why I will never be on it. I have a hard enough time with the Pinnacle Overlook at Cumberland Gap, and that's on solid ground with a concrete floor. I can't imagine standing on a four-inch slab of glass and staring straight down the maw of the Grand Canyon.

Hopefully others won't be as squeamish about the view as I am. The Skywalk could provide a much-needed boost to the Hualapai American Indian tribe. The tribe now suffers from crushing poverty and a 50 percent unemployment rate. It's leaders allowed a Las Vegas businessman to build the $30-million Skywalk in hopes that it will attract tourists -- and money -- to their home 90 miles west of Grand Canyon National Park. Construction of the attraction at the canyon, which the Hualapai consider sacred, was not without controversy. Let's hope the return is worth the compromise.

A busy time

There are a lot of things going on right now. PRECIOUS BLOOD will be officially released April 3, but I've already been distributing copies to people who helped me and to media. The response has been good so far, and I'd like to thank those of you who have pre-ordered the books.

I'm also involved in another project that I can't talk much about yet, but keep checking this blog. There will be a pretty major announcement soon that should be of special interest to true crime fans.

And you thought flying couldn't get any worse

When Paul Trinder woke up during the flight from Delhi to London, he thought the lady who had sat down beside him in the first-class cabin looked awfully ill, so he asked the British Airways flight attendant what was wrong.

The answer wasn't quite what he had expected. The lady that attendants had just plonked down in the seat beside Trinder wasn't sick at all. She was dead.

According to The Associated Press, the woman had died in the economy-class cabin during the flight, and attendants had moved her body and her grieving family into the first class cabin to give them some privacy. No one warned Trinder in advance; they just carried the body to the front and sat it down in the seat beside the sleeping passenger.

The AP quoted a statement from the airline that said about 10 passengers a year die in flight and, "The deceased must not be placed in the galley or blocking aisles or exits, and there should be clear space around the deceased. The wishes of family or friends traveling with the deceased will always be considered, and account taken of the reactions of other passengers."

Apparently the airline didn't include Trinder in that accounting.

The pork was delicious

I had a nice dinner last night with folks from Appalshop Inc. in Whitesburg, Kentucky, and a group of faculty from NYU's Tisch School. The NYU group was in Whitesburg for its annual exchange with Roadside Theater, Appalshop's internationally acclaimed theater troupe.

It was a interesting evening, from the revelation by a film teacher that network television is now ordering short features as well as traditional half-hour and hour shows to the another New Yorker confiding that poke salat is one of her favorite foods. I spoke for about 10 minutes about small-town journalism and being an author, and in general had a great time. One surreal part of the evening was standing at the door of the Courthouse Cafe, where I have blended into the background for 20 years, and autographing books.

Blog interview on Emerge

Jennifer Prado interviewed me in February for her blog " Emerge - New Authors," and the interview went up Monday -- by coincidence, the same day that Precious Blood became available for sale. You can read Jennifer's interview with me here.

It's here!

Precious Blood is out early! Walmart, Barnes and Noble, and Booksamillion all list it as in stock and ready to ship. I had no idea it was already available.

Making the world safe for skiers

You're a clerk on the midnight shift at 7-Eleven when this guy walks up wearing a ski mask, lays a candy bar on the counter and reaches for his hip pocket. Do you:

A) Scream, wet your pants and hand him the cash drawer
B) Grab the .38 from under the counter and drop the sucker, or
C) Take his money, hand him his change and wish him a good night?

Kevin Lambert of Winstead, Conn., hopes you don't take the Dirty Harry approach. Lambert was once arrested and sentenced to perform community service for posing for a picture in a convenience store while wearing a ski mask. Now he's started a web site dedicated to "Striving to keep America Warm By Combating Ski Mask Discrimination."

Lambert and a group of his friends now regularly go around town in ski masks to remove the stigma associated with the full-face toboggans that he says has been created by terrorists and robbers. Let's hope he lives to fulfill his dream.

Advertising run amok

First, a bunch of dimwits who thought they were funny posted signs that people mistook for bombs in strategic locations around Boston to advertise a cartoon. Now a softdrink maker, who I won't identify here for fear of giving it the publicity so it so desires, has caused the historic Granary Burying Ground to be closed. The British-owned company hinted that it might have buried a coin worth up to $1 million dollars inside the cemetery, which is the final resting place of my namesake Sam Adams, John Hancock, Paul Revere, and other historic figures.

Treasure hunters showed up at the gate determined to find the coin, forcing Boston parks officials to lock the gates and post guards. The company has since admitted that it hid a coin worth $10,000 behind the lip of a stone doorway to a 200-year-old crypt.

Turner Broadcasting paid the city $2 million to offset the cost of police used to investigate the sign incident, and police charged the two men who placed the signs with crimes. Let's hope the Brits have to pony up the same sort of dollars to pay for their ill-conceived plan. The people who placed the coin, and ordered it's placement should also be charged. I can't help but wonder if someone involved got some perverse pleasure from the thought that treasure hunters might start digging up the fathers of the American Revolution.

Music City

I just got back from Nashville, Tenn., where I visited friends and stopped by some fantastic bookstores.

This is the fifth time I've been to Nashville, and I always find something new when I go. It really is a beautiful city, with a lot of different things to do. Hopefully, I'll be going back for a booksigning after PRECIOUS BLOOD comes out in April.

Weirder and weirder

Anna Nicole Smith spent her life in the tabloids. Now it looks like she'll spend eternity there.

Prince Frederick von Anhalt, the husband of Zsa Zsa Gabor, has said he once tried to adopt Smith because "she wanted to be a princess," and since he was already married to Zsa Zsa, adoption was the only way to give Anna what she wanted. By the way, he also claims he had a 10-year affair with Smith and may be the father of her baby.

This guy just admitted publicly that he tried to make the woman he had had sex with for 10 years his adopted daughter. How twisted is that?

PRECIOUS BLOOD information on web

Kensington Publishing Corp., the publisher of my book PRECIOUS BLOOD, has now added the book to it's web site. The book can be ordered direct from Kensington once it is printed. In the meantime, you can pre-order from most online booksellers, or through this page.

Forgiving and forgetting, or hiding the past?

If you were hiring someone, would you want to know if that person had been convicted of stealing $500 from his previous employer? Do you think it's important for a school to know that someone applying for a job has served time for possession of cocaine?

If so, you might want to contact the Kentucky General Assembly. The House Judiciary Committee just sent a bill to the floor that would expunge some felony convictions from court records, the Lexington Herald-Leader is reporting.

Crimes eligible to be erased by the law include crimes such as theft of more than $300, possession of narcotics, and other Class D felonies. Class D Felonies are punishable by one to five years in prison. Violent crimes and crimes against children would be excluded.

Rep. Rob Wilkey, D-Scottsville, is sponsoring the bill. Currently, Kentucky law only allows misdemeanors to be expunged. Misdemeanors are punishable by fines or by 12 months or less in the county jail.

Harry Potter getting more exposure

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is due in stores in July, but the buzz over the new book isn't the only exposure Harry Potter's getting. Daniel Radcliffe, the 17-year-old actor who plays Harry in the movies, is giving theater-goers the full monty in the play Equus in London's West End.

Parents who have taken their children to see Radcliffe fully clothed in the Harry Potter movies are not amused. The reaction from teenage girls is a little different. No word yet on if or how Radcliffe's decision to appear nude in the play and bare-chested in promotional photos will affect his role as Harry Potter.

Those of you want to read the book can preorder it on my other website. Those who want to see Radcliffe nude will have to see the play. Sorry.

Groundhog says spring is on the way

Punxsutawney Phil, the most famous groundhog in the world, forecast spring this morning.

If you really think about it, the groundhog is never wrong. If he sees his shadow there will be six more weeks of winter. If he doesn't, it's only a month and a half till spring. Honest -- check your calendar.

No such thing as a free lunch

A bald eagle in Alaska bit off more than it could chew when it swooped down into a dump and picked up a severed deer head.

The bird managed to lift off with the head, but it didn't get very far. Either weak from hunger or merely overestimating its own strength, the eagle struck a power line, causing an explosion that knocked out electricity to 10,000 residents in Juneau. The impact killed the bird.

The politics of sex crimes

The Georgia legislature is finally poised to do something about the case of Genarlow Wilson, a 17-year-old convicted of aggravated child molestation for having sex with a 15-year-old classmate.

Wilson, an honor student and football star, was sentenced to 10 years in prison and a lifetime of being registered as a sex offender. His case has become a rallying point for people who believe he was wrongly convicted.

A web site has even been created asking people all over the world to sign a petition saying, "I register my outrage and object to the wrongful conviction of Genarlow Wilson for Aggravated Child Molestation for a consensual sexual act with another teen. A ten year prison sentence is wrong. He should not have to register as a sexual offender."

As usual, well-intentioned people have over-simplified the situation.

Wilson was one of six high school boys who rented a motel room, stocked it with liquor and marijuana, and invited female classmates to join them for a New Years party. The party came to light after a 17-year-old girl awoke the next morning naked except for socks. She called her mother saying she could remember nothing about the night before and thought she had been raped.

When police investigated, they found the motel room littered with condoms and a videotape showing the 17-year-old girl having sex with several of the boys, including Wilson, and a 15-year-old girl performing oral sex on Wilson and some of the others. The 15-year-old said she did not drink or smoke pot, and performed the acts willingly. All of the boys except Wilson pleaded guilty. Wilson stood trial, was convicted and received a mandatory 10-year sentence.

Now people are screaming racism and demanding a full pardon for Wilson. Never mind that all of the victims and all of the accused were of the same race.

As a result of the conviction, the Georgia Legislature relaxed the law, reducing what Wilson admitted doing to a misdemeanor. Georgia courts refused to apply it's provisions to Wilson because the law specifically states it does not apply to cases before its passage.

The legislature is now taking what seems to me to be a well-reasoned step. It is considering another law, Senate Bill 37, that would allow judges to decide whether the sentences of people convicted prior to the new law should be reduced. You can read about it in The Macon Telegraph. If you feel Wilson should not have received 10 years in prison, then register your support for the new measure by e-mailing State Sen. Emanuel Jones at the following address: emanuel.jones@senate.ga.gov

Two months and counting

PRECIOUS BLOOD will be available in stores beginning April 1. You can move to the front of the line by pre-ordering now. Thanks in advance to those of you who do.

And if the flight attendant has a tantrum?

A family was kicked off an AirTran flight in South Florida after the three-year-old daughter threw a tantrum and refused to sit in her seat. Now there's a split between people who are applauding the airline and the rest, mostly parents, who know that children are not as compliant as single people think.

Crying children irritate everyone -- especially their parents. If I could have stopped my kids from crying in public I would have, but it doesn't work that way. Once they start, it's almost impossible to stop them. They're like the railcar fire near Louisville last week -- they just have to burn themselves out.

The only good solution is don't take them to a theater unless you're prepared to leave the movie in the middle and don't take them on an airplane unless you're prepared to jump.

Appalachian storytelling more than just talking

My friend Angie DeBord, a storyteller from Virginia, asked me to help get the word out about the one-day storytelling class she will help teach at Southeast Community College in Cumberland, Ky.

Angie is a great performer, and I know anyone who takes the class will get a lot out of it. The information is below.

DATE:
February 10
(snow date February 17)
Saturday 9:30 AM - 4:30 PM
Cumberland

Overview:
Community Stories/Community Theatre is a workshop for members of community theatre groups or arts councils, community scholars, theatre artists, playwrights, storytellers, and community activists who want to learn the process of collecting stories from your own community and developing a community theatre production rooted in these stories. The session will include organizational information and grant possibilities as well as hands-on activities to model the process. Presenters: Angelyn DeBord and Theresa Osborne. Lunch will be provided. Cost is $10 payable at the door. Early registration is advised due to limited class size.

LOCATION:
Edsel T. Godbey Appalachian Center
Southeast Community College
700 College RoadCumberland KY 40823
http://www.secc.kctcs.edu/AppalachianCenter/Godbey.htm

TO REGISTER: Contact Judy Sizemore at circuit@prtcnet.org
Directions will be sent with registration confirmation.