Month: May 2019

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Revisiting Hanoi…and More

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Mary Malone, Dublin, IrelandTo say that my first real travel experience outside the United States (other than Bermuda as a college student) was a culture shock would be to make the understatement of the century. After growing up in a small New England town where “traveling vacations” meant loading up the station wagon and driving a few hours away, my first big travel trip was to Hanoi. As in Vietnam.

The flight from Washington DC to New York to Anchorage to Taipei to Hanoi took something like 36 hours. But it was worth it. I’ve written about the experience before when I first started this page in 2012.

Here’s Part 1 that I called “Hanoi on the Half Shell.”

And here’s Part 2, “A Cup of Tea and a Conversation I Didn’t Understand.”

Take a moment to read them as they are fascinating stuff (if I do say so myself).

Since that first trip about 19 years ago I’ve traveled to something over 60 foreign countries, depending on how you count. Just in the last year and a half I’ve been in several places around the United States, a half dozen countries in Europe, five or six Asian countries, Australia, New Zealand, and probably some more I’ve lost track of. I have upcoming trips to a foreign nation I’ll reveal later and a long road trip into the Land of Lincoln.

As Mark Twain has been credited as saying, “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” I agree. As I experience new people in new places I find the differences between us exhilarating, and the similarities uncanny. I highly encourage all Americans to get overseas, even if it’s only to familiar places (London) or iconic places (Paris, Rome). If you can, go some place exotic, even if it’s only exotic to you. The key is to get out of your hometown, your home nation, your home mindset. As the commercial goes, Just Do It!

I’m diligently working through thousands of photos (digital is both a godsend and a curse), so look for some great scenery coming again shortly. For now, click on “Travel” above or type in your favorite location in the search box. And have fun exploring.

And if you haven’t already, take a close look at the photo. Not every day you see a donkey head reading the Racing Times.

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (2013) and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (2016) and two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

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LEAD Me to Abraham Lincoln – Lessons to be Learned

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Looking for LincolnIn June I’ll have the privilege of participating in the annual LEAD: Lincoln’s Path to Leadership program in Illinois. For the past two years LEAD has provided my book, Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, to each of the students in the program; this year I’ll be there too.

LEAD is an initiative of the Looking for Lincoln program of the Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area, which covers the 8th Judicial District represented by Abraham Lincoln in his single term in the U.S. House of Representatives (where I recently participated in the dedication of the new Lincoln Room). Led by the Heritage Area’s Executive Director Sarah Watson and long-time Lincoln presenter George Buss, and in partnership with many other Lincoln and youth groups in Illinois, the LEAD program:

“provides an opportunity for youth to learn about the character qualities of a leader by examining Abraham Lincoln’s life, his ideals, his character and his character capabilities.”

Each year the participants – about 40 seventh graders selected from around the state – spend a week visiting historic sites related to Abraham Lincoln and discussing how Lincoln became the great leader we know him as today. Students walk away with a greater appreciation of leadership qualities and how they can apply them to their own lives.

In my portion we’ll talk about my own leadership experiences (I have been president of organizations four times and am currently vice-president of the Lincoln Group of DC), which will segue into how Lincoln went from frontier farm boy to leader of the nation.

If you haven’t yet taken advantage of it, check out the other Looking for Lincoln and Heritage Area programs, as well as their tour itineraries. They provide tons of information to help you visit and appreciate the Land of Lincoln. [BTW, the Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area just expanded to include the most southern (Jonesboro) and most northern (Freeport) debate sites.]

For those who followed my Chasing Abraham Lincoln tours (Parts 1 and 2) last year, I’ll be combining my LEAD participation with Part 3. Previous tours took me to Lincoln’s early life in Kentucky and Indiana (plus stops in Tennessee and Michigan) and the Lincoln-Douglas debate sites (and many others) in Illinois.  For Part 3 I’ll be visiting many stops in Illinois I missed previously, plus some Lincoln-related sites in Wisconsin and Michigan.

I’m looking forward to both the LEAD: Lincoln’s Path to Leadership program and my Chasing Abraham Lincoln tour. Before that I’ll be on another adventure, but that’s a topic for a later post.

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (2013) and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (2016) and two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

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Reconstructing Bermuda, Part Deux

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David at Sandy HookA while back I wrote a post called Reconstructing Bermuda in which I reminisced about my college semester on that Atlantic Ocean island. In an attempt to sound scholarly, here is Part Deux.

Many years ago I lived in Bermuda for a college semester. There were 15 of us learning how to be marine biologists while living at the Bermuda Biological Station for Research. For two months we studied, we dived, we snorkeled, we spent hours bent over equipment in the laboratory searching for microscopic parasites. Fun was had by all.

That’s how I began the previous post and it’s fitting to use it to set the stage. I’ve written more on trials and travails of that semester on my memoir/creative blog, Hot White Snow. Here are some additional highlights (click on the titles or “Read more” for the full article):

Researching Bermuda

My independent research project for the semester focused on the epibiota of the submerged roots of red mangroves in Walsingham Pond. Red mangroves (Rhizophora mangle) are best known for their aerial prop roots, which help suspend the main trunk and leaves of the tree above the water. Epibiota are those animals and plants that attach themselves to the roots, either permanently or temporarily. In my survey I identified thirty-four different species of attached flora (plants) and fauna (animals). For contrast I also examined the nearby bay, which led to the following encounter with an inquisitive barracuda. [Read more]

The Barracuda of Walsingham Bay, Bermuda

Each of us were required to do a field research project of our own design. Mine was to examine the epibiota on mangrove roots in Walsingham Pond, with a comparison site in Walsingham Bay. I gathered data by snorkeling around both locations and writing my findings on waterproof tablets (the plasticized paper kind, long before iPad-type tablets). A barracuda full of teeth and curiosity followed me around the Bay. It was unnerving, and yet at the same time exhilarating. [Read more]

Copycats in Bermuda

Picture 15 people walking into a local bar, all wearing bright purple t-shirts. Needless to say, we attracted a lot of attention, including from one very lonely sailor and a restroom encounter ending with “Are you all some kind of group?” And that was just the first night.  [Read more]

A Drop of Worthington E

Speaking of bars, our favorite, which we dubbed “The pub is a pub is a pub,” was the scene of one late night beer chugging contest featuring Worthington E on tap. Most of my companions assumed I was a lightweight drinker, but the Worthington E slid down the gullet so easily I found myself in the finals against one of the women in the group. Who won? [Read more] [And no, this was not the reason for the next story]

Bailey’s Bay Slide

Our main mode of transportation around the island was by small motor scooters called moped. While seemingly innocuous, they played central roles in several incidents, including one that makes my knee throb to this day. One day after a light rain we set out on a research expedition that turned out to be more eventful than we anticipated. This is why. [Read more]

The North Rock Song

North Rock sits an 8-mile boat ride from the lab. After a day of diving and snorkeling we kept ourselves entertained working on our tans and singing an old sea ballad. Officially “The Mermaid,” the fifteen of us turned the chanty into our “North Rock” anthem. [Read more]

I have many more fond memories of that time and have reconnected with a few of my fellow explorers in recent years, so expect to see more reminiscing in the future.

 

 

Lincoln: The Fire of Genius is available for purchase at all bookseller outlets. Limited signed copies are available here. The book is also listed on Goodreads, the database where I keep track of my reading. Click on the “Want to Read” button to put it on your reading list. If you read the book, please leave a review and/or rating.

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David J. Kent is President of the Lincoln Group of DC and the author of Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America and Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America.

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Introducing the Abraham Lincoln Bibliography Project

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Lincoln book towerThey say there are over 15,000 books and pamphlets published about Abraham Lincoln. The truth is, no one actually knows. As a way to find out, I’ve started the Abraham Lincoln Bibliography Project. As I note in my introduction to the page:

The goal of the Abraham Lincoln Bibliography Project is to compile all of those books, then organize them into a usable resource for researchers, aficionados, and anyone interested in reading more about our 16th president.

The project is still in its infancy and limited by the amount of time I have to devote to it. It’s a big project, so as it develops I’ll be looking for additional help. Visitors are welcome to offer their thoughts, suggestions, books to be included, and whatever else seems appropriate in the comments.

So far the site has focused on book reviews, but since one of the goals of the Abraham Lincoln Bibliography Project is to offer broader guidance on books about Abraham Lincoln, ultimately the plan is to include three types of posts:

  1. Compilations of books within categories (e.g., assassination, presidency, etc.)
  2. Reviews of books written about Lincoln
  3. News

The first type, compilations, will eventually include two subtypes: summary discussions on a topic, and lists. The lists are what they sound like; simply lists of books within a subtopic, e.g., books about the assassination. The summary discussions will be longer syntheses of a group of books in that subcategory, essentially white papers discussing the topic and including references. Since these will take longer to prepare, they will be posted less frequently than lists.

The second type is also self-explanatory. I’ll post reviews of books about Lincoln. Initially, these will be reviews written by myself on books I have read. I anticipate also including relevant reviews written by others, either specifically for this site or in accordance with accepted copyright limitations if published elsewhere.

The third type is News. Any news items posted on the internet pertaining to particular books or Lincoln-related topics may be included on this site as encountered. Selection of items will be based on relevance and applicability to the overall goals of this project. So far I haven’t added any news to the site, but feel free to offer suggestions or thoughts.

As this site develops I’ll add organization to make it easier to find particular compilations, lists, books reviewed, and news items by topic.

As I said earlier in this post, the Abraham Lincoln Bibliography Project is still a work in progress, with much more work to be done. Please be patient as it develops, and feel free to offer any ideas for books to be reviewed or added to category lists. Constructive thoughts on how to develop the page are welcome (spamming or trolling are not).

To keep up with future items, please consider following the page.

[Text above adapted from two posts on the Abraham Lincoln Bibliography Project website. David J. Kent photo of Lincoln book tower in the Ford’s Theatre Center for Education and Leadership]

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (2013) and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (2016) and two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

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Looking for Ljubljana – Slovenia’s Triple Bridge Jewel

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Triple bridge, Ljubljana, SloveniaSeveral years ago I took a road trip through central Europe. Starting in Bratislava, the route took us through Vienna, Munich, Fussen (home of the famed Neuschwanstein Castle), Munich, Salzburg, and Budapest. Rather than backtrack through Vienna, we decided on a whim to drive south to the capital city of Slovenia, Ljubljana, home of the triple bridge.

The route from Salzburg went through, over, and under the Austrian Alps. And by under, I mean through several long tunnels bored deep into the mountains, up to 8 kilometers at a time. The views were spectacular; the turn of phrase “clouds laying like cotton quilts in the beds between the ridges” popped into my mind as I drove.

Ljubljana (more or less pronounced, LOOB-Yana) was the kind of quaint old capital city I had come to expect in Europe. Most of the visitor activity was focused on a series of cobblestoned pedestrian streets, old town squares, and the ubiquitous castle high on the hill overlooking the city. While there were modern shops to keep tourists happy, my favorite section of the old town was the farmers market where the local shopkeeper and I communicated enough via hand-signals (to make up for my lack of Slovenian – a Slavic language with occasional Germanic hints) to order a local snack that to do this day I can’t identify. [But it was good]

Feeling energetic, we hiked up to the castle and scanned the city. Feeling less energetic, we took the funicular back to the ground and walked past the Dragon Bridge and on to the more famous tromostovje, the triple bridge. Originally a single stone bridge crossing the Ljubljanica River, two footbridges canted at a slight angle to the main span were added in 1932 to alleviate a traffic bottleneck. When I was there, part of the bridge was undergoing renovation and one of the side bridges was swamped with photo salesmen. Overall, however, the bridge and the city are a jewel for Slovenia.

There is always the danger of becoming jaded by the similarities present in European old towns – all have cobblestoned streets, central squares, and cathedrals with massive castles guarding on high – so I’m always happy to see the more unique street performers and artwork. Ljubljana have many of each. Check out the slideshow below.

While it was not on our originally planned route, and Ljubljana was a long side-trip, it was one that proves the point that you should always be flexible in your travel.

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (2013) and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (2016) and two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

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Lincoln Room Dedicated in U.S. Capitol

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Lincoln RoomIt’s official. The room once used by Abraham Lincoln has been designated the Lincoln Room by House Resolution 1063. It’s a fitting tribute both to the 16th President of the United States and to Past-President of the Lincoln Group of DC, John Elliff. I was privileged to attend the dedication ceremony on May 1, 2019 in Statuary Hall of the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.

The road to the dedication is a long one, from one former president to another. Currently Room H-226 in the U.S. Capitol, the space was the House post office during the time that Abraham Lincoln served his single term as a U.S. Congressman from Illinois. The House chambers then are now Statuary Hall, where visitors can see the statues from each of the 50 states (two for each state). A small metal plate in the floor designates where Lincoln’s desk was as a Congressman, way in the back of the hall. Behind it is a door that led to the post office. Today that room is in the rear of the suite designated for the House Majority Whip, currently Representative James Clyburn of South Carolina.

Lincoln would spend many hours between votes and debates in the post office. Representatives didn’t have offices or staffs then, so the post office was a good place to discuss issues of the day and trade stories and jokes.

Flash forward to the present. In 2014 I attended a special ceremony in Statuary Hall celebrating the 150th anniversary of Lincoln’s second inaugural. Congressman Rodney Davis, who serves in part of what had been Lincoln’s district, took me into the room then occupied by Steve Scalise, who had set aside the old post office room as an unofficial tribute to Abraham Lincoln.

John Elliff also was at that ceremony. As President of the Lincoln Group of DC he recognized that Rep. Scalise’s unofficial designation might not hold after the results of the 2016 election changed party leadership of the House (much like Lincoln pushing for the 13th Amendment to codify the gains made in the Emancipation Proclamation). After finishing his presidential term in spring 2018, John began working in earnest to convince Congress to officially designate the room as the Lincoln Room.

In August 2018, John Elliff suddenly and tragically passed away. By then he had received commitments from several members of Congress to pass a resolution. The Lincoln Group of DC, the Illinois State Society, and the Abraham Lincoln Association of Springfield, Illinois (and its president, former Lincoln Group of DC officer Bob Willard) all engaged with Congress to support the permanent designation of the Lincoln Room.

Near the end of the 115th Congress, Representatives Darin LaHood and Raja Krishnamoorthi co-sponsored a bipartisan resolution to officially designate the Lincoln Room. It passed and the room was formally dedicated this week. Representatives LaHood and Krishnamoorthi, Lincoln Group of DC President John O’Brien, Illinois State Society President Jerry Weller, and John Elliff’s wife Linda all spoke at the dedication. About 50 proud members of the three organizations attended the event in Statuary Hall and toured the Lincoln Room.

As Representative LaHood noted during the dedication, this resolution and designation would not have been possible without the tireless work of John Elliff and the support of these Lincoln and Illinois organizations.

For me personally this was a fitting tribute to the man who became my Lincoln mentor, John Elliff, as well as to Abraham Lincoln himself. As I wrote in my tribute post last August, John was, as fellow friend and Lincoln scholar Bob Willard noted, “Lincolnian in character – honest, smart, hard-working, empathetic, curious.” Everyone in the Lincoln Group of DC appreciated these characteristics. He was a true leader.

And now he will be forever linked with his own political mentor, Abraham Lincoln. Thank you John, Linda, Bob, Jerry, Representatives LaHood and Krishnamoorthi, and all the members of each of the organizations that made the Lincoln Room happen. See the slideshow below for some photos of the event.

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (2013) and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (2016) and two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!