By Michael Patrick O’Brien– Somehow by accident, coincidence of birth, or other strange circumstance, I developed an emotional connection with an historical figure I’ve never met. His name is John…
Posts published by “mobrien@joneswaldo.com”
By Michael Patrick O’Brien– The century-old New York Times headline─ “Marry in Haste in War”─ jolted me out of the daze of a late night online genealogy research session. The…
By Gary Topping– Reminiscing recently about playing the Las Vegas trombone concerts has gotten me musing over the rest of my musical career, particularly as a Navy musician. For an…
By Michael Patrick O’Brien– During a recent funeral, as I took in the icons of St. Michael the Archangel and the Twelve Apostles painted inside a domed Greek Orthodox Church…
By Michael Patrick O’Brien– Catholic monasteries are not known, let alone acclaimed, for their Halloween pumpkins. That may be changing, thanks to some enterprising Northern Utah Latter-day Saint family farmers.…
By Michael Patrick O’Brien– Good historians often are good storytellers, and my friend Utah historian Gary Topping knows many good tales about Utah’s past. He’s worked a lifetime to collect…
By Michael Patrick O’Brien– Although sometimes I think visiting graves is a strange custom, I still do it. In fact, I recently visited the final resting place for my dear…
By Gary Topping– Like our blogger-in chief, Mike O’Brien, I have lots of memories of Las Vegas. Unlike his, most of mine are negative: the noise, the lights, the water-wasting…
By Michael Patrick O’Brien– In the blistering heat of a recent summer day, I sat in a large, air-conditioned, packed-to-the-rafters Las Vegas venue. I heard something few Vegas visitors get…
By Gary Topping– Looking back over my career as a historian, I am struck by how much of it has involved the work of the great Utah and Mormon historian,…