Historical Passions

This is my first attempt to create a targeted blog. I’m hoping that I have significant passion about these topics to write in as regularly as weekly.  My current thinking is that I will create a number of categories for my passions including:

Maybe this type of organization will be of interest to others, but at least it’s of interest to me, so it gives me motivation to write at least weekly.  Will I be successful in pulling readers from reading a blog in one category into reading any of the other categories of blogs? Well that will be my challenge in putting together this mix of pieces, and that quest will drive the changes I expect will come to this work

History and Genealogy

These writings will be both stories I have dug up about my own relatives, as well as stories I hear from others in the genealogy area of endeavor – not necessarily from professionals.  For instance, I have a story about my Italian Great Grandfather who is said to have spent some time in Texas, and after he got into a gun fight, he decided to return home to Sicily. I have another story about my Italian Grandmother’s ancestral connections to a protestant sect that started in the 1170’s, as well as a story about the French nobility in my genealogy through my Scandinavian ancestors.  My ex-wife’s ancestors are also of interest considering their involvement in the American Civil War. Then there is a story about my connection to a Johnson clan that represents a large portion of the population in Iron County, Wisconsin. These are just examples of related genealogies, while I could also find unrelated genealogies from readings and videos I am reviewing. These stories should be of interest to other genealogists as well as people with a history interest..

History Readings

I read a lot of history.  In the last six months my readings have been about The Plantagenets (1150s to 1485; Henry II to Richard III) (Kindle), Thomas Jefferson’s slave (Kindle), Dodge City (Chirp), Abe Lincoln: In His Own Words (Great Courses), and Churchill (Great Courses), Poland by James Michener (Audible), Jackson by Ralph Andrist (Audible), A History of the Jews (Audible), and Frederick Douglas by David Blight (Audible).  I also watch a lot of history-related TV shows on Amazon Prime, Netflix and YouTube. I sometimes find things worth repeating or I also tend to write reviews, particularly for Kindle and Audible readings, since Amazon prompts me to add to GoodReads. I can just share those thoughts and reviews here for the benefit of my blog reader.

Healthcare History

I find myself interested in some subjects regarding current healthcare, and though they are not seen as history, I will relate these subjects to the history of healthcare.  I will try to put the subjects I discuss in the context of the past.  For instance, in discussing the current developments in government health insurance, i.e., Medicare and Medicaid, I might relate some learning I gained from reading The Social Transformation of American Medicine by Paul Starr.  Or in exploring the current use of opioid drugs, I might wax and wane about the past developments about the opioid receptors, primarily because I had personal experience in this research endeavor in my early career as a doctoral student.  My first three pieces will be about the History of Pandemic Preparation.