Change is Inevitable with J.L. Lindermuth of Pennsylvania

Change isn't always what we'd prefer, though often there isn't much we can do about it.

My hometown of Shamokin in Pennsylvania's anthracite coal region has endured much change since I was a boy. The decline of coal precipitated an economic slump which led to mass exodus of the young. I was among those who left in search of better opportunities and didn't return until my own children were grown and seeking their own careers.

On my return I found community leaders still struggling with the question of how to restore the prosperity the area once knew. Working as a newspaper reporter and editor until retirement, I witnessed the success of some of those efforts.

A dedicated group saved the community hospital which has since been merged under the wing of a larger, more advanced medical system. The old high school was salvaged to house government offices, a community center, art gallery and a community college. Land scarred by mining has been replanted with grasses and trees.

An off-road park with 7,500 acres of trails opened in 2014 on former mining lands, mostly owned by the county. The variety of terrain, picnic areas, a recently added campground and other amenities attracts hordes of those who enjoy all types of off-road vehicles. Personally, I'm not a fan of these noisy, dirty machines which tear up the terrain and scare off wildlife. But supporters point to the revenue being generated by these visitors who come year-round on weekends. The number of participants has prompted a study on the feasibility of opening a hotel.

On another positive note, recently some local entrepreneurs have been renovating historic homes and buildings for new purposes--restaurants, bed and breakfast facilities, apartments and the like.

Most of the breakers and other remnants of the area's mining past are gone, but there are still aspects of our history with potential for attracting tourists. If you'd like to get an idea what it was like to work in the mines, you might visit Pioneer Tunnel in nearby Ashland. You can descend 1,800 feet into the mine tunnel where a guide will explain how coal is mined. Bring a sweater, because temperature in the mine drops to an average 52 chilly degrees. http://www.pioneertunnel.com/

Interested in geology? The Whaleback Anticline near Shamokin is considered one of the most impressive geological formations in the eastern United States. Plant fossils are common in shale in the surrounding area, which is considered a natural laboratory for the geologists, students and others who annually visit the site. 

http://www.docs.dcnr.pa.gov/cs/groups/public/documents/document/dcnr_20032474.pdf

And, for those who like fun of another kind, Knoebels, the nation's largest free-admission amusement park, is just six miles away and has classic rollercoasters, other rides, swimming and other amusements through the summer and into the fall.

Much of my writing is influenced by this area in which I was born and raised and where I now live again. My latest novel The Bartered Body is a historical mystery set in a fictional coal region community in the 1890s.

Here's a blurb:

Why would thieves steal the body of a dead woman?

That’s the most challenging question yet to be faced by Sylvester Tilghman, the third of his family to serve as sheriff of Arahpot, Jordan County, Pennsylvania, in the waning days of the 19^th century.

And it’s not just any body but that of Mrs. Arbuckle, Nathan Zimmerman’s late mother-in-law. Zimmerman is burgess of Arahpot and Tilghman’s boss, which puts more than a little pressure on the sheriff to solve the crime in a hurry.

Syl’s investigation is complicated by the arrival in town of a former flame who threatens his relationship with his sweetheart Lydia Longlow; clashes with his old enemy, former burgess McLean Ruppenthal; a string of armed robberies, and a record snowstorm that shuts down train traffic, cuts off telegraph service and freezes cattle in the fields.

It will take all of Syl’s skills and the help of his deputy and friends to untangle the various threads and bring the criminals to justice.

Bio:

A retired newspaper editor, J. R. Lindermuth is the author of 20 novels and two non-fiction regional histories. Since retiring, he has served as librarian of his county historical society where he assists patrons with genealogy and research. His short stories and articles have appeared in a variety of magazines. He is a member of International Thriller Writers and the Short Mystery Fiction Society, where he served a term as vice president. You are invited to visit his website at: http://www.jrlindermuth.net.

Links:

https://www.amazon.com/J.R.-Lindermuth/e/B002BLJIQ8%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share

https://www.facebook.com/John-Lindermuth-175253187537/?epa=SEARCH_BOX

https://twitter.com/jrlindermuth

(all info provided/released by author)

My Hometown, Shamokin, Pennsylvania with J. L. Lindermuth

We haven't raised a monument in his honor, but a horse thief played a pivotal role in the history of my hometown, Shamokin, Pennsylvania.

I haven't used him (yet) in my fiction, though I did outline the story of Jesse Major in Digging Dusky Diamonds, my non-fiction book about the lives of miners and their families in this area of Pennsylvania's anthracite coal region.

Jesse had a reputation as a horse thief, burglar and counterfeiter. His arch enemy was Walter Brady, county sheriff, who relentlessly tracked him down and put him behind bars more than once. Sheriff Brady indulged in a bit of land speculation and, eventually, this got him into financial difficulties. His property was seized by the court and put up for auction.

Major, who had just been released from another of his frequent visits to the county lockup, saw an opportunity for revenge. On Aug. 19, 1824 he bid $12 and won possession of the tract of land where Shamokin would be seated. Of course, Jesse didn't develop the property. He sold it to John C. Boyd, a man who loved speculation, for $230 and a horse valued at $50. Jesse Major mounted the horse and rode off into legend.

The rest is history.

Boyd, who was already wealthy from a grist mill, vast land holdings and shrewd investments in the enterprises of others, developed the mining industry which led to the founding of the town. In a newspaper advertisement in June 1838, an unidentified promoter enthused the town, "...is in the midst of one of the finest fields of Anthracite coal in the Union" and "...that its location is good in regard to the procuring of the necessaries of life--that it is healthy--the water pure, and that there is abundant space to build."

He wasn't exaggerating about the coal. It made a number of families extremely wealthy and provided employment for numerous others for many years. The health cost to workers and the purity of local streams was another issue--though these weren't immediately recognized.

Change is inevitable. When I came home after more than 20 years elsewhere coal no longer provided economic security for the region and community leaders struggled to find a replacement for the industry. That struggle continues and lack of opportunity results in the exodus of the best and brightest of our young people.

Still, I didn't come home for employment. I enjoy familiar surroundings, closeness of family and friends, my work as librarian of the county historical society. There are three universities within a short drive, with all the amenities they have to offer. There's abundance of ethnic foods. And, in the rich history of the area, there is plenty of grist for my writing.

Though my most recent book is another western (Blake's Rule), much of my fiction has been influenced by the history of my homeplace. For example, The Bartered Body is set in a fictional coal region town. 

Here's a blurb:

Why would thieves steal the body of a dead woman?

That’s the most challenging question yet to be faced by Sylvester Tilghman, the third of his family to serve as sheriff of Arahpot, Jordan County, Pennsylvania, in the waning days of the 19^th century.

And it’s not just any body but that of Mrs. Arbuckle, Nathan Zimmerman’s late mother-in-law. Zimmerman is burgess of Arahpot and Tilghman’s boss, which puts more than a little pressure on the sheriff to solve the crime in a hurry.

Syl’s investigation is complicated by the arrival in town of a former flame who threatens his relationship with his sweetheart Lydia Longlow; clashes with his old enemy, former burgess McLean Ruppenthal; a string of armed robberies, and a record snowstorm that shuts down train traffic, cuts off telegraph service and freezes cattle in the fields.

It will take all of Syl’s skills and the help of his deputy and friends to untangle the various threads and bring the criminals to justice. 

https://www.sunburypressstore.com/The-Bartered-Body-9781620067567.htm

http://www.jrlindermuth.net

www.facebook.com/john.lindermuth

https://twitter.com/jrlindermuth

https://www.amazon.com/J.R.-Lindermuth/e/B002BLJIQ8

J. R. Lindermuth’s Pennsylvania Inspiration

Too a large degree--and I think this is particularly true of writers--we're influenced by the places where we grow up or live for extended periods.

As writers, whether we love or loathe these places, they tend to show up in our work.

I know it's true for me. Most of my published novels and short stories are set in places where I've lived. I grew up, and now live again, in Pennsylvania's anthracite coal region, right on the edge of what's known as the Pennsylvania Dutch country.

So my environment is a mix of what some might term bleak and harsh (the area ravaged by centuries of coal mining and now depressed by lack of economic opportunity) and the more romantic Amish and non-Amish tourist destinations. In fact, there is beauty and despair in both areas.

The beauty can be found in both scenery and people, though it may be less obvious in the former.

Interested in geology? The Whaleback Anticline near my home in Shamokin is considered one of the most impressive geological formations in the eastern United States. Plant fossils are common in shale in the surrounding area, which is considered a natural laboratory for the geologists, students and others who annually visit the site. http://www.docs.dcnr.pa.gov/cs/groups/public/documents/document/dcnr_20032474.pdf

If you'd like to get an idea what it was like to work in the mines, I recommend a visit to Pioneer Tunnel in Ashland. You can descend 1,800 feet into the mine tunnel where a guide will explain how coal is mined. Bring a sweater, because temperature in the mine drops to an average 52 chilly degrees. http://www.pioneertunnel.com/

History is abundant throughout the region. Thomas Edison came to my hometown Shamokin in 1882 and the world's first three-wire electric light plants were opened under his direction in July 1883 in Sunbury and Shamokin. The first church to have electric lighting was St. Edward's (now Mother Cabrini Catholic parish) in Shamokin.

I serve as librarian for our county historical society in Sunbury and we're quartered in the home of the last commander of Fort Augusta, a bastion formed for defense in the French and Indian War. Just across the river in Northumberland is the home of Joseph Priestley, dissident minister and scientist, the discoverer of oxygen. Lorenzo DaPonte, Mozart's librettist, also lived in Sunbury for a time before being tempted to New York by Clement Moore. DaPonte had a role in Schlussel's Woman, my first novel.

Three writers who've had influence on me also have roots in this area. Though he spent much of his career in New York City, John O'Hara was a native of Pottsville (Gibbsville in many of his best stories), just up the road from Shamokin. Then there's Conrad Richter, born just over the hill in Tremont, who came back to live in Pine Grove after a sojourn in New Mexico. His historical fiction is set in Pennsylvania, Ohio and New Mexico, places he knew well. Darryl Ponicsan, whose fiction and screenwriting cover a wide spectrum, showed his roots in the 1973 novel Andoshen PA., a transposed spelling of his hometown, Shenandoah.

Though my most recent novel The Tithing Herd is a western, my home area continues to provide the most inspiration for stories.  I’m giving away a copy of The Tithing Herd to one lucky person.  Leave a comment for your change to win.  Please include a form of contact.

Bio:

A retired newspaper editor, J. R. Lindermuth is the author of 16 novels and a non-fiction regional history. Since retiring, he has served as librarian of his county historical society where he assists patrons with genealogy and research. He lives and writes in a house built by a man who rode with Buffalo Bill Cody. His short stories have appeared in a variety of magazines. He is a member of International Thriller Writers and the Short Mystery Fiction Society, where he served a term as vice president. You are invited to visit his website at: http://www.jrlindermuth.net

(Info Author Provided-Credits to http://www.pioneertunnel.com/)

Author, Neil Plakcy Brings the Love of Bucks County, PA

From the time I was a kid, I knew that Bucks County, Pennsylvania, where I grew up, was a special place when it came to literature. Literary lights Pearl S. Buck and James Michener lived near Doylestown, the county seat. Barley Sheaf Farm, aka Cherchez la Farme, was the home of Mr. and Mrs. George S. Kaufman, and Moss Hart and his wife Kitty Carlisle (of What’s My Line) also lived in New Hope, where my parents and I went to the flea market on weekends and to browse through antique shops.

It was a great place to grow up. I could ride my bike a few blocks from our suburban home to find deep woods and fallow fields. The late bus I took home after school wound its way along country roads lined with farms. And yet we were only forty-five minutes from Philadelphia, reachable by the Reading Railroad, which had a station within walking distance of our house.

When I began writing the golden retriever mysteries, I wanted to capture that small-town sense, even though the area around Yardley, my home town, has changed. Office parks and housing developments have replaced many of the farms, and on a recent trip home I couldn’t even recognize some of those old roads.

It’s a double-edged sword for my human hero, Steve Levitan, who grew up in the town of Stewart’s Crossing (based on Yardley) and has now returned. Much of the area is familiar, but sometimes that familiarity only serves to remind him of what he’s lost along the way.

One thing he has gained, however, is his crime-sniffing golden retriever Rochester. He and Steve have gone nose to ground in seven mysteries so far, sniffing out clues and digging up evidence to bring dastardly perpetrators to heel.

I’ve been able to take advantage of a number of local landmarks, like the Delaware Canal, which runs through town. Steve and Rochester go walking there, and in the spring the canal banks are bright with daisies, black-eyed-Susans and the tiny wild pansies we call Johnny-jump-ups. The county’s Quaker heritage shows up—there’s a meeting house in town like the one in Yardley where I used to go for harvest festivals, where many of my teachers worshipped. Like Yardley, Main Street in Stewart’s Crossing has just one traffic light, and the Colonial Tavern, at the corner of Main and Afton, has been reconfigured a bit as The Drunken Hessian, where Steve hangs out with his best friend, police detective Rick Stemper.

 

If you are in Philadelphia for any reason, a trip up through Bucks County is lovely any time of year. And if you can’t get there in person, I hope you’ll check out the landscape in my golden retriever mysteries.

I love dogs -- and dog mysteries. So it seemed natural to me to write a dog mystery myself, which is how I first began writing about Rochester and Steve. 
I'm offering two lucky winners each a copy of In Dog We Trust.  Comment here and leave your contact information to win.  If you've already started this series, I'll offer a later novel in the set! 

www.goldenretrievermysteries.com

Character-driven mystery, romance and mainstream novels

www.mahubooks.com http://www.facebook.com/neil.plakcy

(Info provided by Author)