Welcome!

And now...the NEWS.

It took a while to get The Reel Story of the Great War published but the article finally made it into print in the latest issue of the National Artchives' Prologue magazine. If you want to watch actual WWI troop training, combat, or post-war action, check it out. The article references over 1,000 film titles and where to find them. If you wish, you can read the story now by clicking on the ARTICLES tab above then clicking on the top left Prologue cover image. OR, just click on the link below...

https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2017/winter/reel-story-great-war

My latest books, Sky Patrol 1938, published earlier this year, is now available from your favorite online booksellers. Please click on the book's cover (to the right) or the BOOKS tab (above) for more information.

I will soon start work on two related titles to Sky Patrol 1938, about the other aviation thrills, spills, records, and disappointments of the 1930's, as seen through the lens of the Universal Newsreel camera. These volumes are tentatively titled: Flying Feats 1930 and Air Parade 1934. If all goes according to plan, they will be published in 2019 and 2020.

Well, that's all the news worth reporting. Please investigate the site and enjoy!

News

Within these pages you will find descriptions and related information for each of my currently available published books. In addition, you'll find links to articles that I have been fortunate to have had published.

I generally write non-fiction works that usually fall into the history, reference, or transportation categories. Thus far, all my books and articles have been related to the massive historic motion picture film collections held in America's film vault, the U.S. National Archives. Why? Well that's a long story. The short version is that, after decades of research, I found the vast variety of subjects covered in the 360,000-plus reels of moving images preserved in the College Park, Maryland facility of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), unique. The wealth of visual information is almost overwhelming. Consisting of over 109,000 titles made by (or for) “Uncle Sam,” along with a healthy sprinkling of donated films, these films superbly document American activities throughout the 20th century. To me, a vast majority of the footage is “Americana in motion.” However, there is a problem. Most citizens of our great country don't know that this extraordinary collection exists, and those that do, seldom know how to find them. So I write to inform and educate.

Again, you may ask, why? Well, after decades of research, I've got a lot of knowledge stuck in my head and a ton of research documents in file cabinets. As I am now on the cusp of senior citizenship, I started thinking about what to do with it all. One answer was to do nothing. I would take this knowledge with me to the grave and my kids would take the files to the dumpster. Well, you can probably imagine my practical and emotional response to that notion. After much thought, the only viable option was to spread the word and I chose to write about it--in books, articles, and on this website. That's my motivation and it’s now my mission.

Now that I've been doing this writing thing for a couple of years, I found that there is very little (if any) monetary gain in writing history or reference books. I do what I do purely out of a love for our country's rich collection of filmed history, its cinematic heritage, and a strong desire to ensure that it's preserved for future generations. These films are worth cherishing. It is also incredibly valuable to know what is in America's film vault and how to find it.