Articles written by Charles Haddon Shank
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Dear Editor: CHICKEN
Dear Editor, Most of your readers probably remember the 80s TV show Who's the Boss? That's the subject of this short rant. I vaguely remember writing something to this effect previously, though it's...
Dear Editor: Turn and Face the Strange
Dear Editor, Turn and face the strange... Some of your readers may recognize these words from the refrain of David Bowie's Changes. I begin in this manner because of the changes coming to our small...
Whitehall Happiness Corner: Owen David Shank
OWEN DAVID SHANK St. Patty's Day 2023 dawned bright and clear. For a change, the ever-present wind was fairly calm as well. This was also the day my dad, Owen David Shank (who went by David) decided...
Dear Editor: Stress, not Technology, is the Real Killer
Dear Editor, Over the past week, more or less, I’ve been doing a bit of thinking on the subject of this generation’s reliance on technology and the detrimental effect it had. I originally wrote, “technology is killing us,” though I DID...
Dear Editor: Term Limits
Dear Editor, As you and your readers know by now, I despise politics, especially as they stand in this day and age where the almighty dollar seems to have taken precedence over our precious right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The...
Dear Editor: Freedom to Practice Religion Starts with You
Dear Editor, I am by no means a lawless person, but neither am I one of those who say "there outta be a law." In the interest of peace and positivity, I'm not going to point fingers here, or name...
Creating Fiction From History: 1/25/2023
You've come a long way, Baby! At the tender age of 13, not only was Carolina Duggard the first from her family to attend an institute of higher learning, she also might have been one of the youngest...
Creating Fiction from History: Week of 1/18/2023
As babies go, she certainly wasn't remarkable. Of course, every baby, no matter how ugly they are, is cute. Barley certainly wasn't an ugly baby, although one might have noted that they'd seen cuter...
Creating Fiction from History: 1/11/2023
One might say she was born to it; It was in her blood! Carolina Mae Duggard was born January 16, 1919, in Harlan County, Kentucky, a region of the eastern United States called Appalachia. Her parents, Jim Bob and Lucy, ran the family business, which...
Creating Fiction from History: 1/4/2023
Roberta Henson never won a beauty contest, but to certain people, the ones whose opinion truly mattered to her, Bertie was a veritable angel from heaven! Our homely heroine entered this realm in the...
Creating Fiction From History: 12/28/2022
Joseph and Mary Smith never planned to settle down in the wild, wild west, much less raise a family there. However, as life is what happens between our plans, Joseph's new job required him to travel...
Creating Fiction from History: 12/21/2022
Mary Ann McGee was born to William and Margaret McGee on November the 8th, 1889, which, incidentally, was the day when Montana gained statehood. Where Mary started her life on this Earth is not so...
Dear Editor: Addiction & Politics
Dear Editor, I broach this subject very carefully, with a bit of hesitation and more than a bit of consternation, because it is a rather touchy one! Addiction! Of late, there has been a lot of talk going around having to do with another touchy subjec...
Creating Fiction from History: 12/7/2022
Since the day the world made her acquaintance, December 19 in the year 1871, "Woozie" had been known for her sweet demeanor. When Winifred Louisa Johnson first greeted this cold, sometimes cruel,...
Creating Fiction from History: 11/30/2022
Technically, Anya wasn't Russian. Though she had lived in a rural area just south of Moscow since she was three, Anya Mussorgsky was actually from the good ole U.S. of A. She had been adopted by...
Creating Fiction From History: 11/23/2022
She coulda been a contender!! Ginger Woodbridge might have been the first great female boxer, but as the case may be, the little fighter, born Virginia Woodbridge on a cold Winter's day in 1919, would...
Creating Fiction from History: 11/16/2022
In 1883, especially in North-Eastern Allamakee County Iowa, life was not easy for young Alberta Haney. Born to John and Fanny Haney on September 14th of the year 1867, Alberta, or Bertie as she was commonly known, being the oldest child, had been...
Creating Fiction from History: 11/9/2022
Sir Robert Moore was born of Scottish ancestry to John and Mary Moore on the official centennial of the birth of this great nation. The family farm was halfway between Lansing and Waukon, on the...
Dear Editor: Shop Local
Dear Editor, I am not perfect by any means, particularly when it comes to the subject of this letter. At the danger of retracing our steps in what’s probably familiar territory, I again wanted to bring up the subject of Shop Local. I totally...
Creating Fiction from History: 10/26/2022
Maggie was almost royalty, but she never got the chance. Born Magda Joanna Kowalski, Maggie was the daughter of a distant descendant to the Hapsburgs. Only a lowly lieutenant at the time, her father...
Creating Fiction from History: 10/19/2022
RonLynn Peltzer was born in 1789 to James and EvaLynn Peltzer of Leitch's Station in the Territory soon to become the State of Kentucky. Her father and mother, along with about 18 other settlers, were...
Creating Fiction From History: 10/12/2022
On a ridge between the rivers, Haine and Trouille stand the 7th-century city of Mons. In late May of 1889, the man pictured below, possibly the Belgian novelist Henri-Charles Boussuet, was on trial in...
Dear Editor: My take on EVs
Dear Editor, Okay, this is me jumping on the proverbial bandwagon. Most, if not everyone, in town knows that I drive an electric vehicle. It’s not quite the same issue as a Tesla or a Prius but still, the principle still applies. There are...
Creating Fiction from History: 9/28/2022
Carlene Switzer, possibly pictured here, might have grown up to become one of the most infamous rum-runners in the South. Now, you might be thinking that should be 'moonshiner', but no, Carlene,...
Creating Fiction from History: 9/21/2022
The year was 1930. Even with all the hubbub going on further east over the stock market crash of the year previous, the jazz scene in Milwaukee was going strong! Now known as Bronzeville, the jazz...
