Mailing List

Posted on October 23, 2023 by Allen Mesch

I would like to add your name to my mailing list.

Why Should You Sign Up?

By adding your name to my list, you will be eligible to win free copies of:

  • My books
  • Pictures from my collection of Civil War art
  • Books from my library of non-fiction titles
  • My original artwork
  • My short stories

You will also be able to access exclusive pages on my website, engage in real-time telephone conversations, suggest topics for future books, and host book signing events.

Will I Be a Pest?

  • I will only reach out to you once a month.
  • You may unsubscribe at any time.

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Thank you for your response. ✨

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David to Aaliyah

Posted on October 15, 2023 by Allen Mesch

David to Aaliyah

(my soon to be baby cousin)

Well Aaliyah, I’ll tell you:

Life for me has been a retro video game.

It’s had its golden moments,

And it’s had its shooting stars,

But it never ceased to change,

Just level after level, world after world.

BORING.

Though all this time I’ve been raging after “game over,”

And smashing my controller,

And whacking the buttons with my sweaty fingers,

And pivoting the joystick around and around,

Where anger and furiosity take over.

So, baby cousin, don’t try to be like everyone else.

Don’t be a follower,

Because you can be a leader!

Don’t let others use intimidation to control your actions.

For I still have your back,

Just keep moving forward and commit to your actions,

Because I’ll tell you – life for me has been a retro video game.

Written by my grandson David in 2016.

This poem was written by my grandson David when he was 13 years old to his unborn cousin Aaliyah.

It seems that I may have a future author and poet in my family.

Oh by the way, Aaliyah means “high-born” or “exalted” and David means “beloved.” The names seem to fit.

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Liberty Ship Memorial in South Portland, Maine

Posted on October 10, 2023 by Allen Mesch

In the mid-1800s, the South Portland waterfront was a continuous line of bustling yards building and repairing ships. All along the Fore River master craftsmen were producing ships that spread South Portland’s name worldwide. By the end of the century, with the transition from wooden to steam ships, just a few of South Portland’s world-renowned shipyards continued to build ships.

One of those remaining yards, the Cumberland Shipbuilding Company, built wooden cargo ships for World War I on Cushings Point. In 1941, Todd-Bath Iron Shipbuilding Corporation constructed one of the most advanced shipyards in the world on this abandoned Cushings Point site. During World War II, thousands of men and women built 266 emergency cargo vessels – 30 ocean-class ships for Great Britain and 236 Liberty ships for the U.S. – a feat that would ensure South Portland a prominent place in the history of modern shipbuilding.

Since 1850, the Portland Shipbuilding Co./Marine Railways has repaired, rebuilt, and constructed steamers, tugs, and trawlers. This prosperous yard completed the construction of the steamer Roosevelt for Admiral Robert Peary’s Arctic expedition. A shipyard still repairs tugs and fishing boats at this location today.

With World War II escalating demand for the Liberty ships, construction began on South Portland Shipbuilding Corps’ West Yard in the spring of 1941. Its first Liberty ship, John Davenport, slid down the ways on May 15, 1942.

A historical marker commemorates the construction of the Liberty ships.

In the mid-1800s, when South Portland was still a part of Cape Elizabeth, its waterfront appeared to be a continuous line of bustling yards building and repairing ships. From Butler on Turner’s Island to Knight and Blanchard in Knightville to Turner and Cahoon, Pickett, and Dyer of Ferry Village, all along the Fore River master craftsmen were producing ships that spread South Portland’s name around the world. By the end of the century, with the transition from wooden to steam ships, just a few of South Portland’s world-renowned shipyards continued to build ships.

One of those remaining yards, the Cumberland Shipbuilding Company, built wooden cargo ships for World War I on Cushings Point. In 1941, Todd-Bath Iron Shipbuilding Corporation constructed one of the most advanced shipyards in the world on this abandoned Cushings Point site. During World War II, thousands of men and women built 266 emergency cargo vessels – 30 ocean-class ships for Great Britain and 236 Liberty ships for the U.S. – a feat that would ensure South Portland a prominent place in the history of modern shipbuilding.

Maine is a veritable cradle of Americanism. 

During over three centuries, Maine has been a stronghold of American shipbuilding. Maine ships have sailed the Seven Seas.

William Stark Newell
June 13, 1941

Source: South Portland and its Liberty Ships,” The Historical Marker Database, https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=50413 and the South Portland-Cape Elizabeth Historical Society

The following photographs were taken during my September 2023 trip to Maine.

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Red River Shootout – UT vs. OU – Cotton Bowl – 10/7/23

Posted on October 8, 2023 by Allen Mesch

We attended our first big-time college football game and it was awesome. What a way to enjoy a “barn-burner” game than Texas-OU at the Cotton Bowl on Saturday, October 7, 2023. While this is not my usual post, I wanted to share pictures of the “game/event.”

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Liberty Ships Named For Oil Pioneers Eluded Axis Submarines

Posted on October 4, 2023 by Allen Mesch

The four Liberty ships named for oil pioneers, SS Edwin L. Drake, SS Orville P. Taylor, SS Lewis Emery, JR, and SS Patrick C. Boyle, made many voyages across the seven seas during the war and all escaped sinking by Axis submarines and bombings.

The record of the war service of these ships, as furnished by the United States Maritime Commission, is an interesting piece of history associated with the Pennsylvania and New York oil fields.

Colonel Edwin L. Drake drilled the historic Drake well at Titusville in 1859; Orville P. Taylor, after several failures, drilled the first commercial oil well in Allegany County in 1879; Lewis Emery, Jr. was a pioneer oil producer, refiner, and able Pennsylvania legislator, and Patrick C. Boyle was one of the most brilliant and best-known pioneer oil editors and publishers.

The Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard delivered the SS Edwin L. Drake in September 1943. She sailed successively to the following ports: Norfolk, Alexandria (Egypt), Port Said, Gibraltar, New York, U. K., Clyde, Loch Ewe, Molotovsk, Kola, U. K. Barry, Avonmouth, Omaha Beach (France), Spithead, New York, Solent, Le Havre, Swansea, Milford Haven, Cardiff, New York, Clyde, Molotocsk, Kola, U. K., New York, Cape Henry, Baltimore, Norfolk, Gibraltar, Naples, Salerno, Naples, Gibraltar, San Juan Cristobal, to the Pacific, Buckner Bay, Okinawa, Tokyo, Balboa, Cristobal, New York, Philadelphia, Downs, Antwerp, Falmouth, Halifax, Kirkwall, Danzig, and carried cargo for UNRRA. The International Freighting Corp., Inc., New York operated the SS Edwin L. Drake for the War Shipping Administration, and three captains commanded the vessel.

Bethlehem-Fairfield delivered the SS Orville P. Taylor in September 1943. She was lend-leased to Great Britain, which renamed her Samothrace. The British Ministry of War Transport operated the Samothracey. She sailed to the following ports: Norfolk, Alexandria, Port Said, New York, Augusta, Naples, Taranto, New York, Norfolk, Suez, Karachi, Bombay, Colombo, Calcutta, Aden, U.K., Port Said, Aden, Cape Town, Rosario, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Casablanca, U.K., Gibraltar, Naples, Suez, Bombay, Calcutta, Singapore, Madras, Vizagapatam, Rangoon, Port Swettenham, Padang, Belawan, Colombo, Singapore, Batavia. She was last reported under repair at Calcutta. Because the ship was operated by the British, the names and numbers of her masters are not available.

Following delivery from the Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard, Baltimore, in October 1943, the SS Lewis Emery, Jr., proceeded to New York to begin carrying military cargo. She sailed to the United Kingdom, Kola Bay, Back to Belfast, New York, Philadelphia, Cape Henry, Gibraltar, Suez, Aden, Bandar Shapur, Bahrein, Port Sudan, back to New York, U.K., Murmansk, Baltimore, U.K., Molotovsk, Kola, Belfast, Le Havre, Rouen, Solent, Flushing, Ghent, London, New York, Galveston, Gibraltar, Marseille, Cristobal, Panama Canal to the Pacific, Lingayen Gulf, Manila, Cebu, Pearl Harbor, San Francisco, San Pedro. She was in the Temporary Reserve Fleet moored in Suisun Bay, California. The Merchants and Miners Transportation Co, Baltimore operated her for the War Shipping Administration and was commanded by three different masters.

The Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard delivered the SS Patrick C. Boyle in September 1943. Boland & Cornelius of New York operated her for the War Shipping Administration. On her first voyage, she carried Lend-Lease and commercial cargo, to the Persian Gulf. She visited other ports including Bahrein, Karramshar, Abadan, and Port Sudan. During later voyages, she traveled to Marseille, Oran, Naples, Algiers, Loch Ewe, Toulon, Antwerp, Le Havre, Ghent, Manila, and Eniwetok. The Captain, Peter L. Hickey, reported that on several occasions, particularly while at anchor in Egypt, and while discharging cargo at Antwerp, the ship was under enemy attack. The vessel was in the service of the army at Yokohama.[1]

[1] John P. Herrick, “Liberty Ships Named For Oil Pioneers Eluded Axis Submarines,” https://www.alleganyhistory.org/culture/stories-and-folklore/original-stories/3146-liberty-ships-named-for-oil-pioneers-eluded-axis-submarines

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Artificial Intelligence Tackles Friday Night Lights

Posted on August 23, 2023 by Allen Mesch

Mason City Iowa school district ejects Friday Night Lights book from reading game.

The Iowa Senate File 496 requires every book available to students to be “age appropriate” and free of any “descriptions or visual depictions of a sex act.” This regulation authorized the Mason City Community School District to remove H. G. Bissenger’s book Friday Night Lights to ban it from schools in the district.

How did the school district determine that the book was unsuitable? Did they have a group of educators in the district read the book? Did they ask a panel of teachers and parents to review the book? No! They used ChatGPT to provide a “textual analysis” of the title. They used the artificial intelligence (AI) platform to screen the book. The district said it was “not feasible to read every book and filter for these new requirements.” Wow! This is another black mark for AI.

Friday Night Lights by H. G. Bissenger

Friday Night Lights is the bestselling book about the 1988 Odessa Permian football team. The book revealed the “prominent role high school football plays in society” and the intense pressure on the athletes in these programs. You could apply the lessons from the book to any “big-time” high school or college athletic team. The book inspired a movie and television series. The book helped lead coaches into coaching in Texas. The author said it was a “great book for kids” especially teenage boys who “don’t like to read anything.”

H. G. Bissenger
(Houston Chronicle)

Author Bissenger was shocked at the accusation and subsequent ban. He said, “There is no sex at all. I’ve never depicted a sex act.” “I purposely stayed away from that.” Bissenger added, “Kids are supposed to learn.” “They are supposed to learn about the elements of our society.”

This application of AI to screen books could metastasize to other states. Previously, I have written about the flaws in AI. Using AI will only expose more of the software’s problems. Authors should fight this dangerous use of AI.

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Harris, DeSantis, and Florida History Curriculum

Posted on August 16, 2023 by Allen Mesch

Florida History Curriculum

Vice President Kamala Harris declined Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ offer to “debate the merits of the state’s new curriculum on African American history.”

At an African American Methodist church in Orlando, Florida, Vice President Harris proclaimed, “There were no redeeming qualities of slavery.”

The new Florida school guidelines require teachers to instruct middle school students that “enslaved people developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied to their personal benefit.” Harris called it an “attempt to gaslight us in an attempt to divide and distract our nation with unnecessary debates.”

Slaves Brought New Agriculture to the South

Rather than the slaves “developing beneficial skills,” slaves actually provided new farming methods to the South.

Georgia planters grew rice in swamps, employing methods that South Carolinians had learned from their slaves, including diking rivers to create impoundment ponds and building floodgates to regulate water flow. Yams were brought by slaves from Africa. Eggplant came from Africa to South America, from whence it was brought by Portuguese slave traders to the United States. Peanuts from South America were introduced into Virginia by African cooks who arrived onboard slave ships.<1>

The contributions of slaves to early American agriculture is discounted and ignored, mainly because of the lack of records prepared by the slaveholder. The plantation owner was mainly interested in writing to justify enslavement. However, many plantation owners relied on the agricultural knowledge that Africans brought over from across the Atlantic. Perhaps the best example of this is rice cultivation in South Carolina relied on indigenous West African knowledge of growing Oryza glaberrima. This specific knowledge was invaluable in transforming South Carolina into a rice-producing powerhouse. <2>

Defenders of Slavery

Slavery was the basis of wealth in the South. The value of land and slaves made planters the richest men in America. So like the Florida middle school curriculum, plantation owners tried to justify slavery.

Defenders of slavery:

  • Argued the sudden end to the slave economy would have had a profound and killing economic impact in the South where reliance on slave labor was the foundation of their economy.
  • Argued if all the slaves were freed, there would be widespread unemployment and chaos. This would lead to uprisings, bloodshed, and anarchy. They pointed to the mob’s “rule of terror” during the French Revolution and argued for the continuation of the status quo, which was providing for affluence and stability for the slaveholding class and for all free people who enjoyed the bounty of the slave society.
  • Argued slavery had existed throughout history and was the natural state of mankind. The Greeks had slaves, the Romans had slaves, and the English had slavery until very recently.
  • Noted in the Bible, Abraham had slaves. They point to the Ten Commandments, noting that “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, … nor his manservant, nor his maidservant.” In the New Testament, Paul returned a runaway slave, Philemon, to his master, and, although slavery was widespread throughout the Roman world, Jesus never spoke out against it.
  • Turned to the courts, who had ruled, with the Dred Scott Decision, that all blacks — not just slaves — had no legal standing as persons in our courts — they were property, and the Constitution protected the slave-holders’ rights to their property.
  • Argued that the institution was divine and that it brought Christianity to the heathen from across the ocean. Therefore, slavery was a good thing for the enslaved. John C. Calhoun said, “Never before has the black race of Central Africa, from the dawn of history to the present day, attained a condition so civilized and so improved, not only physically, but morally and intellectually.”
  • Argued that by comparison with the poor of Europe and the workers in the Northern states, slaves were better cared for. They said that their owners would protect and assist them when they were sick and aged, unlike those who, once fired from their work, were left to fend helplessly for themselves. <3>

To own twenty slaves in 1860 was to be among the wealthiest men in America, easily within the top five percent of southern white families. Almost three million slaves worked on farms and plantations in 1835. Most of the value of agricultural output of the South was produced on large cotton plantations. More than half of all enslaved men and women lived on plantations that had more than 20 enslaved laborers; about a quarter lived on plantations that had more than 50. <4>


Sources:

<1> Brian Williams, “Slavery and Southern Agriculture,” https://www.briangwilliams.us/environmental-history/slavery-and-southern-agriculture.html, retrieved August 16, 2023.

<2> “African-American history of agriculture in the United States,” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African-American_history_of_agriculture_in_the_United_States, retrieved August 16, 2023.

<3> “The Southern Argument for Slavery,” U.S. History – Independence Hall Association in Philadelphia, https://www.ushistory.org/us/27f.asp, retrieved August 16, 2023.

<4> “Planters, Yeoman and Slaves,” University of Cincinnati, https://www.uc.edu/content/dam/uc/ce/docs/OLLI/Page%20Content/Planters,%20Yeoman%20and%20the%20Rest.pdf, retrieved August 16, 2023.

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Alliance of Independent Authors

Posted on August 9, 2023 by Allen Mesch

I just learned about the Alliance of Independent Authors and I thought I would share some information about this international organization.

Who Are They?

The Alliance of Independent Authors is a non-profit professional association for authors who self-publish. Their mission is ethics and excellence in self-publishing.

The Alliance of Independent Authors has a global team who, together with ambassadors and advisors worldwide, provide trusted, best-practice information and advice to the author community and provide our members with an extensive suite of benefits.

The Alliance of Independent Authors is global with members on all seven continents, and our outreach campaigns, self-publishing services center, guidebooks, live streams, podcasts, and blogs reach far and wide and have had an impact at every level of the wider author community.

The organization launched at the London Book Fair 2012 to foster excellence and ethics in self-publishing.

The Alliance of Independent Authors works in four areas:

  • Provides advice through the Self-Publishing Advice Center, which offers a daily blog, weekly live streams and podcasts, and a bookstore of self-publishing guidebooks.
  • Monitors the self-publishing sector through the watchdog desk, alerting authors to bad actors and predatory players, running a self-publishing service ratings list, and approved partner program.
  • Campaigns for the advancement of indie authors in the publishing and literary sectors (bookstores, libraries, literary events, prizes, grants, awards, and other author organizations) globally, encouraging the provision of publishing and business skills for authors, and furthering the indie author cause.

Membership Levels

The Alliance of Independent Authors has three levels of author membership. I have only included the first two levels.

Associate: $89/year

Associate members receive:

  • Advisory team – all questions answered
  • Free author advice guides
  • Private moderated member’s forum
  • Selected discounts for author services
  • Affiliate earnings program
  • Approved Services directory
  • Online advice conference
  • Daily blog, a twice-weekly podcast
  • Associate member website badge

Author $119/year

Author members receive:

  • Advisory team – all questions answered
  • Free author advice guides
  • Private moderated member’s forum
  • All discounts for author services
  • Affiliate earnings program
  • Approved Services directory
  • Online advice conference
  • Daily blog, a twice-weekly podcast
  • Author member website badge
  • Public author-publisher profile
  • Book listing
  • Contract vetting
  • General legal advice
  • Blogging opportunities
  • Speaker opportunities
  • Interview opportunities

Interesting Statistics

Income Comparison Between Self Published Authors and Traditionally Published Authors

  • Self-published authors earn more than authors who are traditionally published.
  • Self-published female authors earn more than self-published male authors.
  • LGBTQIA+ self-published authors earn more than heterosexual self-published authors.
  • Successful self-published authors are not ‘agreeable’… and that’s good!
  • 75% of book sales were part of a series (fiction and non-fiction).

In 2022, the median income of the Alliance of Independent Authors indie authors was $12,754.56. For seniors, the income was $10,000 for ages 55-64 and $3,000 for those 65 years and older.

The median income level for some of the genres in 2022. Income and sample size in parentheses.

Biography $795.59 (8)

Children’s $3,000 (89)

Crime/Thriller/Detective $18,893 (270)

Fantasy/Sci-Fi/Speculative $7,982 (330)

General Fiction $1,057 (64)

General Nonfiction $13,538.32 (54)

Historical Fiction $7,421.4 (129)

Horror $2,324 (24)

Memoir $2,474 (21)

Narrative Nonfiction $10,000 (13)

New Adult $145,448 (2)

Romance $38,800 (496)

Women’s Fiction $9,226 (45)

Young Adult $1,686 (35)

Other $10,000 (151)

Source: https://www.allianceindependentauthors.org/facts/

I encourage readers to learn more about this organization, especially those interested in obtaining outside, fee-based help for your book.

Source: The Alliance of Independent Authors

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My Current Writing Activities

Posted on August 4, 2023 by Allen Mesch

I have been busy this year thinking about additional subjects to write about and writing two new books.

Bullets and Barrels

Bullets and Barrels is a non-fiction book about how American Civil War officers and soldiers helped develop the oil and gas industry. The book traces the growth of the domestic petroleum industry from Colonel Edwin Drake’s discovery well in Titusville, Pennsylvania in 1859 to Ida Tarbell’s The History of the Standard Oil Company in 1902 and her 1909 article in the American Woman Magazine titled “The American Woman – How She Met the Experience of War.”

Readers will learn how Charles Pratt built “America’s first modern oil refinery” in 1867 and the Confederate attack on Burning Springs in the Civil War. The book will describe how Civil War veterans like Amos Densmore, Edward L. Roberts, William W. Averell, and Samuel Jones introduced new technology into the fledgling petroleum business.

My plan is to publish Bullets and Barrels this winter.

The Traitor

The Traitor is the second installment in the Russell Conrad series of political thrillers. The story begins after Conrad returns home from saving the president’s life in The Analyst. Conrad is accused of treason for helping Israel thwart an Iranian missile attack. As the FBI transports Conrad to the Dallas/Ft. Worth airport, they are attacked by armed men who want to kill the SMU professor. Conrad is saved by a mysterious woman who whisks him to safety. Thus begins a frantic trip to the Texas Coast with the FBI in chase. En route to Port Isabel, Conrad and the women discover a terrorist plot that threatens the U.S. oil industry and the national economy.

My plan is to publish The Traitor early next year.

In the meantime, I hope you will check out my current publications.

Teacher of Civil War Generals -Major General Charles
Ferguson Smith		The Third RebellionPreparing for DisunionThe Analyst
Your Affectionate Father, Charles F. SmithCharles A MarvinThe Forgotten Texas Statesman
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I Like What Ike Said

Posted on August 3, 2023 by Allen Mesch

I will obey the general and president’s orders.

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