Jim Nolan's Blog

Memorial Day

My father's uncle, Lt. John Curry. He's buried in the Somme American Cemetery outside Bony, France. John was 22 when he was killed in action.

R.I.P. Red Barn

My father stands in front of what was once the Red Barn, a fried chicken joint, on Kensington Avenue in Amherst. He's pretty much responsible for it going out of business, as I reveal in the audio essay below. 

Click to hear Red Barn Rage 

Smokey the Talking Dog in Rose Hill, Ontario

Jim, John, Ned and Paul Nolan, and Smokey the Talking Dog.

This photo was taken in Rose Hill, across Lake Erie from Buffalo. Dad's family used to rent a cottage there every summer, for the whole summer, for about 10 years. The cottage was located between Dominion Road and Garrison Highway, not on the lake. It was owned by Lilly Biden, a friend of Carl Ellmaker. In 1939 there was a polio scare, and since school didn't open until October 15, the family stayed there the whole time, thinking it was fairly isolated and thus safer than the city. Paul went to work by ferry. Isabel would drive him to Ft. Erie, where he'd catch a boat which took him to the foot of Ferry Street in Buffalo. From there he took a bus to Pratt & Lambert on Tonawanda Street. (The P&L buildings are still there, empty now.) He did this so Isabel and the boys had a car to drive to the public beach.

Smokey was a mutt but had some smooth-haired terrier in him. According to Paul he was a "Curbstone Setter."

Smokey the Talking Dog Photo #2

Ned, Jim and John Nolan, and Smokey the Talking Dog. Photo by Charlene Smith.

A framed, cropped  copy of this photo hung in my grandparents' apartment on Parkside Avenue in Buffalo. They owned a house with my Great Aunt Mamie and her husband Ross. Paul and Isabel lived upstairs; Mamie and Ross downstairs. They moved to Parkside from 51 Granger Place, where they lived downstairs and Mamie and Ross lived upstairs. Charlene Smith was a photographer who had a 2nd-floor studio on Elmwood Avenue near Forest. This was taken there. A couple of Smith's photos will appear in Smokey the Talking Dog and other tales from the land of loganberry, including the cover shot. I love how Smokey pops from the dark of the suits and matches the backdrop. 

Smokey the Talking Dog Photo

Photo by Charlene Smith. Click to enlarge.

A photo that will appear in Smokey the Talking Dog and other tales from the land of loganberry. The eBook versions are being built now. Smokey was my dad's dog. My grandmother Isabel took Dad on a surprise trip to the pound one day, and he picked Smokey. Smokey could talk, but like many talking dogs, he had a limited vocabularly.

Anybody know cars well enough to guess the year?

Isabella Bannerman Cartoon #12

 More great Bannerman cartoons here, here and here.

Coming This Summer: Smokey the Talking Dog

 

Cover and back page of Smokey the Talking Dog and other tales from the land of loganberry. Click to enlarge.

I'm self-publishing a collection of my Buffalo stories this summer, in eBook and print-on-demand versions. It's beautifully art directed by my friend Kanad Banerjee. Most of the stories first ran as listener commentaries on WBFO Public Radio. I'll be giving a reading at Talking Leaves Books in Buffalo on July 15 to promote it.

(Don't) Do That to Me One More Time

You don't have to buy an expensive behavior modification program for your teenager. Instead, listen to my solution below.

Click to hear Behavior Modification, My Way

The Sweet Sounds of... Jim Nabors

What's more frightening than Jim Nabors singing "Galveston"? Jim Nabors singing "Honey."

Click to hear Jim's Blame WKBW

NYT Article: It's a Bear's World in Kodiak, Alaska

Photo by Kim Hubbard for the New York Times

Excellent Sunday Times article by Ted O'Callahan about where to see grizzly bears in Alaska. Back in 1982, on a moose hunting trip in Alaska's Matanuska-Susitna Valley, I was more interested in not seeing them, as I was convinced they wanted to eat me. You can hear about it below.

Click to hear Jim's Night of the Grizzly