Tag Archives: Readers and Writers Book Cllub

Who Killed Frances Lacey?



Episode 42: Who Killed Frances Lacey?

Mackinac Island is perched aesthetically in the Straits of Mackinac. The island is unique, historic, and timeless. There is a sense when stepping from the dock into the town that a switch has been flipped, and you are plunged back in time to the 19th century. Cars were outlawed in 1898. The ferries drop visitors within steps of the main street but be careful where you step because wagons and carriages take the place of cars, and they are pulled by draft horses. There are horses to rent for a ride around the island, or bicycles if you prefer. The town is arranged for the tourist trade with hotels, gift shops, restaurants, bars, and the famous Mackinac Island Fudge. It’s such a beautiful setting that the movie Somewhere in Time was filmed there, and that’s what you feel when you step off the ferry and enter the town – you feel as though you have been transported in time to a simpler, peaceful era. Thoughts of violence or murder are the farthest thing from anyone’s mind, but murder did happen there on June 24, 1960.

Sources:

Herald-Palladium. Benton Harbor, Mi. Search For Suit Jacket of Widow. July 30, 1960.

Indianapolis Star. Suspects Freed in Strangling of Wealthy Widow. July 30, 1960.

Lansing State Journal. Lansing, Michigan. Mackinac Slaying Is Unsolved. July 30, 1960.

Petoskey News-Review. Police Admit Dead End, May Release Suspect. July 30, 1960.

Sadler, Rod. Grim Paradise: The Cold Case Search for the Mackinac Island Killer. Wild Blue Press. Denver, Colorado 2023

Sault Star. Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada. Police Continue Nation-wide Hunt For Murderer of Mackinac Widow. July 21,1962.

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Meet Valerie Winans, your host for Episode 42: Who Killed Frances Lacey?

Valerie Winans is a graduate of Northwestern Michigan College, a retired state government manager, and a former campground host in Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska. Valerie is the author of four books: Alaska’s Savage River: Inside Denali National Park and Preserve, Road Trip with Remington Beagle: Michigan to Alaska and Back, and A Hero’s Journey: Life Lessons From A Dog And His Friends, and The Extraordinary Life of Edwin B. Winans: From the Stampede for Gold in California to the Capitol of Michigan. A writer of both fiction and non-fiction, her books are written to inform and entertain readers of all ages. She currently resides with her husband in Traverse City, Michigan. More information can be found at www.valeriewinans.com.

 

 

 

 


The Most Lovable Conman of the Alaska Gold Rush



Episode 20: The Most Lovable Conman of the Alaska Gold Rush

One of the most scandalous persons to be associated with Nome was Wilson Mizner, a loveable scoundrel. Mizner was involved with gambling and prize fighting in Nome, and it was said he was probably the only man with the reputation of being able to “borrow money from a lamppost and is said to be the only man who ever hired the Nome brass band on credit.” In addition to these northern distinctions, in the course of Mizner’s life, he was also a mining engineer, actor, playwright, Fifth Avenue art dealer, husband of the “second richest woman in the world,” proprietor of the legendary Brown Derby in Los Angeles and, with his brother Addison, a founder and promoter of Boca Raton, Florida.

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This podcast is sponsored by Author Masterminds and the Readers and Writers Book Club. 

Check out the Author Masterminds Website

Get to know the authors at The Readers and Writers Book Club

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Meet Steve Levi, your host for Episode 20: The Most Lovable Conman of the Alaska Gold Rush

Steve Levi is a 70-something writer in Alaska. He specializes in the impossible crime and the Alaska Gold Rush.  An impossible crime is one in which the detective must figure out HOW the crime was committed before he can go after the perpetrators.  As an example, in THE MATTER OF THE VANISHING GREYHOUND, the detective must figure out how a Greyhound bus with four bank robbers, a dozen hostages, and  $10 million can vanish off the Golden Gate Bridge. Steve’s books can be seen at www.authormasterminds.com/steve-levi and www.steverlevibooks.com. He also does two historical uploads a week.  Send Steve your email, and he will include it in the mailings.

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The historical key to understanding the Alaska Railroad is that it started as a Socialist dream.  It was a profit-making instrument owned by the government. By the time the railroad finished, the dream of socialism as a governmental form had died.  The Russian Revolution showed how flawed socialism by a national government was, the hard-core socialist, anarchist, and syndicalist radicals had been deported on the BUFORD, and the end of World War I flooded American stores with consumer goods. The Roaring Twenties had started, and everyone was making money, and there was no longer a need to have a ‘socialist’ government.