Letter to the King Part 4: An almost bar fight in Bath — At this point in our travels, my head was getting a little fuzzy and the notes become sparser, so bear with me. There were two trails from our cozy stone cottage in Hay-on-Wye to Bath. Southeast, crossing back into England and over the the River Severn at Gloucester, then rail from there to Bath. The shorter route, if all went well, but because of some funny transfer business, risky.

Letter to the King Part 3: Arriving in Hay-on-Wye — Sir, the state of your used book stores is strong, carried in no small part by the village of Hay-on-Wye. Hay on Wye was a recommendation of my Aunt June’s who visited in the early 80s. Back then it was a sleepy village reinventing itself as the National Book Town…

Letter to the King Part 2: Leicester and Hereford — We left Piccadilly for Leicester after two nights with Peter and Emily. Picture a non-stop sprint since waking up in Kansas City on Friday morning and driving to Rick and Mary’s, then the airport. …

Part 1: Notes on Manchester and the State of Pub Conversation — Sir, I’m writing to you today with reflections on a recent trip I took to Great Britain. The 10 day circuit that ran from Manchester, down through Eastern Wales, Bath and finally to London, was this American’s first visit across the Atlantic, and I have notes to share. Overall I…

The Rains in Kansas, a speculative fiction series — The list of things to do is endless. All good things– talk with clients, order the ship manifests from McCormick’s guy in Raytown; melt into a puddle on the floor at Tower Tavern–but I’m worried that they will distract me from the prospect that life is passing quickly. …

The Rains in Kansas, a speculative fiction series — Oliver, American Druidry seems somewhat a contradiction in terms. Druidry is a study and practice, to my understanding, of traditional ecological knowledge indigenous to the British Isles. It’s a mythical heritage rooted in that ancient Celtic chalk. But the practice of awareness, the rhythm of seasons and attunement to the…

The Rains in Kansas, a speculative fiction series — I had not been back to Buffalo for several months. Was starting to think I didn’t care to go back. The McCormicks were like family to me. The drunks at Tower Tavern were like family, worthy of love and capable of suffering, however lost. “You gotta stop doing this.” “Doing…

The Rains in Kansas, a speculative fiction series. — Capital favors the imaginations of the exploiters and discounts the imaginaries of everyone else. All Regis wanted were new sewers. The party at Davis Williams’ house was well attended. …

The Rains in Kansas, a speculative fiction series — Airships had really taken off in the 40s and 50s. By ’62, 50 percent of all intercontinental trade was on airships. On the continent they were even more popular. When I say airship I mean it’s old tech. They don’t use them so much anymore, but they did in the…