Topic starter
20/01/2012 1:36 am
My sister sent me a neat book called The Missing by Louisiana author Tim Gautreaux. River and steamboat buffs will enjoy this historical river mystery set in the 1920s.
Among his acknowledgements Gautreaux credits "The S&D Reflector, published by Sons and Daughters of Pioneer Rivermen, a bottomless vault of information on inland waterways during the age of steam; the stories and research of Captain Fred Way; the wonderful Internet resource Red Hot Jazz Archive; and I am grateful for two books in particular, Moonlite at Eight Thirty by Alan Bates and Clarke Hawley and Jazz on the River by William Kenney." So, you can depend on a lot of historical accuracy.
If you haven't already read it, it's a good book to add to your winter reading list.
20/01/2012 12:23 pm
Thanks, Jazzou! I had not heard of this book, but am particularly fond of Tim Gautreaux as a writer, especially his short stories, which I will recommend here. I'll look forward to getting this book.
20/01/2012 4:08 pm
Thanks Jazzou! While on the subject of river books, I'd like to mention that a number of books by Capt. Alan Bates are in short supply and will NOT be reprinted. I've seen several of his tomes on EBAY lately, including COALBOAT WATER, THE WESTERN RIVERS STEAMBOAT CYCLOPOEDIUM (1968 first edition) NAVAL ARCHITECT, MCBRIDE'S RIVER and MOONLITE AT 8:30, most of them offered at very nominal BUY IT NOW prices.
The Howard Steamboat Museum owns the publishing rights to both THE WESTERN RIVERS STEAMBOAT CYCLOPOEDIUM and THE WESTERN RIVERS ENGINE ROOM CYCLOPOEDIUM, so those will continue to be printed, but the others are not as plentiful. Quite a number of Alan's books are available through BOOKFINDER.COM.
Thanks!
Keith
20/01/2012 7:16 pm
*RE: NAVAL ARCHITECT by Alan Bates.*
Hi, Keith,
Thanks for posting above RE: books in print and those possibly available by Alan Bates. Franz E=Mailed last week with questions on how to obtain a copy of Alan's NAVAL ARCHITECT. Alas, that one book of his I don't have. I related to Franz that in time somebody on .org would know or have a lead. The Howard Museum sales department offers many fine books and items.
I 'think' at this moment Franz and Carmen are well on their way for their explorer adventurer cruise to Antarctica via Argentina. Cheers!
R. Dale Flick
Coal Haven Landing, Ohio River, Cincinnati.
20/01/2012 11:44 pm
Dale, thanks for mentioning NAVAL ARCHITECT. I think that I just might have a duplicate of it -- somewhere -- and will be more than happy to send it to Germany IF and WHEN it comes to light! Alan's DO IT YOURSELF is great, too, and really a fascinating autobiography.
Today, while going through a box of severely damaged items saved from the 1971 museum fire, I found a very scorched copy of BELLE of LOUISVILLE. Many of its pages are stuck together from being soaked with water and the front cover picture is darkened almost beyond recognition. I had just about decided to discard it when I pried open the front cover to find written, in a very familiar handwriting, PROPERTY OF ALAN L. BATES. It's now residing in my desk drawer!