Fact writer. Biographer of Ernie Pyle, John Bartlow Martin, Richard Tregaskis, Malcolm Browne, and Robert Sherrod, among others. Bio about journalist Wallace H. Terry available October 2026: https://www.unmpress.com/9780826370150/wallace-terry/https://bsky.app/profile/rboomhower.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/rboomhower.bsky.social/post/3mvfxsjdvxc2j"Write as often as possible, not with the idea at once of getting into print, but as if you were learning an instrument." J. B. Priestley13 Sep 2026 16:02 +0000at://did:plc:csft44c3hzmxtiq5ntg426ug/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvfxsjdvxc2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/rboomhower.bsky.social/post/3mvfspp6ru223"To me, there is no greater subject to write about than war because it's the worst thing that we do to each other.” Wallace Terry Bio coming Oct. 6 from @unmpress.bsky.social http://rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2024/05/wallace-terry-vietnam-war-and-bloods.html13 Sep 2026 14:31 +0000at://did:plc:csft44c3hzmxtiq5ntg426ug/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvfspp6ru223https://bsky.app/profile/rboomhower.bsky.social/post/3mvfpmkkz4c27"No less than historians in general, biographers are detectives and interpreters, attempting to illuminate the past and to interweave its threads in new and compelling patterns." Lois W. Banner #Biography13 Sep 2026 13:35 +0000at://did:plc:csft44c3hzmxtiq5ntg426ug/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvfpmkkz4c27https://bsky.app/profile/rboomhower.bsky.social/post/3mvfph2hozs27If I ever want to feel good about my writing ✍🏼 I just check my junk email. Lots of nice comments from would-be spammers.13 Sep 2026 13:32 +0000at://did:plc:csft44c3hzmxtiq5ntg426ug/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvfph2hozs27https://bsky.app/profile/rboomhower.bsky.social/post/3mvfkkyjl522h“This republic was not established by cowards; and cowards will not preserve it.” http://rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2019/07/elmer-davis-defender-of-american.html13 Sep 2026 12:05 +0000at://did:plc:csft44c3hzmxtiq5ntg426ug/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvfkkyjl522hhttps://bsky.app/profile/rboomhower.bsky.social/post/3mvfftqaiws2h“The only thing they have that you don’t have is guts. Get back in line. You’ll die in your foxholes.” Lt. Col. Merritt “Red Mike” Edson, Guadalcanal, Battle of Bloody Ridge, on this day in 1942 https://rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2022/09/the-reporter-and-raiders.html13 Sep 2026 10:40 +0000at://did:plc:csft44c3hzmxtiq5ntg426ug/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvfftqaiws2hhttps://bsky.app/profile/rboomhower.bsky.social/post/3mvffq2qgoc2h"I want to go back And do it all over again But I can't go back I know I want to go back 'Cause I'm feeling so much older But I can't go back I know." Eddie Money, who died on this day in 2019 https://youtu.be/o0JqC2UDpoE?is=2ZjrbFxuWff6MK0b13 Sep 2026 10:38 +0000at://did:plc:csft44c3hzmxtiq5ntg426ug/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvffq2qgoc2hhttps://bsky.app/profile/rboomhower.bsky.social/post/3mvff72e6gk2h"If you are a genius, you'll make your own rules, but if not--and the odds are against it--go to your desk no matter what your mood, face the icy challenge of the paper--write." J. B. Priestley, born on this day in 189413 Sep 2026 10:29 +0000at://did:plc:csft44c3hzmxtiq5ntg426ug/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvff72e6gk2hhttps://bsky.app/profile/rboomhower.bsky.social/post/3mvdpt7nztk2z"I'm not sure I'll ever get Vietnam out of my system. I can't forget what I saw there. I really don't think I ought to forget." Wallace Terry Book launch for my Terry biography October 7 in Washington, DC https://www.nyu.edu/community/government-affairs/study-of-congress/news-and-events/wallace-terry-presents---from-selma-to-saigon-to-bloods--book-la.html12 Sep 2026 18:34 +0000at://did:plc:csft44c3hzmxtiq5ntg426ug/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvdpt7nztk2zhttps://bsky.app/profile/rboomhower.bsky.social/post/3mvdn53abu22p"The art of writing, like the art of love, runs all the way from a kind of routine hard to distinguish from piling bricks to a kind of frenzy closely related to delirium tremens." H. L. Mencken12 Sep 2026 17:45 +0000at://did:plc:csft44c3hzmxtiq5ntg426ug/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvdn53abu22phttps://bsky.app/profile/rboomhower.bsky.social/post/3mvdas33swc2pFor his first book, "Call It North Country: The Story of Upper Michigan," freelancer extraordinaire John Bartlow Martin worked with veteran publisher Alfred Knopf Sr., born on this day in 1892.12 Sep 2026 14:05 +0000at://did:plc:csft44c3hzmxtiq5ntg426ug/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvdas33swc2phttps://bsky.app/profile/rboomhower.bsky.social/post/3mvdalj5kkc2p"Writing books is certainly a most unpleasant occupation. It is lonesome, unsanitary, and maddening. Many authors go crazy." H. L. Mencken12 Sep 2026 14:01 +0000at://did:plc:csft44c3hzmxtiq5ntg426ug/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvdalj5kkc2phttps://bsky.app/profile/rboomhower.bsky.social/post/3mvd67xh4xk2p“You Americans move too fast. There’s no safe job in the German army any more.” Richard Tregaskis in Aachen http://rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2023/06/charlemagnes-city-richard-tregaskis.html12 Sep 2026 13:19 +0000at://did:plc:csft44c3hzmxtiq5ntg426ug/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvd67xh4xk2phttps://bsky.app/profile/rboomhower.bsky.social/post/3mvczi5i3gs2p"I believe that it is better to tell the truth than to lie. I believe that it is better to be free than to be a slave. And I believe that it is better to know than be ignorant." H. L. Mencken12 Sep 2026 11:54 +0000at://did:plc:csft44c3hzmxtiq5ntg426ug/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvczi5i3gs2phttps://bsky.app/profile/rboomhower.bsky.social/post/3mvcw4gtn222p“When I came back, after all those stories about Hitler and his snub, I came back to my native country, and I could not ride in the front of the bus. I had to go to the back door. I couldn't live where I wanted. Now what's the difference?” Jesse Owens, born on this day in 191312 Sep 2026 10:54 +0000at://did:plc:csft44c3hzmxtiq5ntg426ug/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvcw4gtn222phttps://bsky.app/profile/rboomhower.bsky.social/post/3mvctut5ve22p"On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron." H. L. Mencken, born on this day in 188012 Sep 2026 10:13 +0000at://did:plc:csft44c3hzmxtiq5ntg426ug/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvctut5ve22phttps://bsky.app/profile/rboomhower.bsky.social/post/3mvatwn5g2c2n“Rest and contentment and recreation live in the home, and out of it we get the inspiration and strength for the work in the world that tells. I look forward to this home for both of us, as a source of inspiration.” T. C . Steele, born on this day in 1847 http://rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2019/07/t-c-steele-and-house-of-singing-winds.html11 Sep 2026 15:09 +0000at://did:plc:csft44c3hzmxtiq5ntg426ug/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvatwn5g2c2nhttps://bsky.app/profile/rboomhower.bsky.social/post/3mvaiqeiq722t"Write what you like; there is no other rule." O. Henry (William Sydney Porter), born on this day in 186211 Sep 2026 11:49 +0000at://did:plc:csft44c3hzmxtiq5ntg426ug/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvaiqeiq722thttps://bsky.app/profile/rboomhower.bsky.social/post/3mvahcvrdo22t"Musically, I am still hooked and just hypnotized by the sound of the guitar itself. I mean, a guitar sounds good if you drop it on the floor." Leo Kottke, born on this day in 1945 https://youtu.be/SxzhzRh7hp8?is=vTem40kSRMViqgbu11 Sep 2026 11:23 +0000at://did:plc:csft44c3hzmxtiq5ntg426ug/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvahcvrdo22thttps://bsky.app/profile/rboomhower.bsky.social/post/3mvah3icmic2t"Oh literature, oh the glorious Art, how it preys upon the marrow in our bones. It scoops the stuffing out of us, and chucks us aside. Alas!" D. H. Lawrence, born on this day in 188511 Sep 2026 11:19 +0000at://did:plc:csft44c3hzmxtiq5ntg426ug/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvah3icmic2thttps://bsky.app/profile/rboomhower.bsky.social/post/3mvacy7elqk2t"You may not be able to change the world, but at least you can embarrass the guilty." Jessica Mitford, born on this day in 191711 Sep 2026 10:06 +0000at://did:plc:csft44c3hzmxtiq5ntg426ug/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvacy7elqk2thttps://bsky.app/profile/rboomhower.bsky.social/post/3mv6pk5ombk2lI gave a book to a man in Reno just to watch him read. 📖10 Sep 2026 18:45 +0000at://did:plc:csft44c3hzmxtiq5ntg426ug/app.bsky.feed.post/3mv6pk5ombk2lhttps://bsky.app/profile/rboomhower.bsky.social/post/3mv6opzpf7k2p“He asked if I had more concern for the needs of my family than he had for his, and what the reason was for the present system of special privileges for a few and ruthlessness to the majority.” https://rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2020/01/a-business-without-boss-columbia.html10 Sep 2026 18:31 +0000at://did:plc:csft44c3hzmxtiq5ntg426ug/app.bsky.feed.post/3mv6opzpf7k2phttps://bsky.app/profile/rboomhower.bsky.social/post/3mv6n6fuzl22t"I had no appetite for food, for beauty, for life. I slept fitfully; when I did drift off, I dreamt of Dallas. I was gripping my Esterbrook [fountain pen] so hard that my thumb began to bleed under the nail." William Manchester reflects about writing "The Death of a President"10 Sep 2026 18:03 +0000at://did:plc:csft44c3hzmxtiq5ntg426ug/app.bsky.feed.post/3mv6n6fuzl22thttps://bsky.app/profile/rboomhower.bsky.social/post/3mv6bzxblec2cIs all hope lost? Is there only pain and hatred and misery? https://youtu.be/LeFlPxMTP24?si=a0mMl2nxRtv_sQr-10 Sep 2026 14:44 +0000at://did:plc:csft44c3hzmxtiq5ntg426ug/app.bsky.feed.post/3mv6bzxblec2chttps://bsky.app/profile/rboomhower.bsky.social/post/3mv67bi4pqs27“It doesn’t matter that something you’ve done before worked out well. Your last piece is never going to write your next one for you.” John McPhee 20 books later, this still rings true for me.10 Sep 2026 13:54 +0000at://did:plc:csft44c3hzmxtiq5ntg426ug/app.bsky.feed.post/3mv67bi4pqs27https://bsky.app/profile/rboomhower.bsky.social/post/3mv64jozcec22"Yes, it's hard to write. But it's harder not to." Carl Van Doren, born on this day in 188510 Sep 2026 13:05 +0000at://did:plc:csft44c3hzmxtiq5ntg426ug/app.bsky.feed.post/3mv64jozcec22https://bsky.app/profile/rboomhower.bsky.social/post/3mv64flljfk22"Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self." Cyril Connolly, born on this day in 190310 Sep 2026 13:03 +0000at://did:plc:csft44c3hzmxtiq5ntg426ug/app.bsky.feed.post/3mv64flljfk22https://bsky.app/profile/rboomhower.bsky.social/post/3mv5ue676fc24"Every word is a messenger. Some have wings; some are filled with fire; some are filled with death." Mary Oliver10 Sep 2026 10:39 +0000at://did:plc:csft44c3hzmxtiq5ntg426ug/app.bsky.feed.post/3mv5ue676fc24