Marcine Smith (January 21, 1936 - February 4, 2007)

Marcine Collette Smith was born January 23, 1936, in Akron, the daughter of Philip, Jr. and Stella (Olson) Beaubien. She attended school in Westfield and graduated from Westfield High School. She attended Wayne State College in Nebraska and received her teaching certificate. She also took graduate courses at the University of South Dakota. She married Daryl Smith on Dec. 27, 1955. She taught grade school at Liberty Consolidated, rural Plymouth County, Westfield, Akron and Sioux City.

She enjoyed her family very much, attending almost everything her children and grandchildren participated in until her health prevented her from doing so. She was very proud of them all. She loved watching her granddaughter show sheep and watching the Akron-Westfield softball team. She dearly loved her cats and dog. She was an avid reader. She wrote and published several books for Silhouette Romances and short stories in Red Book and several other magazines.

She left her husband of more than 51 years, Daryl, and four sons: Blane Smith, Blair Smith, Brock Smith, and Briggs Smith; plus five grandchildren: Mylee, Kayla, Danika, Logan, and Josie Mae; and a sister, Dixie Beavers.

Marcine Smith died February 4, 2007, at Mercy Medical Center in Sioux City.

Marcine Smith's Books on Amazon: Marcine Smith

Source: http://www.lemarssentinel.com/story/1188357.html

Queer History: Patricia Highsmith (January 19, 1921 - February 4, 1995)

Patricia Highsmith (January 19, 1921 - February 4, 1995) was an American novelist and short-story writer most widely known for her psychological thrillers, which have led to more than two dozen film adaptations. Her first novel, Strangers on a Train has been adapted for the screen three times, notably by Alfred Hitchcock in 1951. In addition to her acclaimed series about murderer Tom Ripley, she wrote many short stories, often macabre, satirical or tinged with black humor. Although she wrote specifically in the genre of crime fiction, her books have been lauded by various writers and critics as being artistic and thoughtful enough to rival mainstream literature.

Michael Dirda observed that "Europeans honored her as a psychological novelist, part of an existentialist tradition represented by her own favorite writers, in particular Dostoevsky, Conrad, Kafka, Gide, and Camus".

( Read more... )

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patricia_Highsmith

Highsmith has long been one of my literary icons. When it comes to probing the darkest sides of human nature, no one does it better than she. Strangers on a Train is a much better novel than the Hitchcock movie of the same name (although that was not without its charm, among them the very lovely Farley Granger) and has a much darker resolution. Its homoeroticism, too, is much more explicit than in the sanitized Hollywood film that bears the same name. --Rick R. Reed

On my first casual viewing of the film, The Talented Mr. Ripley, I missed most of the gay content. After reading the book and watching the movie again, I marvel at how anyone could miss it. Ripley is a tragic villain, if there can be such a thing, but such a well-drawn character that you can't help being engaged in the book. --Kyell Gold

Some books (like mine) leave little to the imagine when it comes to sizzling mansex. Others, like THE TALENTED MR RIPLEY, let the heat between the characters simmer and brew, without so much as a word being said or a deed being done. And although this book isn’t strictly a GLBT novel, the sexual tension between Tom and Dickie is electric, and ultimately devastating. I’ve loved this book for a long time, and I was so pleased when the movie came out that instead of dumbing down the homoerotic tension (which Hollywood is so fond of doing), director Anthony Minghella actually turned the gay heat levels all the way up, even given Tom a male love interest other than Dickie! Bravo! --Geoffrey Knight

( Further Readings )

Helen Topping Miller (December 8, 1884 - February 4, 1960)

Helen Topping Miller was born December 8, 1884 in Fenton, Michigan, the eldest of eight children. Under the influence of her literary mother, she began writing children’s stories for St. Nicholas Magazine when she was fifteen. She went on to attend Michigan State College and graduated in 1905.

She taught for two years in rural and city schools before her family moved to Fremont, Ohio. In 1908 they moved to Morristown, Tennessee. Two years later on June 16, 1910, she married Frank Roger Miller, the owner of a newspaper and later executive of the United States Chamber of Commerce.

In 1918 the Millers moved to Macon, Georgia and over the following years Helen would begin to write the first of 11 serial stories that were published in a variety of national magazines including The Saturday Evening Post, Good Housekeeping and McCall’s. During this time she also taught modern fiction writing at Mercer University.

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Helen Topping Miller's Books on Amazon: Helen Topping Miller

Source: http://library.cn.edu/speccoll/miller.html

( Dell Mapback )

Jane Arbor (September 8, 1903 - February 4, 1994)

Jane Arbor was the pseudonym used by Eileen Norah Owbridge (b. September 8, 1903 - d. February 4, 1994) a British writer of 57 romance for Mills & Boon from 1948 to 1985.

She wrote doctor-nurse and foreign romances. Many of her doctor-nurse romances have been reedited with different titles, that included medical words. She lived in Preston, Sussex, England.

Jane Arbor's Books on Amazon: Jane Arbor

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Arbor

Jane Arbor (September 8, 1903 - February 4, 1994)

Jane Arbor was the pseudonym used by Eileen Norah Owbridge (b. September 8, 1903 - d. February 4, 1994) a British writer of 57 romance for Mills & Boon from 1948 to 1985.

She wrote doctor-nurse and foreign romances. Many of her doctor-nurse romances have been reedited with different titles, that included medical words. She lived in Preston, Sussex, England.

Jane Arbor's Books on Amazon: Jane Arbor

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Arbor

Around the World: Singapore

Some more pictures from today wandering. Very hot day, but unfortunately in the afternoon the sky went gloomy. In any case it was really interesting to see how the different people professed their religion.


Not sure if this was a real tradition or only that people thought it was pretty...

( Read more... )

Around the World: Singapore

Some more pictures from today wandering. Very hot day, but unfortunately in the afternoon the sky went gloomy. In any case it was really interesting to see how the different people professed their religion.


Not sure if this was a real tradition or only that people thought it was pretty...

( Read more... )

Blue Moon by Rowena Sudbury

Despite the sports theme (profession wrestlers), Blue Moon is more the romance the title let you imagine than a dirty story about sex in locker rooms.

It does start a little rough, Bradley is a young man with some issues, probably he is not made to live all by himself, and even if they are a league, when he is on the road, he is basically alone, and he is on the road for most of his time. So Bradley is taking a down low, he is using mild drugs and he is paying with sexual favours for them; sexual favours that sometime go farer than what he would like, like this time, and Bradley is in danger.

Scott comes rescue him like a knight in shining armour, he sweeps him from his feet and take him to his castle… well, hotel room. When Bradley is ready to talk, Scott explains his plan: Bradley will give up the command of his life to Scott, and Scott will make it sure that Bradley is fine and receive everything he needs, sex, food, comfort. If to someone else this could seem more a prison than love, to Bradley is paradise; as I said, he has not really the streak to live alone, and I don’t think he is one who is able to take important decision alone. I had the feeling that Bradley was lucky enough to turn a youth passion, wrestling, into a job, but actually Bradley is still that kid who was playing, he has not really entered the adult world.

Scott on the other side is playing as well, he is playing the game of BDSM for not being fully involved. And that seems a contradiction, but let me explain. I think that Scott is thinking that, if he controls Bradley, there is no chance that Bradley hurts him; and even if in the end, Bradley will hurt him, Scott can always say to himself that was “only” a game, that was not real.

Scott and Bradley enter in a relationship maybe with the wrong assumptions, but a relationship they have, and that will lead to love. Sometime, even if you don’t start in the right way, you reach the right point.

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=2702

Amazon Kindle: Blue Moon
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (January 3, 2012)

Reading List: http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading list&view=elisa.rolle


Cover Art by Anne Cain

Blue Moon by Rowena Sudbury

Despite the sports theme (profession wrestlers), Blue Moon is more the romance the title let you imagine than a dirty story about sex in locker rooms.

It does start a little rough, Bradley is a young man with some issues, probably he is not made to live all by himself, and even if they are a league, when he is on the road, he is basically alone, and he is on the road for most of his time. So Bradley is taking a down low, he is using mild drugs and he is paying with sexual favours for them; sexual favours that sometime go farer than what he would like, like this time, and Bradley is in danger.

Scott comes rescue him like a knight in shining armour, he sweeps him from his feet and take him to his castle… well, hotel room. When Bradley is ready to talk, Scott explains his plan: Bradley will give up the command of his life to Scott, and Scott will make it sure that Bradley is fine and receive everything he needs, sex, food, comfort. If to someone else this could seem more a prison than love, to Bradley is paradise; as I said, he has not really the streak to live alone, and I don’t think he is one who is able to take important decision alone. I had the feeling that Bradley was lucky enough to turn a youth passion, wrestling, into a job, but actually Bradley is still that kid who was playing, he has not really entered the adult world.

Scott on the other side is playing as well, he is playing the game of BDSM for not being fully involved. And that seems a contradiction, but let me explain. I think that Scott is thinking that, if he controls Bradley, there is no chance that Bradley hurts him; and even if in the end, Bradley will hurt him, Scott can always say to himself that was “only” a game, that was not real.

Scott and Bradley enter in a relationship maybe with the wrong assumptions, but a relationship they have, and that will lead to love. Sometime, even if you don’t start in the right way, you reach the right point.

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=2702

Amazon Kindle: Blue Moon
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (January 3, 2012)

Reading List: http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading list&view=elisa.rolle


Cover Art by Anne Cain