Mysterious

Episode 35: Mysterious and Deadly Critters Kissing Bug To find this deadly mystery and the murderers involved, Victoria looked no further than her backyard. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ Join Beach Blanket Books—a Facebook Event. The Fun begins on May 15th and lasts until the Summer Solstice on June 21st. Join in the games and win some prizes. Sign up now so you don't miss a thing! 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 ______________________________________________________________________________________ Meet Victoria Hardesty, the host for Episode 35: Mysterious and Deadly Critters Victoria Hardesty has owned, bred, and shown Arabian Horses for more than 30 years. She and her husband operated their own training facility, serving many young people who loved and showed their own horses. She is the author of numerous articles in horse magazines and was the editor of two Arabian Horse Club newsletters, one of which was given the Communications Award of the Year by the Arabian Horse Association at their national convention. An avid reader from childhood, she read every horse story she could get her hands on. Victoria and her writing partner, Nancy Perez, have written seven novels about Arabian horses. Check out their website at http://www.wonderhorsebooks.com/author-bio and see their books at Victoria Hardesty and Nancy Perez | Bookshelf (authormasterminds.com).

Episode 34: The Female Robinson Crusoe and Wrangel Island Expedition Mystery Ada Blackjack’s story reflects the harrowing experiences faced by those who venture into the Arctic and the often-overlooked capabilities and contributions of indigenous peoples to Arctic expeditions. In the annals of Arctic exploration, few tales evoke the blend of mystery and tragedy quite like the Wrangel Island Expedition. The year was 1921, and under the auspices of Arctic explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson, a team was assembled to claim the desolate Wrangel Island. __________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Join Beach Blanket Books—a Facebook Event. The Fun begins on May 15th and lasts until the Summer Solstice on June 21st. Join in the games and win some prizes. Sign up now so you don't miss a thing! 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 ______________________________________________________________________________________ Meet Evan Swensen, your host for Episode 34: The Female Robinson Crusoe and Wrangel Island Expedition Mystery Evan Swensen, book publisher, editor, author, and Author Masterminds charter member along with his wife, Lois, publishes books by authors worldwide. He has been the publisher and editor of Alaska Outdoors magazine and producer of Alaska Outdoors television show and outdoor videos, and host of Alaska Outdoor Radio Magazine. He has been an Alaska resident since 1957. As a pilot, he has logged more than 4,000 hours of flight time in Alaska, in both wheel and float planes. He is a serious recreation hunter and fisherman, equally comfortable casting a flyrod or using bait, or lures. Evan has been published in many national magazines and is the author of five books and publisher of more than 1,000 books by other authors. Evan claims to have the best job in the world; he gets up in the morning, puts on his fishing vest, picks up his fly rod, kisses his wife goodbye, tells her he’s going to work—and she believes him. Author Masterminds: https://authormasterminds.com/evan-swensen Author Masterminds One Last Cast book: https://authormasterminds.com/details/XLxrX One Last Cast on Amazon: https://bit.ly/3H0OzTo One Last Cast short video: https://youtu.be/2wzwWmim-2g Alaska Outdoors https://alaskaoutdoorsmagazine.com. Alaska Outdoors Blog: https://alaskaoutdoorsmagazine.com/blog/ Alaska Outdoors Videos: https://bit.ly/37xjUzl

Episode 33: The Mystery of Time There was a time when we thought we mastered time by clocking it. Nothing could be further from the truth. Fifty years ago, I thought I had mastered time when I strapped on my first Timex windup wristwatch. If I didn’t forget to wind it up every day, I had time under control. How little I understood about time back then. ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ 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 ______________________________________________________________________________________ Meet Cil Gregoire, your host for Episode 33: The Mystery of Time Cil Gregoire is an Alaska writer who has lived in the state for more than four decades fulfilling her Alaska dream. She has built a log cabin in the woods, commercial fished Bristol Bay and Norton Sound, and lived remotely in the northern Susitna Valley, the primary setting for many of her novels. Possessing a vivid imagination, her fiction specialty is sci-fi/fantasy. Links: Crystalline Aura https://youtu.be/mV-offy2myA Crystal Shards https://youtu.be/VkAxmu3Cwaw https://www.authormasterminds.com/cil-gregoire Facebook: https://bit.ly/3eHhE7k

Episode 32: Mysterious Sudden Collapse of the Mayan Civilization What caused the mysterious demise of the Maya? What was the cause that led to the disappearance of one of the greatest civilizations in the history of Mesoamerica? The collapse did not happen all at once; instead, it occurred over time from place to place, between about the late 8th and 925—about ±100 years. Exactly why any of this transpired, though, is a mystery. _______________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 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 ______________________________________________________________________________________ Meet Carl Douglas, your host for Episode 32 My pseudonym as an author is Carl Douglass, adopted as a means of telling stories with gripping realism—the truth of which would not bring trouble to my door. My writing of gripping, realistic fiction began after I was obligated to retire from the private practice of neurosurgery due to sudden blindness in my left eye from a retinal detachment which caused loss of stereoscopic vision. I carried with me decades-long knowledge of doctors, hospitals, and institutions of higher learning, including some less than laudatory information. My military experience during the years of the recent unpleasantness in Vietnam also gave me considerable insight. Both of those lengthy experiences provided true grist for the mill of my writing, but neither of them need to connect the stories to the lives of the real people and places where the stories took place. In that sense, I know too much and have no wish to incriminate or to bring harm or embarrassment to real individuals or institutions. My rich and varied life has provided even more fodder to feed my mind and contribute realism to my written work. In my time, I have had to work due to lacking a sugar daddy. I have been a grease monkey, a lumber mill and forest worker, a lifeguard, a slaughterhouse worker, a diener in a morgue, a lab rat, an academic writer, a medical officer in a mental hospital, a naval officer and surgeon, a brig doctor, and a deep diving officer. I have been the husband of one fine wife, the father of four children—one deceased—eleven grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren. All of them have enriched the depth and breadth of my storytelling.

Episode 31: Mysteries from the 1990s I'm your host, Victoria Hardesty, and in this episode, I share several mysteries from the 1990s. Welcome aboard! Mysteries include: Who Abucted Amber Hagerman? Who did the Las Cruces Bowling Alley Massacre? Where did the Oakville Blobs come from? Who killed Yale Senior Suzanna Jovin? Who Sabotaged Amtrak’s Sunset Limited in 1995? What was the Cosford Incident? If it wasn’t O. J. Simpson, who was it? __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 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 ______________________________________________________________________________________ Meet Victoria Hardesty, your host for Episode 31: Mysteries from the 1990s Victoria Hardesty has owned, bred, and shown Arabian Horses for more than 30 years. She and her husband operated their own training facility, serving many young people who loved and showed their own horses. She is the author of numerous articles in horse magazines and was the editor of two Arabian Horse Club newsletters, one of which was given the Communications Award of the Year by the Arabian Horse Association at their national convention. An avid reader from childhood, she read every horse story she could get her hands on. Victoria and her writing partner, Nancy Perez, have written seven novels about Arabian horses. Check out their website at http://www.wonderhorsebooks.com/author-bio and see their books at Victoria Hardesty and Nancy Perez | Bookshelf (authormasterminds.com).

Episode 30: The Doomed Wilcox Expedition George Mallory once said, “I climb mountains because they are there.” Mallory died climbing Mt. Everest in 1924, and his body wasn’t found for 75 years. George Mallory represents both the passion and the danger for those who climb mountains. On July 18, 1967, a catastrophic snowstorm pummeled Alaska’s Mt. Denali, killing seven of the twelve young men in the Wilcox Expedition attempting to reach the summit. This is still the worst climbing disaster ever to occur in the United States. We will never know what happened at the top of Mt. Denali. Experts can only guess the fate of those seven unlucky climbers. Sources My primary source for this newsletter was Denali’s Howl by Andy Hall. If you want to learn more about this tragic event, I highly recommend this book. Hall, Andy. 2014. Denali’s Howl. Plume, the Penguin Group. New York, NY. Manley, Kelley McMillan. 7-2017. Disaster on Denali. 5280.com/ Magazine https://www.5280.com/2017/06/disaster-on-denali/ Duke, Kevin. 3-28-2012. Finishing the climb: Babcock finally tells his story of Denali tragedy. Gvnews.com. https://www.gvnews.com/sports/finishing-the-climb-babcock-finally-tells-his-story-of-denali-tragedy/article_d158684c-78f7-11e1-871e-0019bb2963f4.html Worrall, Simon. 7-2014. The Denali climb that became one of the deadliest. National Geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/140720-mountain-climbing-denali-mount-mckinley-alaska-national-parks ______________________________________________________________________ Read about Murder and Mystery in Alaska _________________________________________________________________ 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 ______________________________________________________________________________________ Meet Robin Barefield, your host for Episode 30 Robin Barefield is the author of five Alaska wilderness mystery novels, Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, The Fisherman’s Daughter, Karluk Bones, and Massacre at Bear Creek Lodge. She has written two nonfiction books, Kodiak Island Wildlife and Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. Sign up to subscribe to her free monthly newsletter on true murder and mystery in Alaska and check out her podcast: Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. Read more about Robin's books at Author Masterminds.

Episode 29: The Death of Juanita Richardson: Accident, Suicide, or Murder? On June 22, 2006, Juanita Richardson fell to her death. The investigation of her death, and the subsequent trial and conviction of her husband, Thomas Richardson, was not ordinary. Sources: United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit on appeal from the Western District of Michiganhttps://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?s=MI&d=135150 Wife’s plunge sends Thomas Richardson to prison for life. May 20, 2008. The Associated Press https://www.mlive.com/grpress/2008/05/wifes_plunge_sends_thomas_rich.html The Oakland Press / Schoolcraft County jury convicts man in wife’s fatal fall. https://www.theoaklandpress.com/2008/04/17/schoolcraft-county-jury-convicts-man-in-wifes-fatal-fall/ Juanita Richardson Murder Case: Where is Thomas Richardson Today? https://spikytv.com/juanita-richardson-murder-case-where-is-thomas-richardson-today/ Interview: Natalie Torres, Michigan State Trooper ________________________________________________________________________ Read about Alaska's Savage River ________________________________________________________________________________ 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 _________________________________________________________________________________ Meet Valerie Winans, your host for Episode 29 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 three 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. 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.

Episode 28: Richard Willoughby and “The City in the Mist” "Did Richard Willoughby really photograph a mirage in the sky, or was he conning the residents of Juneau, Alaska, and the many people who paid dearly for a copy of his photograph?" ___________________________________ Grab a copy of The Human Face of the Alaska Gold Rush _________________________________________________________________________________ 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 ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Meet Steve Levi, Your Host for Episode 28: Richard Willoughby and "The City in the Mist"

Episode 27: Ghosts of the Desert Listen to ghost stories from the California desert. Vallecito Stage Stop Yaqui Well _______________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ 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 ______________________________________________________________________________________ Meet Victoria Hardesty, your host for Episode 27: Ghosts of the Desert Victoria Hardesty has owned, bred, and shown Arabian Horses for more than 30 years. She and her husband operated their own training facility, serving many young people who loved and showed their own horses. She is the author of numerous articles in horse magazines and was the editor of two Arabian Horse Club newsletters, one of which was given the Communications Award of the Year by the Arabian Horse Association at their national convention. An avid reader from childhood, she read every horse story she could get her hands on. Victoria and her writing partner, Nancy Perez, have written seven novels about Arabian horses. Check out their website at http://www.wonderhorsebooks.com/author-bio and see their books at Victoria Hardesty and Nancy Perez | Bookshelf (authormasterminds.com).

Episode 26: Christmas Hauntings in England When I hear the words ‘ghost’ and ‘Christmas,’ I automatically think about my favorite Christmas story, A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens and Scrooge’s nightmare evening of being visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future. But did you know other Christmas ghost stories aren’t so full of hope and the spirit of the season? You may not since hauntings are far from most people’s minds during Christmas. Some creepy paranormal occurrences tied to Christmas revolve around certain places that, for one reason or another, become haunted at Christmas time and have been so for a long time. England has several such hauntings. Today, we are traveling across the Pond to the shores of the United Kingdom. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ New Release by Mary Ann Poll Welcome to Andalusia Forest, a theme park that once bustled with excitement but now lies abandoned, steeped in mysterious legends and tales of hauntings. This once-beloved destination is still imbued with a captivating allure, a magnet for both treasure seekers and the curious. In this intriguing setting, a tenacious ghost hunter, Chloe Melbourne, teams up with the adventurous Iconoclast trio of Kat, Ken, and Bart. What starts as a straightforward mission to locate a missing friend quickly becomes an exploration of the forest's deeper secrets. No longer home to the whimsical creatures that once danced in the minds of its audience, Andalusia Forest reveals chilling truths hidden in its shadows. Why not embark on this exciting journey? The gates are open for those willing to venture into the unknown. You're invited to discover the enigmatic entities that inhabit these haunting woods. With a balanced blend of whimsy and reality, the tale of Andalusia Forest offers a thrilling yet measured experience. So, take a bold step, and let the answers reveal themselves through your exploration. Andalusia Forest awaits. Will you heed the call? _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 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 ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Meet Mary Ann Poll, your host for Episode 26: Christmas Hauntings in England Mary Ann Poll is the author of five Supernatural Thriller novels, Ravens Cove, Ingress, Gorgon, Dullahan, and Andalusia Forest. Sign up to subscribe for free information about upcoming events at www.maryannpoll.com and check out her podcast Real Ghost Chatter. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Episode 25: What Happened to the Christmas Tree Ship? The ship known as the Christmas Tree Ship, the Rouse Simmons, sank in November of 1912 between Kewaunee and Two Rivers, Wisconsin, during a winter storm on Lake Michigan. The ship left Thompson Pier, Michigan, reportedly needing repair, and overloaded with Christmas trees for its annual journey to the expanding Christmas market in Chicago. The story surrounding the mystery of the sinking and the legend that followed cannot be told without first sharing the story of the schooners and their masters in the late 19th century. Sources: Neuschel, Fred.Lives and Legends of the Christmas Tree Ships. The University of Michigan Press. 2007 Christmas Tree Ship, the Rouse Simmons, sank on Lake Michigan 109 years ago. Wisconsin Maritime Museum will honor its legacy Saturday. https://www.htrnews.com/story/entertainment/2021/12/01/lake-michigan-christmas-tree-ship-rouse-simmons-sank-1912/8778837002/ A ship carrying thousands of Christmas trees sank in Lake Michigan 107 years ago. https://www.wzzm13.com/article/news/history/christmas-tree-ship-sinking/69-06a7fa47-2e80-4ab0-b592-6b62bcc8e078 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 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 ________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Meet Valerie Winans, your host for Episode 25 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 three 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. 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.

Why do so many people disappear in Alaska? Who buried Sister Mary Janina in the basement of the church? How did a pig manage to calm the animals at an Arabian horse ranch? Are there stories about Bigfoot in Alaska? Was the sinking of the Clara Nevada an accident or mass murder? Can it rain blood? Where did the saying, “Another one bites the dust,” originate? What happened to the Grand Duchess Anastasia? Join us on the podcast Mysterious and explore the mysteries in the world around us, including unsolved murders, mysteries found in nature, intriguing historical events, paranormal experiences, and baffling enigmas of space. The author hosting each episode investigates a true mystery related to their genre. We invite you to listen to Mysterious and take a journey into the unknown.

Episode 24: A Terrible Christmas Tragedy -- Or Was It Murder? The Jon Benet Ramsey case pops into most of our minds when we are asked to relay the most terrible Christmas story we know, but seventy-eight years ago in 1945 in Fayetteville, West Virginia, the Sodder family lost five of their ten children in a house fire on Christmas Eve. Was it a tragedy, a murder, or a kidnapping? Until their deaths, George and Jennie Sodder believed their five children survived the fire, but if so, where did they go? Photo Resembling Louis Sources: Abbott, Karen. “The children who went up in smoke.” December 25, 2012. Smithsonian Magazine. History’s Greatest Mysteries. Season 3, episode 9. “The Sodder children disappearance.” Horn, Stacy. “Mystery of missing children haunts W.Va. Town. All Things Considered. NPR. Newton, Michael. The Encyclopedia of Unsolved Crimes. 2009. New York, NY: Checkmark Books. _________________________________________________________________________________________ Want more MYSTERIOUS? Be sure to subscribe! _________________________________________________________________________________________ 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 ________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Meet Robin Barefield, your host for Episode 24: Robin Barefield is the author of five Alaska wilderness mystery novels, Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, The Fisherman’s Daughter, Karluk Bones, and Massacre at Bear Creek Lodge. She has written two nonfiction books, Kodiak Island Wildlife and Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. Sign up to subscribe to her free monthly newsletter on true murder and mystery in Alaska and check out her podcast: Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. Read more about Robin's books at Author Masterminds. Now Available: 29 True Stories about Murder and Mystery in Alaska

Episode 23: The Mystery of The Way to Go, Nassau, Buster Brown This is the story of a gorgeous Thoroughbred horse. If he could talk, it would be interesting to listen to him talk about the many miles he put on American roads and highways. We know he crossed the entire continent twice and went halfway one additional time. _________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ Want more MYSTERIOUS? Be sure to subscribe! __________________________________________________________________ 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 ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Meet Victoria Hardesty, your host for Episode 23: Victoria Hardesty has owned, bred and shown Arabian Horses for more than 30 years. She and her husband operated their own training facility serving many young people that loved and showed their own horses. She is the author of numerous articles in horse magazines, was the editor of two Arabian Horse Club newsletters, one of which was given the Communications Award of the Year by the Arabian Horse Association at their national convention. An avid reader from childhood, she read every horse story she could get her hands on. Victoria and her writing partner, Nancy Perez have written seven novels about Arabian horses. Check out their website at http://www.wonderhorsebooks.com/author-bio and see their books at Victoria Hardesty and Nancy Perez | Bookshelf (authormasterminds.com).

Episode 22: The Mothman of Point Pleasant Welcome to a journey through one of America’s most haunting enigmas—the Mothman of Point Pleasant. Plus -- The Phantom Dogsled. __________________________________________________________________________________________________ New Release by Mary Ann Poll __________________________________________________________________________________________________ Want more MYSTERIOUS? Be sure to subscribe! __________________________________________________________________ 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 ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Meet Mary Ann Poll, your host for Episode 22: The Mothman of Point Pleasant Mary Ann Poll is the author of five Supernatural Thriller novels, Ravens Cove, Ingress, Gorgon, Dullahan, and Andalusia Forest. Sign up to subscribe for free information about upcoming events at www.maryannpoll.com and check out her podcast Real Ghost Chatter. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The Phantom Dog Sled was written and performed by Steve Levi. Check out his books at Author Masterminds.

Episode 21: What Happened to the Edmund Fitzgerald? The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down of the big lake they called Gitchee Gumee The lake it is said never gives up her dead when the skies of November turn gloomy Gordon Lightfoot's lyrics memorialize the tragedy of the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, but the mystery remains - what sunk the great ship? Sources: Stonehouse, Frederick. The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. Avery Color Studios, Inc. Gwinn, Michigan. 1977. Charles River Editors. The Sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald: The Loss of the Largest Ship on the Great Lakes. Kindle Schumacher, Michael. The Trial of the Edmund Fitzgerald: Eyewitness Accounts from the U.S. Coast Guard Hearings. University of Minnesota Press. Minneapolis, MN. 2019. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Want more MYSTERIOUS? Be sure to subscribe! _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 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 ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Meet Valerie Winans, your host for Episode 21: What Happened to the Edmund Fitzgerald? 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 three 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. 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.

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. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 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 ________________________________________________________________________________________________ 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. Now Available: 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.

Episode 19: Mysterious Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia was born into the most elite segment of Russian society on June 18, 1901 as the youngest daughter of Tsar Nicholas II, the last sovereign of Imperial Russia, and his wife, Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna. Anastasia was the younger sister of Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, and Maria, and was the elder sister of Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia. During WWI, Anastasia--like her sisters--volunteered as a nurse right in the royal palace at Tsarskoye Selo. Many of its rooms had been turned into hospital wards. In 1917, the February Revolution in Russia forced Czar Nicholas II to abdicate the throne. After the Revolution of 1917 and Nicholas’s abdication, Nicholas and his family (including Anastasia) were taken as prisoners to Tobolsk, then to Yekaterinburg, where on June 18, 1918, Anastasia celebrated her last birthday. Nicholas, his wife Alexandra, and their four girls and one son, were held at Czarskoye Selo palace and then taken to Ekaterinburg in the Urals after the Bolsheviks seized power in the October Revolution. Tsar Nicholas II, Tsarina Alexandra, and their five children—including 14-year-old Anastasia--were shot and bayoneted to death by Bolshevik revolutionaries under Yakov Yurovsky on the orders of the Ural Regional Soviet in Yekaterinburg on the night of July 16-17, 1918. Also murdered that night were members of the imperial entourage who had accompanied them: court physician Eugene Botkin; lady-in-waiting Anna Demidova; footman Alexei Trupp; and head cook Ivan Kharitonov. The executioners then took the bodies to the Four Brothers mine [an abandoned mine shaft some 14 miles from Ekaterinburg, in the Koptyaki forest], Anna Anderson where they were stripped, buried, burned in a gasoline-fueled bonfire, and the bones doused with sulfuric acid to disguise the remains further and mutilated with grenades to prevent identification. Finally, what was left was thrown into the mine pit, which was covered with dirt. After 300 years of imperial rule, the Romanov empire ended in a chaos of gunfire and bayonets. _________________________________________________________________________________________________ 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 ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Meet Carl Douglas, your host for Episode 19: Mysterious Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia My pseudonym as an author is Carl Douglass, adopted as a means of telling stories with gripping realism—the truth of which would not bring trouble to my door. My writing of gripping, realistic fiction began after I was obligated to retire from the private practice of neurosurgery due to sudden blindness in my left eye from a retinal detachment which caused loss of stereoscopic vision. I carried with me decades-long knowledge of doctors, hospitals, and institutions of higher learning, including some less than laudatory information. My military experience during the years of the recent unpleasantness in Viet Nam also gave me considerable insight. Both of those lengthy experiences provided true grist for the mill of my writing, but neither of them need to connect the stories to the lives of the real people and places where the stories took place. In that sense, I know too much and have no wish to incriminate or to bring harm or embarrassment to real individuals or institutions. My rich and varied life has provided even more fodder to feed my mind and contribute realism to my written work. In my time, I have had to work due to lacking a sugar daddy. I have been a grease monkey, a lumber mill and forest worker, a lifeguard, a slaughterhouse worker, a diener in a morgue, a lab rat,

Episode 18: The Investor Murders What happened on a foggy September day in 1982 in the small fishing village of Craig, Alaska? Many believe they know who killed the crew and passengers of the Investor, but only the killer knows why the massacre occurred. Sources Bovsun, Mara. “Murder on a fishing boat—and there was never a conviction.” March 31, 2019. New York Daily News. https://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/ny-justice-story-investor-boat-killings-20190331-y333ejn4qjd5vnhf33wzxg4jiy-story.html Dodd, Johnny, and Adam Carlson. “The mystery of who murdered 8, including a family, on a fishing boat in Alaska.” December 11, 2017. People. https://people.com/crime/people-explains-investor-fishing-boat-murders-alaska/ Hale, Leland E. What Happened in Craig: Alaska’s Worst Unsolved Mass Murder. 2018. Kenmore, WA: Epicenter Press. Kahn, Dean. “8 killed in 1982 Investor murders remembered in exhibit.” April 30, 2016. Washington Times. https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/apr/30/8-killed-in-1982-investor-murders-remembered-in-ex/ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 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 ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Meet your host for Episode 18: The Investor Murders Robin Barefield is the author of five Alaska wilderness mystery novels, Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, The Fisherman’s Daughter, Karluk Bones, and Massacre at Bear Creek Lodge. She has written two nonfiction books, Kodiak Island Wildlife and Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. Sign up to subscribe to her free monthly newsletter on true murder and mystery in Alaska and check out her podcast: Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. Read more about Robin's books at Author Masterminds. Now Available: 29 True Stories about Murder and Mystery in Alaska

Episode 17: Where is Baby Shannon? Some of the facts in this true story have been established, but some things are still unknown. Sources: https://wbckfm.com/cold-case-cedar-springs-the-disappearance-of-baby-shannon/ Cold Case Cedar Springs: The Disappearance of Baby Shannon https://charleyproject.org/case/shannon-dale-verhage The Charley Project https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/michigan/2022/06/03/michigan-girl-still-missing-25-years-after-mother-murdered-found-dead-in-lake-killer-on-death-row/ https://www.woodtv.com/news/michigan/convicted-killer-from-mi-up-for-execution/ Citation: Timmerman, L.C. and John H. The Color of Night: A Young Mother, a Missing Child and a Cold-Blooded Killer, New Horizon Press. Far Hills, NJ 2011 __________________________________________________________________________________________________ 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 ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Meet your host for Episode 17: Where is Baby Shannon? 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 three 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. 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. Valerie is a writer for readers of all ages and dogs' best friend.