Category Archives: Adventures in history

Historians into journalists

Posted on October 11, 2011 by hro50ta1

Journalism schools are not the only places where people can learn to be journalists. The University of Michigan History Department’s 2011 Newsletter adapted a JOTR post about the utility of a historian’s education. But we later had second thoughts. That … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventures in history, Joel's J School | Leave a comment

Warning to historians

Posted on October 1, 2011 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell If journalism is to be saved, who will resurrect it from the ashcan of history? Why, none other than historians. If they’re up to the task. Having made the pitch that grad school-trained historians — of whom … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventures in history, Joel's J School | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Loosely speaking

Posted on June 14, 2011 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell I still have not found the story I wrote about a Farmington museum’s quest for the site of its outhouse. This is driving me nuts. You’d think it would be easy to search. The lead of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventures in history | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Thank God it’s (not) Friday

Posted on June 12, 2011 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell Okay, I have to admit: I had a lot of fun those last couple years working at the Detroit Free Press. When managers weren’t trying to fire me for giving $$ to the Dems, they pretty much … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventures in history | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Nothing new here

Posted on April 16, 2011 by hro50ta1

More tax cuts would be gluttony in a time of starvation. That is not America. That is a nation about to be plundered, and a people laid to waste. — Charles M. Blow, The New York Times, April 16, 2011 … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventures in history, Adventures on the Rouge, Bad government | 1 Comment

Fury coming, past and present

Posted on April 12, 2011 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell I have my old friend Barbara Stanton O’Hair to thank for my current reading program. Barb is the longtime sparkplug and mainstay of Bookies, a book club of mostly former Detroit Free Press writers who meet episodically … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventures in history | Leave a comment

The best journalists? Historians!

Posted on January 8, 2011 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell If you are one of the 1,100 people who received PhD diplomas in history last year, let me express my condolences. You are looking at a pretty bleak future. According to the American Historical Association, there will … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventures in history, Hardalee Press, Joel's J School | Leave a comment

Novi = No. VI = baloney

Posted on November 14, 2010 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell My wife and I are tutoring English-learners for Washtenaw Literacy. One of our students, a Korean, not knowing about my fascination with how places get their  names, brought up the old chestnut about how Novi, Michigan, got … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventures in history | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Turning rain into smoke

Posted on July 12, 2010 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell Mostly, I let people post comments on JOTR without adding my two cents. Now and then, though, a comment will contain some quality that seems to cry out for my reaction. It may be very interesting, very … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventures in history, Adventures on the Rouge, Bad government, Lakes and streams, Muni bonds, Politics | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Henry the 8th and all that

Posted on February 16, 2010 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell What this country needs is more historians. Or at least, people who THINK like historians. Thinking like a historian involves two different kinds of mental concentration. First, a historian understands that, according to the laws of physics, … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventures in history, Joel's J School | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment