Showing results by author "Jim Watson" in All Categories

He began his stage career as a card manipulator. As his popularity grew, Harry Houdini quickly became known as one of the most colorful stage magicians and escape artists of all time. Then the movies came knocking, and the man people had only read about in the newspapers was suddenly starring on the silver screen, captivating audiences with his daring serial exploits. Harry Houdini was no longer just a magician; he was an international superstar. In 1904, he began a world tour starting in London and the adventures grew even more fantastic.

In the early 20th century, German count Ferdinand von Zeppelin pioneered the creation of rigid, lighter-than-air craft capable of long-distance flights. During World War I, they were adapted for military use as long-range bombers wreaking havoc upon Great Britain from their lofty positions high above the clouds, where fixed-winged fighters could not reach them. After the war zeppelins became pleasure ships utilized in luxury trans-Atlantic flights and were highly popular.

Page, my younger brother by four years, has been brain damaged from birth. He does not speak, cannot hear, and sees poorly through his remaining eye. A wall of autism shuts him away from the outside world, and he spends most of his time lost in his own musings, nodding, laughing, clucking, and crying at a pageant only he can see. But for all the grief it brings, Page's condition is also a remarkable and precious gift.