Patricia Cornwell's ISLE OF DOGS left Many Virginians in Howling Mood

Can one book do permanent damage to a writer’s career? Such is very doubtful, but it can certainly affect the public’s perception of a writer on a regional basis, as did Patricia Cornwell’s ISLE OF DOGS, published in 2001.

It was not her portrayal of the governor or the state police that upset lots of folks. The number of Virginians who view Tangier Island in the Chesapeake Bay with fondness through relatives, marriage, or whatever other reason, far outnumber the 600 or so residents of the island. The wave that spread through that extended group after the book’s publication was a tsunami of howling criticism.

“Character assassination…. a slap in the face…. sarcastic ridicule” are three of the milder reactions that found their way into print. Mention Cornwell around eastern Virginia today and you can still get negative feedback, nearly seven years after the book’s publication.

The book was released in October. Normally, a new release from Cornwell, then living in Richmond, VA, would have warranted a large just-inside-the-door display at the local Barnes & Noble. Not so during that Christmas season.

An oft-asked question here is why did she do it? It has been suggested that she thought she could pull off a Sinclair Lewis success as he did with MAIN STREET, published in 1920, which sold, according to some sources, over two million copies and earned Lewis something in the neighborhood of an estimated three million in today’s dollars.

Maybe she read what Lewis later wrote about his book. He said it "was my first novel to rouse the embattled peasantry and, it had really a success of scandal. One of the most treasured American myths had been that all American Villages were peculiarly noble and happy, and here an American attacked that myth."

There are two important differences between the two books. While Lewis set his book in a fictional town called Gopher Prairie, it was widely assumed that it was Lewis’s hometown, Sauk Centre, Minnesota, in disguise.

This assumption was made in spite of the fact that the author made it clear in the book that Gopher Prairie could be any among thousands of such small towns across American in 1920. Cornwell made no attempt to disguise Tangier Island by giving it a fictional name.

Lewis’ narrative might have been upsetting to some at the time, but it rang then with an authenticity and believability that can only come from living in a small town and getting to know it and its citizens. There is nothing in ISLE OF DOGS that hints Cornwell had ever been to Tangier Island.

If Cornwell’s goal was to match Lewis in earning the unending enmity of certain individuals, she succeeded to a degree. The Old Cobbler had occasion to be in Lewis’s hometown in the early 1960s, some forty years after MAIN STREET was published.

A comment was naively made to the locals present about being happy to be in Lewis’ hometown. Before the evening was over, I found myself braced in a corner by four individuals, three men and a lady, who explained in very clear language that having Sinclair Lewis as a native son was, in their opinion, no honor for the town.

It is suspected that in another 30 years or so, one could expect the same type reaction by stepping off the boat at Tangier Island and start making comments about Pat Cornwell.

In spite of the image Cornwell presented, Tangier Island, a step-back-in-time piece of land, is an isolated spot of beauty, filled with wonderful people whose speech reflects their cultural heritage. In many ways, it can be considered a living museum.
The following photographs of the island were taken by J. Andrzej Wrotniak.

Air Force's F-22 Raptor Makes European Debut at England's Farnborough Airshow

The Air Force’s F-22 Raptor made its European debut at the Farnborough International Airshow held July 14-20, 2008. The seven-day affair is held biennially in Hampshire, England. The aircraft’s demonstration flight was captured on video (click to view), and is accompanied by excellent narration.

Piloting the craft was Major Paul Moga. He is an operational instructor pilot and the ACC F-22 Demonstration Pilot, assigned to the 1st Operations Group, Langley Air Force Base, Virginia.

A native of Saint Paul, Minn., the 34-year-old graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, Class of 1995, called his visit to Farnborough “a privilege. I feel honored and blessed.”

Al Norman, now a Lockheed Martin test pilot, narrates the video. He has logged some 500 hours in the F-22 over a seven-year period, first with the Air Force and then with Lockheed Martin. A test pilot for 12 years, with 5,000 hours in 50 different craft, had this to say. “The maneuverability and precision of the F-22 are different from any other jet that I have flown.”

F-22 Raptor's Amazing Maneuverability Frequent Sight In Hampton Skies

One of the pleasures of living next door to Langley Air Force base, Headquarters for the ACC, and home to one of the new F-22 Raptor squadrons, is the frequent opportunity to see the Air Force’s latest fighter doing a demo flight over the base.

The amazing part is that while these aircraft can cruise faster than the speed of sound, the demo flights are centered over the air base in very limited air space.

It is said that the planes can arrive and deliver a blow to an enemy without him knowing its coming. But this has to be said. The F-22 is a very loud plane when flying way. The guy on the ground may not have known a hit was coming, but if he survives, he has a long time to listen and know what delivered the blow.

At night, when a plane take off eastward out over Chesapeake Bay and continue straight, one can listen to the decreasing sound for a good five minutes when the wind is blowing correctly. It a nice sound to which one can drop off to sleep;.

F22a Raptor from Jody Hughes on Vimeo.

Orania Papazoglou Explains How Style Keeps Series From Being a Soap Opera

Orania Papazoglou, writing under the pen name Jane Haddam, sums up her approach to writing in the Acknowledgements section of CONSPIRACY THEORY; number nineteenth in her Gregor Demarkian series.

She states her goal is to “write books that don’t sound as if I’ve just sat down at the computer to spout gibberish before I’ve had my serious caffeine.” She more than accomplishes that goal.

I’m discovered this series of mysteries when I picked up HARDSCRABBLE ROAD, her 21st offering. I started reading in the usual manner; with the TV tuned to a cable channel. The commercial breaks are so long, I spend more time reading than watching. But that was not to be with this author.

In a time when most mysteries take less mental effort to read than eating Chocolate or Strawberry Mousse for desert, this lady's writing demands one's full attention. She presents more “story” on a page than most authors do in a chapter.

If reading most mysteries is water skiing, the richness of this lady’s work has to be considered deep-sea diving in waters that are not always tropically warm, filled with light, and prettily colored sea life. There is a realism that reaches out and grabs the reader. She says:

“I think I would describe my books as character-centered mysteries--they're about the lives of the suspects at least as much, if not more, than they are about the detective catching the murderer.”

She writes this way for a reason, avoiding a problem often found in a series. “There is no way for your continuing characters to have consistently exciting lives without the whole thing beginning to sound like a soap opera. I mean, how many crises can one relationship go through? How many times can a private eye get his heart broken?

So you've either got to find a way to make your continuing characters interesting without making them maudlin or overwrought, or you've got to do what I do and put more emphasis on the suspects, who change from book to book.”

The books do have a strong protagonist. He’s named Gregor Demarkian, a retired FBI agent, and presented as the Armenian-American Hercule Peirot. This raised an eyebrow at first, but by the time I finished the first book, I decided Agatha Christie was due no apology.

If the desire is to read a story that takes one deep into the whys of what people do what they do, a story that will make one stop and think, then block out a few days and give one of the books in this series a read. But be fairly warned. Once you start reading, the book will haunt you until you finish.