Monthly Archives: November 2014

With the turkey eaten, and Christmas just ahead, it’s time for another of my favorite Suburban Journals stories, “Resident finds fowl something to cluck about.” http://www.stltoday.com/suburban-journals/resident-finds-fowl-something-to-cluck-about/article_16005726-5e37-57e0-935c-141c844cc756.html

In a half-hour one Sunday afternoon, fifty westbound motorists on Fyler Avenue were spotted approaching a stop sign at Macklind Avenue. Only seven of them stopped, as in, their wheels stopped moving. Some of those apparently did so because traffic from Macklind stopped them from going forward. The others tapped their brakes with different degreesContinue reading “The South Side Rolling Stop”

Saturday from 11 am to 2 p.m., I’ll be signing my books with my good friend Edna Campos Gravenhorst, for a joint book signing at the Walgreens at the corner of South Kingshighway Boulevard and Arsenal Street. She’ll be signing her new book: Famous Barr: St. Louis Shopping at its Finest. I haven’t looked atContinue reading “A Toast to Edna Gravenhorst”

Today was Stan Musial’s 94th Birthday. In honor of that, I hereby publish another in my series of my favorite Suburban Journals stories, I like Stan, but my real hero is Tom Lawless. http://www.stltoday.com/suburban-journals/my-street-i-like-stan-but-my-real-hero-is/article_35ffef15-58a4-57d6-82c4-3ce60c70656b.html 

Does race play a part in traffic stops in West County? Statistics and the words of African Americans who drive in that area would seem to say so. But police officials in West County say there’s more to it. In this article I did for the West Newsmagazine, I quote both sides and weigh inContinue reading “Does race affect traffic stops in West County?”

Here’s your chance to see me talk about the Second Edition of Hoosiers and Scrubby Dutch: St. Louis’s South Side really early Saturday morning. I’ll be on “City Corner” with Steve Potter at 5:30 a.m. Saturday on KDNL Channel 30. If you’d rather not get up that early, here’s a link to the program. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McgqP-noiFo&list=UUWU3FRSmVSxDcuzPDQGe24gContinue reading “See me first thing Saturday morning”

Yet another in the best of my Suburban Journals stories. All the yummy things that go on at a sewage treatment plant. http://www.stltoday.com/suburban-journals/illinois/news/hour-story-what-happens-after-you-flush-the-toilet/article_2713af74-d26b-50b7-bf72-6e6bd0f0e4e3.html

As a housewife in the late 1930s and early 1940s, Mary Tomazi got her exercise scrubbing sidewalks at her South Side home. Today, at 101, the North Hampton neighborhood resident exercises in yearly one-mile Mature Walks in Forest Park and at the St. Louis Activity Center at 5602 Arsenal Street. She’s seen a century ofContinue reading “A Mountain of Energy and Fun Passes”

Just a reminder: I’ll mail you an autographed copy of one of my books for less than what you can get it from Amazon. Mail a check for $21.50 made out to Jim Merkel to Jim Merkel Books, 4216 Osceola St., St. Louis, MO 63116, and I’ll send you a book. Specify whether you wantContinue reading “No Way!”

The dedication of the Knapstein Place signs today was amazing. About 50 people came, including about 35 members of the Frank Knapstein family. We made some wonderful friends with the Knapsteins and others. It was a great way to put things back the way they should be. Big thanks go to the German-American Heritage SocietyContinue reading “A wonderful time at the dedication”