Monthly Archives: October 2016

This weekend I said hello for a while to one of my favorite Colorful Characters, Raynard Nebbitt. Then I said goodbye to another of my favorites, Paul “Father Time” Pagano, at the visitation following his recent death at the age of 93. Raynard sat with me for part of the three hours I spent signingContinue reading “Time With One Friend, Goodbye to Another”

I’ve hit paydirt: a video of two of my favorite Colorful Characters together. Specifically Pete Parisi, the memorable anarchist-public access cable newsguy, interviewing Paul “Father Time” Pagano. Following Paul’s death last week, this is an especially good time to hear them together. To watch the video, click here.

It’s easy to find where Bill Christman lives. Strut over to the Skinker-DeBaliviere neighborhood and look for the 8-1/2-foot tall fiberglass white chicken out front. If Christman’s not there, tramp to his sculpture park next door and see how old junk never looked so good. Rest on a park bench where the head of anContinue reading “No High Art Here”

Since last week, it’s been clear that a lot of people care for Raynard Nebbitt, the guy who always greets motorists driving under the Rock Hill Road overpass of Interstate 44 with a smile and a wave. Make that the Raynard Nebbitt Overpass, the name the Webster Groves City Council gave the bridge. Followers ofContinue reading “Your chance to say “Hi” to Raynard Nebbitt”

It’s with real sadness that I pass along the news that Paul Pagano, AKA Father Time, died at 9 a.m. today, Oct. 21, at the age of 93. For decades, Paul spread cheer wherever people were – outside a ball park, as a parade grand master, at every kind of fair imaginable. That would haveContinue reading “Father Time, RIP”

For all of 2015, I got close to 4,000 views. That’s a little more than 10 a day. Stats for September showed the kind of improvements you’d expect with a new book: 659 views, or more than 20 a day. Better but not great. Then came last week, and things went crazy. In four days,Continue reading “Some amazing numbers: an update as of 9 a.m. Wednesday”

For the fourth time, Harry Levins of the Post-Dispatch has filed a thoughtful review of one of my books. “Jim Merkel has established himself as a popular historian of St. Louis, with fun-to-read books about the South Side, the city’s German-Americans and the people behind the Gateway Arch,” he writes in a piece in Sunday’sContinue reading “Another Post-Dispatch Review”

Before it’s too far in the past, I have to talk about the fantastic response to the book release party for The Colorful Characters of St. Louis on Sunday at The Royale. We had a terrific time. I signed a ton of books. I talked to some amazing people about them. Ten people I profiledContinue reading “A Party I’ll Long Remember”

I first encountered George Simon last fall at the Soulard Market. I’d come because my publisher told me George would be a good subject for The Colorful Characters of St. Louis. He was right about that. Now that the book’s out, I was hoping he’d come to my book release party on Sunday. For reasonsContinue reading “RIP, George Simon”

That’s right. Lollygag tomorrow night, but right now, get going to come to the release party for The Colorful Characters of St. Louis. Rest up today, lay out your clothes, plan your route and prepare for the book signing launch event of the next thousand years (or at least until my next book comes out)Continue reading “No More Lollygagging”