New Book Available

     In the unlikely event that readers did not notice the new heading for this blog, please look at it now. It's true – I now have two books for sale on the internet.
     The radio show Can You Top This? ran on NBC from 1940 until 1954. As many as 6,000 jokes per week were submitted by the radio audience. Emcee Peter Donald read those selected to a panel of three comedians, “Senator” Edward Ford, Harry Hershfield and Joe Laurie, Jr. It was up to each of the three panelists to “top” Donald's joke with another on the same subject. Judgement was rendered by a “laugh meter,” which measured the reaction of the studio audience to each joke. Contestants whose jokes were used on the air received ten dollars; each time one of the panelist's jokes did not top Donald's joke, the contestant received an extra two dollars.
     During one of the airings, one of the panelists made the statement, “There are only seven jokes.” Unfortunately, he didn't elaborate.
     I have heard the statement repeated many times over the years, and no one ever knew what the seven jokes were. So I decided to do some research on the subject. The book, There Are Only Seven Jokes, is a record of what I discovered.
     For any of my readers who may be on Facebook, you are invited to join the group, “There Are Only Seven Jokes.” If you have ever wondered about the seven jokes, this is the group where you can find answers.
     The book also contains a collection of short stories which I have put together over the past 14 years. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I did writing them.

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Both books are available in paperback. “The Spirit Runs Through It” is also available on Kindle.

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There Are Only Seven Jokes - Introduction

The statement “There are only seven jokes – all the rest are variations,” has been around for a long time, but no one ever seems to know what the original seven are. I think I have found the solution to the mystery. The answer is to be found in an article published in the New York Times on May 2, 1909. Entitled “New Jokes? There Are No New Jokes, There Is Only One Joke,” it goes on to say that all jokes are a distortion, and lists seven categories of distortion. Supposedly every joke will fit into one of the categories. I believe that repetition changed the seven categories into the seven jokes. Each of my next seven blogs will be devoted to exploring one of the categories. In addition, I shall attempt to give an example or two of jokes which I think fit the category. You must realize that this article appeared over one hundred years ago, so most of the jokes a...

By Today’s Standards Many of my Teachers Would be in Jail

I started school in a two-room building: grades 1 to 4 in one room; grades 5 to 8 in the other. One teacher in each room taught all four grades. I don’t remember first grade very well – the teacher left at the end of the year. I am pretty sure it was not my fault. Now keep in mind that reading the Bible every morning was the standard for all grades at that time. But my teacher in grades two to four went a little above and beyond the normal practice. As a member of a “plain” sect, she considered it her duty to lead the little heathens to Christianity. She offered a free Bible to all students who managed to memorize 20 verses. I memorized my verses – “Jesus saves” was my favorite because it was the shortest – and got my Bible with my twenty underlined in red. That would be illegal today (not the underlining), and rightly so. Teachers may not teach religion, although contrary to what many folks seem to think, students may bring their Bibles to school, read them, and pray their...

The First Snowfall of the Season

This morning the grass was covered in white – the first snowfall of the season. Actually it started as a rain/snow mixture late yesterday afternoon, and accumulated only an inch or two on the non-paved areas. Not too bad – it eases us gradually into winter. You may have guessed that I am not a big fan of cold weather. It may seem strange, but the first thing I think of when I see new-fallen snow is the Claude Thornhill recording of his theme , "Snowfall."Although I like his version, the Manhattan Transfer version is my favorite. I don’t know why, but for some reason, perhaps it’s the harmony, I tend to puddle up when I hear it. Somehow it brings back, not particular memories, but emotions of days long, long, lonnnggg ago. After the emotions, the memories flood in: sledding on the hill northwest of the farm where I lived with my grandparents, followed by putting my cold feet up on the warm part of the old coal stove; my first and only venture onto skis; the Christmas ev...

Thoughts Before The Alarm Sounds

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