Shawn Choen's "College Girl, Missing"

 I will often pick up a true crime book if it relates to something that happened in an area that I know well.  

So, someone recommended Shawn Cohen's "College Girl, Missing:  The True Story of How A Young Woman Disappeared in Plain Sight" which came out in 2024.  It covers the disappearance of Lauren Spierer which occurred a decade earlier, in Bloomington Indiana.  Spoiler alert- it's still unsolved.

Don't let that stop you from reading his book or looking at the case.  It is a fascinating one.  It is still solvable too.

The author gets very involved in the case.  He is open about clashing with the young lady's family but becoming very friendly with them later.  Cohen's writing is enjoyable and honest- and very personal.

About 53 pages in, he gives a very real explanation of "missing white woman syndrome."

I remember the first time I heard that phrase.  It kind of explains itself immediately.  

Cohen is very vivid about it, and how this case has benefitted from it.

"White girl.  Affluent.  College.  Blond.  Missing."

It gets attention.  It gets clicks.  The author says he was often told to focus on these stories in his career.  Stories from the affluent white areas get more attention- more readers.

I won't paraphrase him too much, but he is almost poetic describing this well-known concept.  Of course, social, economic and racial factors play into the story too.

The book is well written and covers a case that stil needs attention.

Random Thoughts on Friday: Its October!

 It is October, my favorite month of the year.  I try really hard to do as much of the seasonal celebration as possible.  Heck, for me, October really starts in July or August.  I do try to be in an October state of mind all year though.

Things get really packed into October though....  and I love it.  I love seeing the displays in the stores, I do love pumpkin flavored everything, and I have said it before- cookies taste better when they are decorated like a jack-o-lantern or ghost.

This year, we have been able to attend several seasonal type plays.  I guess we have done that each year, but it has been particularly special to me this year.  As I have searched online, I have found that there are a lot more theaters around me than I realized!  As I have looked, I have realized I am going to have to be selective....  I can't do them all.

Feeding the Gulls at Daytona Beach Florida

I love the colors on this postcard, sent from Daytona Beach in 1950.

Random Thoughts On Friday- My Next Book! Strange Kentucky Travels 2

 I just wanted to put up a note that I am almost finished with my second book!  I am pretty darn proud of it, as I am my first one.  

I was hoping to have this one out by Halloween, but it's not going to happen.  It should be done at that point, but it will likely be available probably around mid-November...  I have a few small loose ends to tie up.  My friend Holly is again taking some pictures that I took and touching them up for the cover.  I loved what she did with my first book.  She put something together for me already and it has blown me away.

This book is going in a more "visitor" direction.  Think aliens and UFOs.  I am covering some of Kentucky's most interesting stories in that area- and going out to visit the locations where they happened.  I am making room for Goatman, Mothman and a few other legendary creatures too.  AND, I am going to fit some information in on a legendary massive boat and a famous bear.

Thanks to those friends who picked up a copy of the first one.  I hope you like this one just as much.

Vaults of Old St. Louis Cemetery- New Orleans LA.

Sent in 1952, the back of this postcard notes-

The vaults in St. Louis cemetery, nearly all more than one hundred years old, decorated lavishly with flowers on All Saints Day, November 1st, according to a colorful custom characteristic of New Orleans.

Atlantic City Auditorium and Convention Hall, NJ

"Its still the same old Atlantic City" someone tells a friend via this postcard in 1934.