The Pelican Girls

 

It was a long time coming, but the Pelican Girls were finally recognized by the city of Mobile, Alabama, on December 7th.

Who were the Pelican Girls? It is a fascinating story that is rarely told or even known outside of the Port City, but now, they have been recognized.  

After failing to create a sustainable settlement in what would centuries later become Biloxi, MS, the French moved east and discovered a bay that was described to be a Garden of Eden. They established a settlement, Fort Louis de la Louisiane, or Fort Louis de la Mobile. The name "Mobile" was an anglicized version of the Native American tribe who called the area home, the Maubila. 

There were only a very few women among the settlers, so to foster population growth, the settlement's founder, Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, wrote to the king requesting he send women of undeniable virtue to the fort.

The king began a search, enlisting the Catholic church to conduct interviews of possible candidates. In the end, 21 women were selected, climbed aboard a ship - the Pelican, and headed for the Gulf Coast.

It was an arduous journey with savage storms and sickness. The ship arrived in Havana, Cuba, for supplies and when the women finally made it to the new fort, they brought with them yellow fever, contracted from mosquitoes they encountered in Cuba. 

The women were free to choose their husbands and did so rather quickly. But the future Mobile, Alabama, was far from the Garden of Eden promised. There were pools of muck and water teeming with mosquitoes, incredible heat and humidity to contend with, and husbands who were more interested in searching for rumored treasure than maintain the women's homes and farms. The Pelican Girls had enough and staged the Petticoat Rebellion in which they refused to let their husbands into their homes until they straightened up. It worked.

Not only did the Pelican Girls foster the population of the settlement, but they also formed the culture and personality of what would become a booming port city. As historians say, without the Pelican Girls and their determination to make a go of it in the new world, Mobile would not exist, at least not as we know it with its rich history and traditions. The girls were honored with a recreation of their arrival on December 7, 2025, and a new historic marker was unveiled at the city's Fort Conde in downtown.

This is only a VERY short summary of the Pelican Girls' story. You can read much more in my books, Hidden History of Mobile and The Pig War and the Pelican Girls, available through your favorite local and online bookstores.

     

Tis the Season

Happy Holidays, everyone! I hope you had a great Thanksgiving and are ready for Christmas. I can't tell you how incredibly humble and thankful I am for all of the support you have given me and my writing over the past - gulp! - 25 years. Once again, as in years past, I have launched my Holiday Giveaway Page. It's my way of saying thank you. This year, you can download and stream eBooks and audio books, and receive discounts on select books! This year's giveaways include:

• Two sample chapters from the audio book version of Space Oddities
• A sample chapter - eBook format - from The Pig War & The Pelican Girls
• A brand new mystery short story (eBook format)
• And discounts on several of my books

So, please visit the page and enjoy the gifts. I do have to congratulate Debby Hackbarth and Shane Day, the winners of a collection of my local history and space history books.

I have another book signing coming up in January. It will be at one of my favorite indie bookstores, Page & Palette in Fairhope, AL, January 10th from 1pm to 3pm. I'll be there signing copies of my new book, Notable Women of Alabama, as well as others. I hope to see you there.

For the Holiday Giveawy this year, I am excited to offer my new short story mystery, A Fortune in Blood. This short story will eventually appear as a bonus in one of my Crystal Bay Mystery books when they are published. Unlike the stories I'm writing for the series that are strictly cozy mysteries, A Fortune in Blood is a hybrid - a little cozy, a little noir, but still fun. Download it, take a read, and let me know what you think.

Just before Thanksgiving, I received an email from an old friend and radio colleague from the 1980s at the Mel Tillis station WMML, Kathy Richardson. She asked me to meet with her at Soundworks Studio in Mobile. I hopped in the car and crossed the bay. When I arrived, I met another Mobile DJ from the "golden days" of radio in the Port City, Dennis Gould.

I felt like I was home and back where I belong. When I walked into the studio, clamped on the headphones, and shimmied up to a microphone, the memories of my radio days came flooding back. What a fun time I had had hanging out with those two. There was lots of laughter, walks down memory lane, and talk of a possible new collaboration. It's too early to tell you the details, but they're coming.

That's all for this issue. I will be on hiatus with the blog until the New Year, so let me wish all of you Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

Happy Holidays 2025

 

2025 is pulling into the station. The final gasps of the year are upon us with Thanksgiving coming this week and Christmas not far behind. As we edge our way into the holiday season, I wanted to thank all of you for your support over the last 25 years. Who would have thought that I would still be standing as an author 25 years after my first book, Hiking Alabama, was released, and it's all because of you. Thank you for buying my books and your encouragement. 

As a thank you, once again this year, I'll be holding my Holiday Giveaway. There will be lots of freebies including free audiobook samples and ebooks to download, special discounts on select books, and of course, a big contest. This year, you will have a chance to win one of two collections: either a collection of my Arcadia history books (Hidden History of Mobile, A History Lover's Guide to Mobile, Notable Women of Alabama), or a collection of my Prometheus space books (Space Oddities, Everyone's Gone to the Moon).

The contest begins Monday, Nov. 24th and ends Monday, Dec. 1st. You can download the freebies through Christmas. Visit my website, http://joecuhaj.com, to start downloading freebies and for you chance to win a collection.

In other news...

I need to send a big thank you out to Rebecca, Sherry, and the staff at Mobile's Bellingrath Gardens & Home for hosting me Nov. 14th for my first ever reading. I know, right? All of these years and my first reading. We had a nice little turnout for my reading and a fun conversation about writing. Next up: a signing at Page and Palette in Fairhope, AL, January 10th from 1 to 3pm.

 

I was so proud when I received the email telling me that my short story was selected to appear in the 23rd edition of the Emerald Coast Review. Out of over 175 entries by incredible writers, poets, and artists on the Alabama and Florida Gulf Coast, 70 were selected.

The story I submitted has a long history. It was the first short story I ever wrote; I performed it once on on my overnight radio show 45 years ago. I later transformed it, along with others, into my podcast, "Joe Cuhaj's Shorts." This is the first time it has appeared in print and I can't be more excited.

I've just started reading the anthology and the editors did select the best of the best. You can purchase a copy through Amazon.

That's all for now. Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Till next time...

Here Comes Another One

 

It's hard to believe that after 25 years of writing and 20 books, I have never done a reading. Of course, 13 of those books were hiking guides. Kind of difficult to get a crowd engaged reading trail directions. "Start at the trailhead. Go north 0.1-miles. Turn left..."

Yeah. Not very exciting. That's about to change Nov. 14 @ 10:30am when I discuss writing, read some fun stories from my history books, and sign copies of my books including the latest, Notable Women of Alabama. It's all part of the Ink & Insight series at Bellingrath Gardens & Home. Mark your calendar and I'll see you there.

In the Good 'Ol (Almost) Winter Time

 

We’re entering my favorite time of year, not because of the festive holidays of the season, but because of the weather. I love late fall and early winter, when the temperatures finally start to chill. Maybe we’ll see a little frost on the ground.

I moved to the Alabama Gulf Coast from New Jersey over 40 years ago and you would think that by now, I would adjust to the heat and humidity of the South. Nope. But once November and December arrive, I am a happy camper. Of course, the temps don’t drop that low, maybe 40s at night then back up to the 70s the next day, but that’s alright. There will be those cold, wintery nights when we drop into the 30s. And hey, last year we had up to 9-inches of snow in some areas. I was giddy as a schoolgirl.

I have a couple more events scheduled around my latest book, Notable Women of Alabama . The first will be on November 14^th when I return to the beautiful BellingrathGardens in Theodore, Alabama. I will be there at 10:30am for my first ever reading and book signing. I know, crazy, right? I have had 20 books published in 25 years and have never been invited to do a reading, so this will be fun.

Then on January 10^th from 1 to 3 p.m., I will be signing copies of the book at Page and Palette in Fairhope, Alabama. I hope to see you at one of these events.

So, I was asked the question the other day, "Have you ever used people you know as the basis for characters in your writing?" The answer is - how can you not?

I've met so many interesting people over the years, I can't help but mix their personalities into my writing. And that's what I do, when creating a character, they are usually a mashup of personalities - a bit of this one, a touch of that.

That's how I crafted the characters for my new cozy mystery. The banter, their quirks, the romance, the atmosphere at the station, it's all based on the great people I worked with over the years in the field. Yes, even my sarcastic personality shines through. Don't get me wrong. There wasn't a murder at any of the stations I worked at.

So, yes, I do use people I know as the basis for characters in my writing. And as the saying goes, "Be careful or you'll end up in my novel."

Until next time...

Spaced Out

 

Here it is, the first week of October and it's Space Week, a global celebration of how space exploration and technology has improved life here on Earth. The annual celebration begins on October 4th, the day that Russia launched the first artificial satellite into orbit, Sputnik, in 1958.

As you all know by now, I am a space exploration geek. I have been since I was a kid growing up during the space race to the moon, but I wasn't into the tech stuff. I was more into the pop-culture and odd, unknown behind the scene stories of space flight. So much so that decades later, it prompted me to write my two books, Space Oddities and Everyone's Gone to the Moon.

When it comes to the pop-culture of the space race, I am amazed at how many songs were written about mankind's greatest adventure. When Space Oddities was released, I created a 10-part companion podcast with additional forgotten stories of space exploration. Episode 5 focused on the music inspired by the space program. Today, as Space Week 2025 begins, I thought I'd share three more songs I have found for your listening pleasure.

The first is a song by country legend Hank Snow. From 1953, Honeymoon on a Rocket Ship.

I like this one, the smooth sounds of the Ames Brothers from 1958, Destination Moon.

And of course, there has to be a Rockabilly tune. Songwriters of the genre loved writing about spaceflight including this one from 1958 by Nelson Young, Rock Old Sputnik.

I'll be posting more fun facts and trivia during Space Week 2025 on my Facebook page. Be sure to check it out.

A Short Autumn Short Story

 

The following comes from a longer short story I wrote several years ago called, Halloweenie. You can hear the full story on my podcast, Joe Cuhaj's Shorts:

Autumn is undoubtedly the most spectacular of seasons. The air is crisp, and the leaves on the trees weave a brilliant tapestry of red, gold, and orange. The wind begins to pick up, and the leaves flutter to the ground, blanketing it with their brilliance.

I clearly remember those days as a kid when mounds of freshly raked leaves piled high into impressive mountains beckoned us to dive in.

It was one such fall day. Dressed in our best red and black plaid wool jackets, my buddy Badger and I casually walked down the street heading for town to do a little shopping—a little candy, a comic book or two, and maybe a New York egg cream. Only a few houses away from mine, we saw it—the biggest pile of leaves we had ever seen in our lives.

            Without hesitating we bolted, running at full speed toward the pile with every intention of doing a swan dive into it, but just as we were about to leap into the air to nosedive into the rainbow of colors, a voice boomed from behind a tree. “Hey! Knock it off, you punks!”

            It was Mr. Schwartz. We were busted.

            Mr. Schwartz was the perennial “Best Yard of the Year” award winner. He kept his property immaculate, almost to the point of getting on his hands and knees with manicuring scissors to trim blades of grass. There was no way he was going to let a bunch of rogue kids mess up this perfectly groomed front yard. But that pile of leaves. It just had to be conquered.

            We stopped short of the pile and walked off, acting innocent like we were just passing by—our hands in our pockets, happily whistling and humming. Of course, Mr. Schwartz knew what we were up to, but we still had to try.

After walking a good distance from the yard, Badger and I spun on our heels and raced back towards the leaf pile, but Mr. S. was right there to greet us. He snarled angrily at us. His eyes were demonic red.

We ran off, circled the block, then reversed direction and headed back the way we came trying to confuse him, but once again were denied as Mr. Schwarts bolted from the house and chased us off again.

As the sun was setting, I walked up by myself to Mr. Schwartz’s property line. Digging my left toe into the ground and crouching like a sprinter, I sprang from the starting gate and raced toward the pile.

            Once again, Mr. Schwartz was watching from his living room window and flew out the front door with every intention of intercepting me. Before he could catch me, the entire gang, all seven of us, stormed the yard from every direction. It was a coordinated, blindsided attack that took Mr. S. by surprise. He couldn’t keep up with all of us. As he darted from one side of the yard to the other, Badger and I raced for the pile.

As we jumped into the air, our buddy Creep ran in past us with Mr. Schwartz hot on his heels. There was no stopping the inevitable. Badger and Mr. Schwartz collided, and both tumbled into the pile, showering the yard with leaves.

The rest of the gang joined them in a beautiful exhibition of leaf-pile synchronized swimming. As quickly as it began, it was over, and we disappeared, leaving Mr. Schwartz lying on his back in what was left of his leaf pile, looking up at the ever increasing twilight, knowing full well he had been beaten.