It's Signing Season

We’re just one week away from my first “Hidden History of Mobile” book signing. It will be Saturday, January 25^th from 3 to 4pm at Page and Palette in Fairhope, Alabama (directions below).

I really enjoy these events where I get to meet old friends and make new ones. It's fun when folks stop by and I get to engage them in the book's topic. Oh, there have been some “interesting” signings. Here's a sample of some past conversations I have had at the old signing table:

A signing for Hiking Alabama, 4^th Edition:

Store manager: “I didn’t know where to set you up so I put you next to the Duck Dynasty display. That ties in with your book, right?”

A signing for Best Tent Camping Alabama:

A couple thumbing through the book: “So, how does sex work in a tent?”

I directed them to the sports section where there was actually a book on the subject.

The release of Baseball in Mobile at Hank Aaron Stadium:

“Why didn’t you include Max Bilimnick?" A man asks. (The player's name he was asking about is withheld here on purpose)? “

“Didn’t you read the introduction?” I ask. “We point out that it would be impossible to include every player that ever played in Mobile for this little book.”

“Yes, I read the book from cover to cover. But why didn’t you include Max Bilimnick?”

Paddling Alabama during a signing and presentation:

“So, what did you wear?” an audience member asks.

Not knowing what he was getting at, I answered, “Uh, clothes?”

“No! What did you wear?”

“Jeans,” co-author Curt Burdick replies.

“NO! WHAT DID YOU WEAR???”

We start shooting out answers like a scene from a Monty Python movie, still not sure what he was implying: “Bow tie? Flippers? Lead weights?”

“NO, morons!” the man shouts. “What type of life vest were you wearing?”

And at almost EVERY signing:

“So, how much is this book?”

“Priceless,” I answer.

Ah, good times.

There are more signings coming up. I’ll keep you posted. In the meantime, I’m looking forward seeing you next Saturday!

Click here for directions to Page and Palette.

It Was 20 Years Ago Today...or There Abouts

Good morning and Happy New Year, everyone!

As I woke up New Year’s morning, it dawned on me – it has been 20 years since I began work on my very first book, then titled, “Hike America Alabama”. And what an adventure it was - and continues - to be.

It all began about seven years after my radio career had ended. I had always wanted to be a writer and author but had little success. That’s when another hobby of mine began – rejection letter collecting. It’s quite an impressive collection, too.

Anyway, I had graduated college with a degree in software programming when a friend of mine – a huge fan and collector of memorabilia of the band, the Beatles - suggested that I write a CD-ROM (remember those?) about collecting Beatle memorabilia and records. So, I wrote all of the text, created videos, audio entries, gathered photos, and since this was pre-internet times, I sold it through several collector magazines. Surprisingly, it was a hit.

I decided to try something else – a CD-ROM with everything a person would need to know about section hiking the Appalachian Trail. Once again, I wrote the text, put together videos, audio entries, collected photos and maps, but this time, instead of selling it on my own, I sent it to 20 publishers.

Immediately, my rejection slip collection increased by 19. The 20^th, however, was a small publisher in Virginia called Beachway Press. The acquisition editor called me and said, “Sorry, there is too much out there on the A.T. and we can’t use your CD-ROM. But have you ever thought about writing a book about hiking in Alabama?”

The next thing I knew, I was signing the contract in the summer / fall of 1999 and began doing research at home before setting out on the hikes which began January 1, 2000.  In all, I probably hiked close to 100 trails, documenting each with a pencil, notepad, compass, topo map, measuring wheel, and camera then had to cull those down to the 50 included in the book.

(2nd edition-my least favorite - and everyone else's least favorite.)

The book was released in October 2000 but that first edition had an identity crisis. It was first released by Beachway under the title, “Hike America Alabama”. When Globe Pequot Press and their imprint, Falcon Guides, bought Beachway, they kept the original title.

Little did we know that a gentleman somewhere out west had a little business of his own where he would hand carve hiking sticks with a design for each state in the country. The sticks were called, the “Hike America <state name Walking Sticks”.  So there was actually a “Hike America Alabama” walking stick!

(3rd Edition)

Oops. Falcon changed the name to simply, “Hike Alabama”. Then finally, the first edition was renamed again to fit Falcon’s hiking series and “Hiking Alabama” was born and now, twenty years later, it’s in its fourth edition.

Thanks to all of you who have bought not only “Hiking Alabama” but all of my books over the years. The journey continues with research on my latest, “Hiking Waterfalls of Alabama”, underway and another new title slated to begin this fall.

Oh, and this fall, I'll have some special 20th anniversary celebration events. Stay tuned!

(4th edition)

My final audio offering this Christmas season is from the archives. On Christmas Day 1991, I was working at WBCA radio in Bay Minette, Alabama. I was not only the program director and morning drive personality, but also the news director (the joys of working at a small, SMALL radio station). For Christmas most of the morning we had a board op play Christmas music so that our regulars could have the day off. I pre-recorded the news for that morning, giving listeners a brief history of the holiday and its traditions. I hope you find it as interesting as I did.

CLICK HERE to listen to the newscasts.

Have a VERY Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, EVERYONE!!!!

A Wish Book Christmas

As promised, another one of my holiday short stories as it appeared in my podcast, "Joe Cuhaj's Shorts". This one is basically a Christmas ramble, reminiscing on past holidays and the first indication that Christmas was on the way for us kids - the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and the Sears Christmas Wish Book. Oh, that Wish Book. It was the stuff kid's dreams were made of, and provided Santa with a list as thick as the book itself.

The track is titled, cleverly enough, A Wish Book Christmas. It is an MP3 file so you can download it and listen to it anytime. Click HERE to hear the story or click the image above.

I will have two more stories coming your way, both very rare holiday tracks from my days in radio broadcasting. They will be posted here and on my Facebook page on December 17th, and December 23rd.

And don't forget, you can hear all of my past short story podcasts on my website, Joe-Cuhaj.Com.

For the next couple of weeks, I'll be posting some of my holiday and winter short stories as recorded in my podcast, "Joe Cuhaj's Shorts". I'll be posting one here today then the remainder on December 13th, December 17th, and December 23rd. These are all MP3 files, by the way.

Today, one of my favorites (but really, don't I say that about all of them?) - the tale of my gang of friends attempting to break the world speed record for sledding, with not-so-pleasant results for one of the sledders (that would be me, LOL!) So here is this week's offering: Snowy Days and Mondays.

And don't forget, you can hear all of my past short story podcasts on my website, Joe-Cuhaj.Com.

Like Fruit Cake, the Yule Log Keeps on Giving

Every year, I write some short stories about the Christmas holidays, conjuring up memories of cold and frosty mornings and dashing down the stairs to the living room where I would be greeted by a dazzling light show – what seemed like a bajillion multi-color lights blazing on our Christmas tree, its long strands of tinsel twinkling from the reflection of those lights in the slightest breeze, and a blue, red, green and yellow color wheel spinning serenely before the tree, bathing it in a psychedelic light and putting the display way over the top.

In a piece I called, “A Christmas Ramble”, I made mention of my love of holiday television programming during those times, back when I was just a kid in the 1960s, and thought I’d share one remembrance from that story with you – a truly remarkable piece of history about a very odd but now traditional Christmas television offering.

I grew up in northern New Jersey just outside of New York City in the “Swinging Sixties”. During that time, I became an aficionado of Christmas programming, a true connoisseur of the genre. And it wasn’t just the classics I loved like the airing of the movies “Holiday Inn” or Alastair Sim’s version of “A Christmas Carol”. I would always search out and find the odd and off the wall stuff, and one of those programs became a staple in our household and has since become an iconic tradition all across the country.

For as many people love this show, there are just as many that ridicule it, but the story of how this show began is nothing short of programming genius. The show I’m talking about is the Yule Log.

It was a local independent station out of New York City - WPIX - that began the tradition. It was in 1966 when the President and CEO of the station, Fred Thrower, decided that he wanted to do something special for the residents of the city who couldn’t have fire places in their apartments. Additionally, he wanted to make sure that he could give as many of his employees at the station time off for the holiday.

With the permission of the city’s mayor, John Lindsay, Thrower sent a crew to the mayor’s home, Gracie Mansion, and filmed only a few seconds of a fire burning in the mansion’s ornate fire place. It is said that a rogue spark from the burning logs damaged a $4,000 rug that lay before the hearth during the filming.

That Christmas Eve, WPIX cancelled over $4,000 in advertising and the telecast of a local roller derby match to air the Yule Log. The resulting 17-second film would be looped over and over again for hours with holiday music played over the film. Incredibly, the show was a huge success and it ran every Christmas Eve and Christmas morning until it was finally cancelled in 1990. Following the attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001, the station brought the Yule Log back, digitally remastered, of course, and it has aired ever since.

Today, several satellite and cable companies have produced their own version of the Yule Log and you can actually by DVD’s of the show. An unlikely but remarkable holiday tradition that has thankfully survived.

It’s About Canoeing, Not Corporal Punishment! LOL!

Exciting news today from one of my publishers, Falcon Guides. After 17 years, my second book, Paddling Alabama, will get a facelift. The book has performed really well for Falcon since its release in 2002, but it’s time to re-visit the paddles included in the book and add some new ones.

For those of you unfamiliar with it, the book features 50 canoe and kayak trips in the state of Alabama and, as is the case with all Falcon guides, it is loaded with information about the sport.

It was an interesting book to write. It was the first time I had co-authored a book. I recruited my office mate in my day-time job, Curt Burdick, to help with it. It was a very dry summer and as most of you know, many creeks and smaller rivers dry up or become too shallow to paddle here in the South. At times we thought we should have named the book, “Walking the Rivers of Alabama”.

As we pulled our own version of the Titanic – a 15 foot Coleman canoe – down the shallows, the guy up front would be walking along, the guy in back would stumble on rocks and pull the canoe backwards, then the guy up front would fall into the drink. By the time it was over, we hated each other (just kidding, but close). When it came time to take our author photo, we thought it should have been the two of us sitting in a canoe, facing different directions trying to paddle away from each other. The publisher said no.

There was plenty adventure during that writing. We ventured to Coosa County to do a run on one river and couldn’t find a good put in. A local resident spotted us and told us he would lead us to the spot.

We followed behind this guy’s jacked up Ford F250 (complete with a bed full of shotguns) deep into the woods. When we finally arrive at our destination, we were in the middle of absolute nowhere. Curt and I stepped from the car and to find this guy pulling a pistol on us!

He saw the look on our faces and said, “No, no!! This is to shoot snakes! I’m the local constable!”

It was a really great little book and one I don’t talk about nearly enough (for one thing, we both hated the stock 1970s looking cover the publisher used), so it will be good to bring it back to life and up to date.