Les Tremayne, "Shazam!" actor, born 1913

Les Tremayne, born April 16, 1913 in London, England, started his lengthy career in radio back in the 1930s.  He started in films in the 1950s and starred in movies such as War of the Worlds, The Angry Red Planet, and The Monolith Monsters.  He also appeared in King Kong vs. Godzilla.

For those of us born in the 1960s, we remember him best as Mentor in the Saturday morning show Shazam! from 1974-1976.  He appeared as the mentor to Billy Batson, Captain Marvel's secret identity.  

Tremayne passed away in December 2003 from heart failure. 

Book review - "Hornswoggled" by Donis Casey

I bought Hornswoggled, excited to find a new mystery author, from Oklahoma. The first in the series wasn't available at this store so I settled for #2.

A woman has been found stabbed and hidden in a pond under some tree roots.  Her husband, the town barber, is suspected but he has an air tight alibi.  He was in Kansas City when his wife was murdered, and arrived back in Boynton, Oklahoma after her body was found.  

A few months later, the grieving barber has his sights set on Alafair's daughter Alice.  And the feeling is mutual.  Alafair does not trust the charming, handsome, wealthy barber and is determined to find out who killed his wife, before her daughter could possibly become his next victim.

I enjoyed the book mainly for its historical setting in Oklahoma, the first decade after statehood. Casey included many details of what life was like in 1913, living on a farm with a small town nearby.

Sometimes those details bogged the story down. I didn't mind the section where Alafair is churning butter but when a long paragraph is devoted solely on how each member of the Tucker clan (13 in all) like their eggs, the story grinds to a screeching halt. I had to put the book down for a short while, before convincing myself to pick it back up again and finish it.

I grew up reading the Hardy Boys in grade school before I graduated to Agatha Christie and others. I realized Frank and Joe rarely solved a mystery. They were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Other sleuths figure out the mystery by looking at all the clues and figuring out who the bad guy is. Hornswoggled is the same vein as the Hardy Boys. Alafair realizes whodunit isn't anyone she suspected until it was too late.

Still, I would recommend this to people who enjoy cozy mysteries, early Oklahoma, or pre-WWI history buffs

Celebrating Black History Month: Jesse Owens, African-American athlete extraordinaire

Jesse Owens, born September 12, 1913 in Oakville, Alabama, is recognized as one of the greatest track and field athletes in history.  He set three world records in the span of forty five minutes during the Big Ten track meet in Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1935.

He won four gold medals at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany: 100 meters, 200 meters, long jump and 4 x 100 meter relay.  His achievements made him the most successful athlete at the games. 

The street outside the Olympic Stadium in Berlin has been named Jesse Owens Boulevard and the dormitory where he stayed during the games has been restored into a living museum with pictures of his accomplishments.

He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Gerald Ford, the Living Legend Award by President Jimmy Carter, has an asteroid named after him (6758 Jesseowens), and inducted into the inaugural class of the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame.

Owens died in March 1980 from an agressive, drug-resistant type of lung cancer.