Zoom Talk - Christmas in Classic Films - Coming in November!

This is to announce that next month I'll be doing a Zoom presentation on my book Christmas in Classic Films.

The talk is being hosted online by Sal St. George and the St. George Living History Productions.  I'll be discussing several examples of how Christmas becomes the climax and resolution in several classic films, which are not really "Christmas movies."  The event is scheduled for Monday, November 20th at 10:00 a.m. ET.  Please join us for a fun discussion on some of your favorites -- and perhaps a few you would not have considered to be Christmas classics.  Here's the login info below:

Time: Nov 20, 2023 10:00 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

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Meeting ID: 822 3865 2855
Passcode: 731986

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Meeting ID: 822 3865 2855
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Jacqueline T. Lynch is the author of The Ames Manufacturing Company of Chicopee, Massachusetts - A Northern Factory Town's Perspective on the Civil War;   Comedy and Tragedy on the Mountain: 70 Years of Summer Theatre on Mt. Tom, Holyoke, Massachusetts;   States of Mind: New England; as well as books on classic films and several novels. Her latest book is Christmas in Classic Films. TO JOIN HER READERS' GROUP - follow this link for a free book as a thank-you for joining.

New book coming! THE LITTLE ENGINE THAT KILLED...

I'm very pleased to announce that my newest book -- the seventh in my Double V Mysteries series, is going to be published soon!

On this adventure, Juliet and Elmer take on a case tracking an about-to-be-released prisoner to recover the money he stole and hid years before -- but as usual, nothing is as it seems, there are more questions than answers, and danger increases with every twist and turn.  It's the Christmas season, 1951, and our intrepid duo, unlike Santa Claus, has a little trouble determining for sure who is naughty and who is nice.

The setting for this story is Chicopee, Massachusetts.  But there's a twist to that as well, which you'll see in weeks to come.  The particular part of town where the story takes place is Chicopee Falls.  In 1951, that village was completely different than it is now, because in the late 1960s and early 1970s, most of it was demolished in an urban renewal project.  To write this book, I had to recreate not only a time, but a place that no longer exists.  All of the books in this series are a form of time-travel.  This one, The Little Engine That Killed, is especially so.

I'll let you know more in weeks to come.  For now, I hope you enjoy a peek at the cover above.

Big E - 2023

 photo by JT Lynch

It's that time of year again!  Visit New England's great state(s) fair in West Springfield, Massachusetts.  Behind the fife and drum corps band are some of the six replica statehouses from each New England state.  That's Rhode Island peeking out from behind the tree, and Massachusetts next to it.

It's a little end-of-the-summer world and for many of us, a family tradition.  Enjoy!

Westfield River -- Agawam, Massachusetts

 

 

Here are three postcard views of the Westfield River in Agawam, Massachusetts.  They are all published by the Springfield News Company and printed in Germany, as was common in the early twentieth century.  The cards all date from around 1908, and are tinted.

You'll note that on the cards the river is called the Agawam River.  The earliest English settlers to the area named it that for the Agawam tribe that lived in the area, but eventually came to be called the Westfield River.  It begins in the Berkshires and ends in the Connecticut River, forming the boundary between the towns of Agawam and West Springfield.

Despite these idyllic scenes, by the mid-twentieth century the river became terribly polluted, as many of our rivers were through industrial contaminants, but today is clean for swimming, fishing, and its locally famous Westfield River Whitewater Races.

Railroad and the Mill River in Northampton, Mass.

Here are two views of Northampton, Massachusetts, and the railroad running along the Mill River.  The view is from the South Street Bridge.  The above postcard is a daylight photo, and below we have the same scene artistically tinted for night.  Both cards were published by the Metropolitan News Company in Boston and likely printed in Germany, about 1906.

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Jacqueline T. Lynch is the author of The Ames Manufacturing Company of Chicopee, Massachusetts - A Northern Factory Town's Perspective on the Civil War;   Comedy and Tragedy on the Mountain: 70 Years of Summer Theatre on Mt. Tom, Holyoke, Massachusetts;   States of Mind: New England; as well as books on classic films and several novels. Her latest book is Christmas in Classic Films. TO JOIN HER READERS' GROUP - follow this link for a free book as a thank-you for joining.

 

Christian Science Church building - Springfield, Massachusetts

The Christian Science Church of Springfield, Massachusetts, stood on State Street in this 1930s-era colored postcard.  The postcard was published by the Springfield News Company.

The congregation merged with another in Longmeadow sometime around 2000.  The site is now the Progressive Community Baptist Church.

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Jacqueline T. Lynch is the author of The Ames Manufacturing Company of Chicopee, Massachusetts - A Northern Factory Town's Perspective on the Civil War;   Comedy and Tragedy on the Mountain: 70 Years of Summer Theatre on Mt. Tom, Holyoke, Massachusetts;   States of Mind: New England; as well as books on classic films and several novels. Her latest book is Christmas in Classic Films. TO JOIN HER READERS' GROUP - follow this link for a free book as a thank-you for joining.

The small town of big practical jokes - MEET ME IN NUTHATCH

Here's a bit about my novel, Meet Me in Nuthatch:

A whimsical, poignant tale about a practical joke-turned publicity stunt that fires up the small town of Nuthatch, Massachusetts, in a desperate attempt to attract tourists.

Christmas tree farmer Everett Campbell proposes turning the clock back to 1904 and reviving the town’s cozy past, an idea he gets from watching his young daughter’s favorite classic movie, Meet Me in St. Louis. She is thrilled at being allowed to dress up and pretend, but not everyone in town is enchanted with the nostalgic promotion—including Everett’s moody teenage son.

The media, and the tourists, do come, but the scheme also attracts a large theme park corporation that wants to buy Nuthatch 1904.

Everett now stands to lose his town in a way he never imagined, and his neighbors are divided on which alternate future to choose.

A local drug dealer, Everett’s boyhood enemy, may hold the future of the entire town in his hands unless Everett can pull off one of his most spectacular, and dangerous, practical jokes.

Get your copy here at Amazon in print and eBook, or from Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple, and a variety of other online shops.
 

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Jacqueline T. Lynch is the author of The Ames Manufacturing Company of Chicopee, Massachusetts - A Northern Factory Town's Perspective on the Civil War;   Comedy and Tragedy on the Mountain: 70 Years of Summer Theatre on Mt. Tom, Holyoke, Massachusetts;   States of Mind: New England; as well as books on classic films and several novels. Her latest book is Christmas in Classic Films. TO JOIN HER READERS' GROUP - follow this link for a free book as a thank-you for joining.