George Washington

Visiting Mount Vernon

Last week, my history-teacher-husband and I traveled to Mount Vernon, the Virginia home of George Washington, for a research trip. The staff at Mount Vernon were beyond amazing. Gail Cassidy gave us an in-depth, specialized tour of the mansion and… Read More

Scarred for Life

I find the coolest stuff doing image research. Often it has nothing to do with the book I’m researching at the moment, but it’s what makes my job so awesome. Case in point: I stumbled across this portrait of the… Read More

Just Passing Through

I’m researching a new book, and have been spending a lot of time reading about the history of medicine, and various methods that were used to cure ailing patients. Sometimes the treatments did a lot more harm than good (see… Read More

I Cannot Tell a Lie

George Washington probably never cut down a cherry tree. That story seems to have been made up by a biographer who wrote about Washington in the mid-1800s.… Read More

BeetleJuice

My loyal readers will know how much I love ebay. I’ve made some fantastic purchases there. Here’s the most recent: a Chinese blister beetle. Isn’t it beautiful? Five bucks including shipping. I don’t know the exact species (there are over… Read More

Smile!

Have a look at the picture of George Washington on a dollar bill. Note his stiff, unsmiling lips. Doesn’t he look uncomfortable? Well, he was. He had a raging toothache. The portraitist, Gilbert Stuart, was a charming guy and well… Read More