Tag Archives: Stephen Puleo

FC 76 Dark Tide with Stephen Puleo

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This week on Fieldstone Common our featured guest is Stephen Puleo, author of the book Dark Tide: The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919.

Bio – Stephen Puleo

Stephen Puleo is an author, historian, university teacher, public speaker, and communications professional. His books include

In 2008, Steve was the recipient of the Outstanding Achievement Award, presented by the Appian Club, an Italian-American organization dedicated to preserving and promoting Italian culture in Massachusetts. In 2007, he received the prestigious i migliori award, presented by the Pirandello Lyceum to Italian-Americans who have excelled in their fields of endeavor and made important contributions to society.

A former award-winning newspaper reporter and contributor of feature stories and book reviews to American History magazine and the Boston Globe, Puleo holds a master’s degree in history, for which he received the Dean’s Award for Academic Achievement, and was the Graduate Convocation keynote speaker. He teaches at Suffolk University in Boston.

You can learn more about Stephen Puelo at his author website, www.stephenpuleo.com. You can also follow him on Facebook and Twitter.

Book Summary

Around noon on January 15, 1919, a group of firefighters was playing cards in Boston’s North End when they heard a tremendous crash. It was like roaring surf, one of them said later. Like a runaway two-horse team smashing through a fence, said another. A third firefighter jumped up from his chair to look out a window-“Oh my God!” he shouted to the other men, “Run!”

A 50-foot-tall steel tank filled with 2.3 million gallons of molasses had just collapsed on Boston’s waterfront, disgorging its contents as a 15-foot-high wave of molasses that at its outset traveled at 35 miles an hour. It demolished wooden homes, even the brick fire station. The number of dead wasn’t known for days. It would be years before a landmark court battle determined who was responsible for the disaster.

Book InfoDark Tide with Stephen Puleo on Fieldstone Common

Title: Dark Tide: The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919

Publisher: Beacon Press (2003)

Trade Paperback; 273 pages with bibliographic essay, an index and some BxW photos.

Dark Tide: The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919 is available for purchase from Amazon.com and other booksellers.

The Interview

Dark Tide is so much more than just a book about a very unusual molasses flood. The book is set against the backdrop of WWI, the coming of prohibition and prejudice against immigrants. Steve and I talk about the building of the tank and how the political situation allowed it to be built in one of the most densely populated places in the United States. Steve reads a passage from one of the poignant moments at the bedside of a victim after the flood. We talk about the heros and the villains of the story and how the current events impacted their decisions. And lets not forget the anarchists! Sometimes we think that are current events are unique to us but this book proves that history repeats itself and we are none the wiser.

Prize Winners

One copy of Dark Tide: The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919 was given out to the Fieldstone Common audience courtesy of Beacon Press.

The winner is:

  • Victor Jones of North Carolina

Congratulations to our winner and thanks to Beacon Press for their generosity in donating the book!

Make sure you qualify to win the giveaway next week by signing up for the Bonus List! Once you sign up your are in the running each week!

The Direct Link to this post is www.fieldstonecommon.com/dark-tide-stephen-puleo

News & Announcements

BIG NEWS for Android users! Fieldstone Common is now available in the Android app Stitcher. Stitcher is a program like iTunes but is available on the Android platform. Download Stitcher and search for Fieldstone Common or click here.

Question: What’s that’s new stuff in the Fieldstone Common title (FC 76)?

Answer: That makes it easier, especially for iTunes and other podcast listeners, to keep track of which episode they are listening to. FC stands for Fieldstone Common and 76 is the number of the episode.

**** The new Fieldstone Common Season 2 subscription is now available in iTunes. You will need to subscribe to this link to continue receiving episodes in ITunes. Click on the link to subscribe.

For those of you who haven’t heard yet, Fieldstone Common is no longer broadcast on Blog Talk Radio. You can listen to the show by clicking the play button above or subscribing in iTunes or other podcatchers.

 

Winner #2 of The Caning

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The second copy of The Caning by Stephen Puleo is being given out to a member of the Fieldstone Common mailing list.

I used a random number generator and then selected the person associated with that number based on the order of when people joined.

The winner of the second copy of the The Caning goes to Chris Klauer! Congratulations Chris!

I will be contacting you by email to notify you of your win!

Copyright 2012-2013 Marian Pierre-Louis

Show Notes – The Caning with Stephen Puleo

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*** Win a copy of The Caning by Stephen Puleo simply by signing up for the mailing list. Sign up by 6pm Tuesday, February 5, 2013 to qualify. Details here. ***

Following are some items that were mentioned during the 31 January 2013 Fieldstone Common interview with Stephen Puleo, author of The Caning: The Assault that Drove America to Civil War.

The podcast of the interview is now available.

Listen to internet radio with Fieldstone Common on Blog Talk Radio

Stephen Puleo is a writer based in Massachusetts. You can learn more about him at his website and you can follow him on Facebook. 

The book The Caning: The Assault that Drove America to Civil War, published by Westholme Publishing, is available for purchase from major books sellers online and off such as Amazon.com.

His other books include:

  • Dark Tide: The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919
  • A City So Grand: The Rise of an American Metropolis, Boston 1850-1900
  • The Boston Italians: A Story of Pride, Perseverance and Paesani, from the Years of the Great Immigration to the Present Day
  • Due to Enemy Action The True World War II Story of the USS Eagle 56

The Caning occurred on May 22, 1856 when pro-slavery Congressman Preston Brooks attacked staunchly anti-slavery Senator Charles Sumner. The beating stopped just short of taking Sumner’s life.

To learn more about Charles Sumner you can read his biography, Charles Sumner and the Coming of the Civil War by David Herbert Donald. You can learn more about Preston Brooks from his wikipedia page.

Westholme Publishing, the publisher of The Caning: The Assault that Drove America to Civil War, donated two copies of the book. One was given as “door prize” during the live show and went to a listener in Pennsylvania. The other copy will go to a listener who has signed up for the Fieldstone Common mailing list (to be announced Tuesday night). A big thank you to Westholme Publishing for  their generosity!

To see the Heirloom Registry entry — including photos — for the radio, visit www.heirloomregistry.com and enter registration number: SNTS-256-996-3497-2012.

Fieldstone Common’s sponsor is Houstory, makers of the Home History Book and the Heirloom Registry. Fieldstone Common listeners can take 15 % off their Heirloom Registry order by visiting the Heirloom Registry at www.heirloomregistry.com, and entering FIELDSTONE – in all caps – at checkout.

Fieldstone Common greatly appreciates the support of Houstory as a sponsor. Show your support for Fieldstone Common by visiting our sponsor’s site. 

** Read “New Service Safeguards Heirlooms’ Lore” in Antique Trader Magazine featuring Fieldstone Common sponsor The Heirloom Registry by Houstory. **

Listen to internet radio with Fieldstone Common on Blog Talk Radio

Copyright 2012-2013 Marian Pierre-Louis

Win a Copy of The Caning by Stephen Puleo

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Yesterday, I gave away one copy of the The Caning: The Assault that Drove American to Civil War to one of the audience members during the live broadcast.

I’ll be giving the second copy away to a mailing list member so even podcast listeners will have a chance to win.

I recently started a new mailing list for Fieldstone Common. You can read all the details about it here.

In order to win the second copy of The Caning all you need to do is sign up for the mailing list.

I will randomly select a member of the mailing list to receive the copy. (I will use a random number generator on the internet and then select the corresponding mailing list recipient in order of signup.)

Deadline: Signup by Tuesday, February 5, 2013

MAIL LIST SIGN UP HERE

Copyright 2012-2013 Marian Pierre-Louis

The Caning with Stephen Puleo now available as a Podcast

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The most recent episode of Fieldstone Common featuring Stephen Puleo, author of the book The Caning: The Assault that Drove America to Civil War is now available as a podcast.

The podcast can be played through the computer using your default media player (click play below) or downloaded to iTunes (also below).

Listen to internet radio with Fieldstone Common on Blog Talk Radio

Copyright 2012-2013 Marian Pierre-Louis

The Caning with Stephen Puleo

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This week on Fieldstone Common, Marian Pierre-Louis interviews Stephen Puleo, author of The Caning: The Assault That Drove America to Civil War.

One of the most shocking and provocative events in American history, the caning convinced the North and the South that the gulf between them was unbridgeable and that they could no longer discuss their vast differences of opinion regarding slavery on any reasonable level. The Caning: The Assault That Drove America to Civil War tells the incredible story of this transformative event. While Sumner eventually recovered after a lengthy convalescence, compromise had suffered a mortal blow. Moderate voices were drowned out completely; extremist views accelerated, became intractable, and locked both sides on a tragic collision course.

The Caning with Stephen Puleo on Fieldstone Common

The caning had an enormous impact on the events that followed over the next four years: the meteoric rise of the Republican Party and Abraham Lincoln; the Dred Scott decision; the increasing militancy of abolitionists, notably John Brown’s actions; and the secession of the Southern states and the founding of the Confederacy. As a result of the caning, the country was pushed, inexorably and unstoppably, to war. Many factors conspired to cause the Civil War, but it was the caning that made conflict and disunion unavoidable five years later.

STEPHEN PULEO is the author of five books, including the bestselling Dark Tide: The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919 and Due to Enemy Action: The True World War II Story of the USS Eagle 56. A former award-winning newspaper reporter and contributor to American History and other publications, he holds a master’s degree in history and teaches at Suffolk University in Boston.

Copyright 2012-2013 Marian Pierre-Louis

Upcoming in January on Fieldstone Common

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Be sure to mark your calendar. We’ll be giving away some great books during the live broadcasts of Fieldstone Common.

3 Jan 2013 at 1pm EST
In Death Lamented with Sarah Nehama on Fieldstone Common
 In Death Lamented with Sarah Nehama. Sarah Nehama is a jeweler who has a passion for historical jewelry, in particular mourning jewelry. She is the curator of the recent exhibit on mourning jewelry at the Mass. Historical Society and the author of the companion book In Death Lamented.
10 Jan 2013 at 1pm EST
New England Genealogy with David Allen Lambert on Fieldstone Common

 New England Genealogy with David Allen Lambert. David Allen Lambert is the Chief Genealogist of the New England Historic Genealogical Society. His book A Guide to Massachusetts Cemetery is already in the 2nd edition. We will talk about Cemetery Research, Native American and African genealogy and hopefully a little  baseball too.
17 Jan 2013 at 1pm EST
The Devil Made Me Do It with Juliet Haines Mofford on Fieldstone Common
 The Devil Made Me Do It! with Juliet Mofford Haines.  Whether it was Sabbath-breaking, blasphemy, or public drunkenness, colonial laws were strict and frequently broken, and those who broke them could expect swift punishment. We’ll discuss from a time when accused felons often pleaded in their own defense: “The Devil made me do it!”
24 Jan 2013 at 1pm EST
Carved in Stone with Thomas Gilson on Fieldstone Common
Carved in Stone with William Gilson on Fieldstone Common
 Carved in Stone with Thomas and William Gilson. Thomas and William Gilson have created a book that captures the art and beauty of colonial gravestones in words and photographs. Take a virtual walk with us through New England’s oldest graveyards.
31 Jan 2013 at 1pm EST
The Caning with Stephen Puleo on Fieldstone Common
 The Caning with Stephen Puleo. One of the most shocking and provocative events in American history, the caning of Senator Charles Sumner in 1856 convinced the north and the south that the gulf between them was unbridgeable. As a result of the caning, the country was pushed, inexorably and unstoppably, to war.
Copyright 2012-2013 Marian Pierre-Louis