All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories

Joe Lex
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Hundreds of brief biographies of permanent residents of Laurel Hill East in Philadelphia and Laurel Hill West in Bala Cywnyd, Pennsylvania. Often educational, always entertaining. 

  1. 4 days ago

    From the Silver Streak to Baby Nukes

    BBB:LHWS 060    Edward G. Budd and Rupen Eksergian... ...were design and structural engineers who forced the Age of Steam into the Modern Era with their iconic Silver Zephyr Diesel Electric car in 1934. Eksergian took his skills further during the Cold War when he was one of the people behind Atomic Annie, a mobile artillery piece with a nuclear warhead. Both men rest at Laurel Hill West.

  2. 6 Sept

    Thomas E. Murphy: A Piece of the 1930s Phillies

    ABC:LHS 090-5     Thomas E. Murphy ... ... knew virtually nothing about baseball, but found himself owning hundreds of shares of the Phillies during their horrible years of the 1920s and 1930s. He is remembered more as a yachtsman and a co-founder of Jupiter Island, Florida.

  3. 5 Sept

    OPTIONAL: What's in a (Nick)Name: Casual Othering in Baseball Nicknames

    ABC:LHS #090-6    Many early baseball players ... ... were given nicknames that would never be tolerated today. We can never know how these players felt about being saddled with monikers like Chief, Three-Finger, Chico, Dummy, and Richie, based on being "othered."

  4. 5 Sept

    Joseph Howard Berry, Jr.: Penn's Greatest Athlete with a Problematic Nickname

    ABC:LHS #90-4    Joseph Howard Berry, Jr. .... ...excelled at baseball, football, track and field, and life. He is in two Halls of Fame. He is little remembered today, partially because of a vile nickname that he carried from his days at Wharton through the rest of his life. His interment location is well hidden.

  5. 4 Sept

    Frank Bettger: A Successful Failure

    ABC:LHS 090-3    Frank Bettger... (by guest host Rich Wilhelm) ...was a mediocre infielder for the Cardinals who blew out his shoulder and took to selling insurance, at which he was initially less than mediocre. He rebuilt his personality and his life to become one of the best motivational speakers of his day, often compared to Dale Carnegie.

  6. 3 Sept

    Frank Fleer Goes Pink

    ABC:LHS #090-2    Frank Fleer... ...did not invent the gum that today carries his name, but his name has become synonymous with the pink chewy glob coveted by children of all ages worldwide.

  7. 2 Sept

    Francis Richter: Voice for Baseball

    ABC:LHS #090-1     Francis Richter ... ...was a sportswriter who championed the new game through his newspaper work and the ubiquitous weekly Sporting Life, which was an essential read in the early 20th century. Richter is in the Baseball Hall of Fame ... sort of.

  8. 1 Sept

    Play Ball!, Part 4: The Deep Bench – Oddballs, Owners, and Also-Rans

    ABC:LHS #090    We start with three ballpark Franks... ...Francis Richter, whose writing helped to make the game respectable; he is in the Baseball Hall of Hame. ...Frank Fleer, the man who ALMOST invented the pink gum that's accompanied baseball cards for nearly a century. ...Frank Bettger, who went from failure to success after he blew out his throwing arm in Chicago (prepared and presented by fellow guide Rich Wilhelm). ...Joseph Howard Berry, Jr., who is in two Halls of Fame but is nearly forgotten today because of an unfortunate nickname; yes, it's that bad. ...Thomas Mitchell, partial owner of the Phillies during some lean times, including the staggeringly bad 1930 season; on the bright side, he co-founded Jupiter Island, Florida. I will release an optional segment on September 5th about the rich history of baseball nicknames, and the problems with who does the naming.

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Hundreds of brief biographies of permanent residents of Laurel Hill East in Philadelphia and Laurel Hill West in Bala Cywnyd, Pennsylvania. Often educational, always entertaining. 

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