The DISAPPEARANCE

Episode 3.5 – Return is now available where ever you listen to podcasts, including iTunes, Stitcher, and Google Play. First time listening? You can start with Series 1, Episode 1. Subscribe to stay up to date as the mystery unfolds. After listening to Series 3, Episode 5, listeners are encouraged to explore companion materials below.

If you have been following the news, then you already knew about the fire before listening to this week’s podcast. The fire indeed took an iconic building in Barton, and it appears my podcast is at the center of the investigation of the arson’s intent. As I stated in the show, I do not feel comfortable discussing too much of the fire’s details.

Instead here is the music video for “Black and Blue” by Prom Queen:

And here is a whole album by Rudy Sims released in February. It’s called “Untitled.”

Thanks to everyone who has spread the word about this project.

Thanks to Tom Alligost, Tammy Moreleck, Sally Robinsure, and my wife Carol for making this episode possible. Thanks also to Ben Von Wildenhaus, Rudy Sims and Prom Queen for providing the music. Finally thanks to Marina Altshiller, Sarah Hart, and Jeremy Murphy for the support.

Sincerely,

John

Episode 3.4 – Blindness is now available where ever you listen to podcasts, including iTunes, Stitcher, and Google Play. First time listening? You can start with Series 1, Episode 1. Subscribe to stay up to date as the mystery unfolds. After listening to Series 3, Episode 4, listeners are encouraged to explore companion materials below.

Take a look at this lecture by Wesley Greene at Mount Vernon. Ten minutes in he begins to discuss the history of growing pineapples in Colonial America and Europe. If you make it far enough then you will catch a direct mention of Lord Dunmore’s pineapple in Scotland.

And here is a reenactment of Lord Dunmore at Colonial Williamsburg.

Ricky, if you are reading this, then please contact me.

Thanks to Tom Alligost and my wife Carol for making this episode possible. Thanks also to Prom Queen, Ross Boyd, and Ben Von WildenHaus for providing the music. Finally thanks to Ryan Fitton and Jeremy Murphy for the support.

Sincerely,

John Herman

Episode 3.1 – The Key is now available where ever you listen to podcasts, including iTunes, Stitcher, and Google Play. First time listening? You can start with Series 1, Episode 1. Subscribe to stay up to date as the mystery unfolds. After listening to Series 3, Episode 1, listeners are encouraged to explore companion materials below.

During this first episode, Ricky Rawls talks about his experience at Ray’s Stream in Barton. Ray’s Stream is an offshoot of the Androscoggin River.

According to the Androscoggin River Watershed Council website, “The Androscoggin flows for nearly 170 miles, beginning at Lake Umbagog on the Maine/New Hampshire border, continuing south through northern New Hampshire, heading east through western Maine, then turning south again before joining with the Kennebec in Merrymeeting Bay and emptying into the Atlantic.  It has a rich geological and human history.  Having once been rated as one of the most polluted rivers in the country, it served as the inspiration for the Clean Water Act and now boasts great fishing, wildlife habitat, and recreation opportunities.  The Androscoggin River Watershed Council encourages collaboration among industry, conservation groups, landowners, and other interests to ensure that the Androscoggin continues to be a healthy asset to the communities on its banks and the wildlife it supports.”

Also the episode deals with an album called Philosophy of World by The Shaggs. While the album contained turned out to be a mystery, I strongly suggest listening to the original recording. Here are both sides of the album:

Thanks to Ricky Rawls, Tom Alligost, and my wife Carol for making this episode possible. Thanks also to Prom Queen, Ben Von Wildenhaus, Benjamin Aldridge, and Fo(u)r Hands for providing the music. Thanks also to Ryan Fitton, Jeremy Murphy, and Larry Doyle for the support.

Sincerely,

John Herman

(The Runaway, Norman Rockwell 1958)

Episode 2.6 – The Last Call is now available where ever you listen to podcasts, including iTunes, Stitcher, and Google Play. First time listening? You can start with Series 1, Episode 1. Subscribe to stay up to date as the mystery unfolds. After listening to Series 2, Episode 6, listeners are encouraged to explore companion materials below.

I am not going to write as much as my brother usually does. All I want to say is thank you for the outreach of well wishers as my family deals with my brother’s situation. I found an animated short film of the poem my brother recited at the end of this episode. I can’t say it makes me feel any better, but perhaps it will give people insight into the complexities of life that fascinate him. Click on the image below to view it on Youtube.

Thank you to the New Hampshire State Police. Thank you also to Joey Costa for allowing me to record his thoughts.

Thank you to Rudy Sims, Prom Queen, and Ben Von Wildenhaus for the music, which I found on my brothers laptop. Thank you also to Laura Scafati and David Chevalier for helping me put this audio statement together.

Sincerely,

Thalia

Episode 2.4: Reynolds and Johnson is now available where ever you listen to podcasts, including iTunes, Stitcher, and Google Play. First time listening? You can start with Series 1, Episode 1. Subscribe to stay up to date as the mystery unfolds. After listening to Series 2, Episode 4, listeners are encouraged to explore companion materials below.

This episode references Samuel Johnson, the poet, satirist, critic, and lexicographer  born in Lichfield, Staffordshire, England, on September 18, 1709. Detail of the painting referred to in the episode can be seen above. The full painting is below.

And here is a list of the original members of the Club:

• Dr Samuel Johnson
• Sir Joshua Reynolds
• Mr Edmund Burke
• Dr Christopher Nugent
• Mr Topham Beauclerk
• Mr Bennet Langton
• Dr Oliver Goldsmith
• Mr Anthony Chamier
• Sir John Hawkins

If you’ve listened to the episode, then you know that I am especially interested in the second name on that list. Is it our Reynolds? I don’t know, but there is certainly something going on here. Here is a link to a student project on the Club that is very informative. It includes a waxwork relief of the Club’s original members as well as the exact locations of their meetings over the years. And here is a nearly hour long video that cycles through 434 paintings by Sir Joshua Reynolds.

Thanks to my sister Thalia, Police Chief Roger Talkens of the Barton Police Department, and Professor Clyde Northworth for making this episode possible. Thanks also to Ross Boyd, Prom Queen, and Ben Von Wildenhaus for providing the music. Thanks also Shawn Crapo, Laura Scafati, Paul Bellfeuie, and Jon Briggs for the support.

Josh Strickens, if you are out there listening, then please consider contacting me. I have some questions.

Sincerely,

John Herman

Episode 2.3: Kenneth, What is the Frequency? is now available where ever you listen to podcasts, including iTunes, Stitcher, and Google Play. First time listening? You can start with Series 1, Episode 1. Subscribe to stay up to date as the mystery unfolds. After listening to Series 2, Episode 3, listeners are encouraged to explore companion materials below.

This episode takes place the night of a full moon, which leads to a very bad decision. The full moon has been attributed to many bad decisions throughout history. In fact there are several names for the effect the full moon has on one’s behavior. According to an article in Scientific American entitled “Lunacy and the Full Moon,” “Greek philosopher Aristotle and Roman historian Pliny the Elder suggested that the brain was the ‘moistest’ organ in the body and thereby most susceptible to the pernicious influences of the moon, which triggers the tides. Belief in the ‘lunar lunacy effect,’ or ‘Transylvania effect,’ as it is sometimes called, persisted in Europe through the Middle Ages, when humans were widely reputed to transmogrify into werewolves or vampires during a full moon.”

This episode gets its name from Dan Rather’s experience in 1986 when he was attacked by a stranger who would later be convicted of murder. This same individual later told his psychiatrist that he was a time traveler from a parallel world in the year 2265. The assailant served 25 years in prison, was released in 2010, and currently lives in NY. Mental Floss did a thorough post on these strange events as well as the pop culture fascination with it.

Here is Dan Rather as he looked one month before his attack:

Thanks to my sister Thalia, Jason Sentry, Kurt Shanes, and Amy Connell for making this episode possible. Thanks also to Ross Boyd, Tori Miller of Four Hands, Prom Queen, and Ben Von Wildenhaus for providing the music. Thanks also Shawn Crapo, Laura Scafati, Chris Klemmer of the podcast New Hampshirecast,  Lindsay Verschueren, and Paul Verschueren for the support.

I conclude the story of my stay in Barton, New Hampshire in two weeks. Let’s talk then.

Sincerely,

John Herman