Author: Ms. R.

A cornerstone of the city of Ojai, Bart’s Books is the world’s largest outdoor bookstore and a mecca for bookworms and casual readers alike.  Founded in 1964, Bart’s Books began as a group of bookcases along the sidewalk outside the home of founder Richard Bartindale. Inspired by the Parisian book carts found off the river Seine, Bartindale utilized outdoor bookshelves so that those walking by could look through the titles. Instead of utilizing a cash register, Bartindale left coffee cans……

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“It’s an extreme sport,” says Alistair Chisholm. “The secret is to read the weather forecast, and to wait for that moment when the wind is behind you and your lungs are filled with air, and then off you go!” The extreme sport is competitive town crying, and Chisholm knows a thing or two about winning: A town crier for a quarter-century in Dorchester, in the southern English county of Dorset, he’s shouted his way to victory at national championships……

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Near St Peter’s Chapel in Heysham, Lancashire resides six rock-cut graves believed to be some of the earliest examples of Christian burials in the country. Likely constructed in the 11th-century, each grave is carved from solid rock and due to a large finding of skeletal remains, it is presumed that these graves were reserved for the privileged, including what seems to be one child. Due to the northern weather, the deep graves are often filled with water. There are six……

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This story is excerpted and adapted from John Trecsh’s The Reason for the Darkness of the Night: Edgar Allan Poe and the Forging of American Science, available June 15, 2021, from Farrar, Straus, Giroux. Edgar A. Poe landed in Philadelphia in 1838. He had been raised among the elite of Richmond, Virginia, but in Philadelphia he was an impoverished outsider seeking recognition and stability as a professional writer. Strikingly, Poe’s first publication in Philadelphia—and the one that sold the……

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This story is excerpted and adapted from John Tresch’s The Reason for the Darkness of the Night: Edgar Allan Poe and the Forging of American Science, available June 15, 2021, from Farrar, Straus, Giroux. Edgar A. Poe landed in Philadelphia in 1838. He had been raised among the elite of Richmond, Virginia, but in Philadelphia he was an impoverished outsider seeking recognition and stability as a professional writer. Strikingly, Poe’s first publication in Philadelphia—and the one that sold the……

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Hidden behind a dense treeline that divides the Hilton Hotel and Lowe’s Department Store, resides a 176,000 square foot abandoned aerosol factory. Abandoned since the mid-1990s, the factory has been empty for over 20 years. Erected in the late 1960s, Aerosol Techniques made aerosol products and plastic bottles. On the property are two massive buildings and the sheer size of the facility is awe-striking. Now, completely overgrown and reclaimed by nature, it acts as a pseudo-museum for graffiti artists……

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