history Archives - Mark Marchand blog

FDR's Springwood mansion in Hyde Park, N.Y.

Presidential history on a bluff overlooking the Hudson River

Post published:March 28, 2023

By Mark Marchand It’s near the end of another typical day for this man living on the east side of the Hudson River in the first half of the 20th century. After long hours in meetings, he propels himself and his wheelchair slowly toward the tiniest room on the first floor of his house. He rolls into the claustrophobic chamber and pulls an iron gate closed behind him. Turning himself and his chair around, he seizes a thick rope. He pulls it down slowly. His little “room” ascends. Together, he and his…

Cover of the new book on Albert Einstein's life: "Einstein - The Man And HIs Mind."

Book Review: A photographic tour of one of the world’s greatest minds

Post published:March 3, 2023

By Mark Marchand If you stare long enough into his eyes in the many photographs of the man, you might begin to see faint images of atoms splitting … light waves being bent by the sun’s gravity … equations rolling by … a man descending in an elevator … or even musical notes dancing across a staff. This man is Albert Einstein, who peers at us from a new collection of photographs taken over a lifetime during which his “thought experiments” and other work shook the foundations of physics and…

Sitting directly on top of the U.S.-Canada border in northern Vermont, the Haskell Free Library and Opera House has been serving readers, visitors, and show-goers for over a century.

A library and opera house on the international frontier

Post published:December 7, 2022

Visiting the only library that sits atop an international border. The Haskell Free Library and Opera House sits directly on the U.S.-Canada border in northern Vermont.

The author, running a cross-country race in fall 1972 at Chicopee Comprehensive High School in Massachusetts.

Racing to a better future

Post published:September 28, 2020

As I turned our car right to leave Stanley Park in Westfield, Massachusetts, recently, that most precious type of memory sprang to mind. The memory hadn’t surfaced for nearly half a century, and it burst forth so suddenly and dramatically I momentarily forgot I was driving a car. I was lost in a vivid recollection of an epic road race I ran in that very park back in 1972. What mattered wasn’t the race itself or the outcome. Instead, it was the decision, for the first time in my 17 years, to…

Thomas Edison’s winter home in Fort Myers. Credit: author

Fort Myers, Florida: More than just a home for MLB Spring Training

Post published:May 28, 2019

For years, I’ve been visiting Fort Meyers, Florida and the surrounding area in March, spending time watching my Boston Red Sox get ready for another campaign up north. This Southwest Florida city and the surrounding area is a terrific destination for a late-winter recreational sojourn. And it’s filled with with attractions that go well beyond the spring training homes of the Red Sox and Minnesota Twins. From nature/wildlife preserves to historical sites, there’s more than enough here to satisfy even those visitors who aren’t fans of America’s pastime. And of course there…