11,821 stories by "Trav S.d."
Born 100 years ago today: actress Mona Freeman (1926-2014). Freeman grew up in Pelham, New York, in Westchester County, right outside the Bronx. She began modeling in high school, culminatin…
Today’s new Travalanche post for June 7, 2026 is about Glen Gray and The Casa Loma Orchestra. Earlier Travalanche posts for June 7 (in no particular order) include ones on: Charley Bowers …
June 7 was the birthday of big bandleader Glen Gray (Glenn Gray Knoblauch, 1900-1963). Gray was a sax player from Roanoake, Illinois who played with various Detroit area jazz outfits through…
Readers of Travalanche know that we love theatrical dynasties here, though they can sometimes be nettlesome to sort out. Actors tend to be more promiscuous than most, especially true in ages…
Today’s new Travalanche post for June 10, 2026 are about British character actor Lionel Jeffries and songwriter/ producer/ impresario Bobb Goldstein. Earlier Travalanche posts for June 10 …
Shortly after the release of my first book No Applause 20 years ago I heard from a wide variety of strangers who were eager for sit-downs to discuss one project or another, some to pitch col…
A message to our daily readers: we are delighted to report that we have found a temporary solution to our technical difficulties, and should be able to limp along semi-productively until our…
This is me on the way to my local computer repair shop yesterday! As I mentioned in my previous post, it will be over a week from now until my laptop is repaired, sadly, resulting in a conco…
Alert! I’m having some computer problems on this end, folks! I may disappear for a couple of days whilst I get this workhorse repaired. If that turns out to be the case, I’ll make up the…
June 6 is not only D-Day, it also happens to be National Caves and Karst Day. For which I have been saving this little post about my most recent adventure in one. As a New Englander, caves a…
Today’s new Travalanche post for June 5, 2026 is about the new audio recording featuring Harpo Marx TALKING! Also, Happy Hot Air Balloon Day. I have several related posts with which to obs…
The big day has arrived! As we reported here two years ago, an audio recording starring the famously silent Harpo Marx is hitting stores today. Just six months before he died, Harpo narrated…
Today’s new Travalanche posts for June 4, 2026 are about the 1976 movie Ode to Billy Joe, the variety program Cavalcade of Stars, and Eddie LeVeque (The “Last Keystone Kop”). Earlier T…
June 4, 1976 was the release date of the motion picture Ode to Billy Joe. Which is funny, for as all fans of the song it’s based on know, the events of the narrative take place on “the t…
June 4 was the birthday of a certain shadowy figure named Edward “Eddie” LeVeque (1896-1989). LeVeque was a Hollywood bit player during the 1950s and ’60s as well as a pal of Mack Senn…
June 4, 1949 was the premiere date of the Golden Age tv variety program Cavalcade of Stars (1949-52). Cavalcade of Stars was, along with Captain Video and His Video Rangers, one of the two t…
Today’s new Travalanche posts for June 3, 2026 are about poet Allen Ginsberg and comedian Ted Ziegler, both born 100 years ago today. For World Bicycle Day, a guide to bicycle related post…
A minor figure to be sure, but one who made his mark in television, and some of you lot may actually remember him: Ted Ziegler (1926-1999), born 100 years ago today. Ziegler enjoyed a nice s…
Allen Ginsberg (1926-1997) was born 100 years ago today and that’s a mind-blower. In some other dimension, one pictures him at this age, perhaps as a denizen of Shangri-La, high atop a Him…
Today’s new Travalanche posts for June 2, 2026 are about Howard Johnson (Tin Pan Alley songwriter, not restaurateur/ hotelier) and the Marquis de Sade. Earlier Travalanche posts for June 2…
No wait, hear me out! Okay, I don’t precisely celebrate the life and legacy of the Marquis de Sade (Donatien Alphonse François de Sade, 1740-1814) taken as a whole, but neither do I conde…
There are two famous Howard Johnsons, both of them associated with ice cream. The better known of the two is of course the founder of the popular restaurant and hotel chain. We may well take…
Today’s new Travalanche post for June 1, 2026 is about Tennessee. That’s it. Just Tennessee. Also, June is Pride Month. Check out over 300 LGBTQ-related posts here. And go here to obvers…
Look, kids: I did your school report, so AI won’t have to! I don’t know what motivates me to do posts like this, apart from the fact that I’m a nerd at bottom, and by that I mean less …
Madge Blake (Madge Cummings, 1899-1969) was one of those Grandma Moses actors. She didn’t take the plunge into acting professionally until she was 50 years old, but she flourished. She spe…
