A loopy loophole

By Brad Dison   In February 1914, May Pierstorff’s parents prepared for their five-year-old daughter, May, to visit her grandmother.  May and her parents lived in Lewiston, Idaho.  May’s grandmother lived about 70 miles away in Grangeville, Idaho.  In the 1910s, automobiles had not yet become the predominant form of transportation in Idaho.  Most people … Continue reading A loopy loophole

A wax will

By Brad Dison In 1877, Thomas Edison’s engineers worked on a machine that would transcribe messages sent over telegraph lines.  Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone just one year prior, but it would be years before it became commonplace.  As Edison and his engineers pondered over the different uses for this invention, Edison speculated that an audio … Continue reading A wax will

A narrow escape

By Brad Dison On June 29, 1994, a 45-year-old pilot took over the controls of a BAe 146 jet airliner as he often did from the senior pilot, Flight Captain Graham Laurie.  The pilot had been flying for about 30 years.  In the mid-1960s, he began taking private pilot lessons and earned his pilot’s license.  He soon joined the Air … Continue reading A narrow escape

Junior’s Run for Mayor 

 By Brad Dison  Carmel-by-the-Sea was, and remains, a picturesque oceanside one-square-mile town 120 miles south of San Francisco.  At the time of the 1986 mayoral election, the town consisted of 4,825 residents.  Carmel had “rigid preservation and development rules,” which frustrated many of the residents, including Junior.  For example, the town council refused to grant a permit for … Continue reading Junior’s Run for Mayor 

Frank’s flight 

 By Brad Dison  Lieutenant Frank Wead was one of the best-known “fliers” in the early years of the United States naval aviation service.  In 1912, Frank, then sixteen years old, entered the U.S. Naval Academy.  Two years later, much of the world was engaged in “the war to end all wars,” World War I.  United States President Woodrow … Continue reading Frank’s flight 

Cab tab

By Brad Dison On the morning of November 10, 1980, Daniel Irvin Jr.’s plane landed at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois.  With no one to pick him up from the airport, Daniel hailed a cab driven by 38-year-old Gene Phillips.  Daniel asked Gene if he was familiar with Castlewood Terrace.  Although Gene had been a taxi driver … Continue reading Cab tab