A Sense of Doubt blog post #4252 - Letter to Dad #56 - I am Re-Reading TOMB OF DRACULA and other newsy news

A Sense of Doubt blog post #4252 - Letter to Dad #56 - I am Re-Reading TOMB OF DRACULA and other newsy news

Hey Big Guy, Just a newsy news letter today.

You know how I love comic books. You started this love with me buying comics from me to read before bed time, starting at the age of four.

Lately, I have been focusing more on books and so I relegate my comic book reading to Sundays during football, which is mandatory selfcare time.

Later, as I got older, I shared select comic books with you that you read  before bed. I know I shared Tomb of Dracula with you as it was one of my favorite comics from 1972 - 1979.

I didn't start reading it until issue number six, published January of 1973, probably a birthday gift issue. At that age, I was not always getting every issue of comics I loved. My next issue was number nineteen over a year later. But from then on, I bought every issue until its end at issue seventy in 1979.

Marv Wolfman whom I remember as THE writer of Tomb of Dracula did not take on writing duties until issue seven; however Eugene "Gene" Colan drew every issue, inked by Tom Palmer, one of my favorite all time artist duos. So FANTASTIC.

I have not read the entire series in many years. I did not remember that Archie Goodwin, whom I worked with during my internship at Marvel, wrote issues three and four, which were pivotal issues in the development of the series.

Gerry Conway, who just passed away, wrote the first two issues. The first one seems like a one-off, very much in the EC tradition, it comes to a close with the traditional final twist and ended in a way that it could be a stand alone story.

But the comic continued.

I posted about this series before as it is one of my all-time favorites:

Saturday, October 28, 2023
A Sense of Doubt blog post #3175 - Marvel's Tomb of Dracula

(and I reprinted that 2023 post last year).

Tomb of Dracula on ComicVine

I am reading the series again in my ESSENTIAL collections, which are black and white on very thin paper (so I have to be careful). But Colan/Palmer art may actually look better in B&W.

I wish you were here so we could read together.

I just decided I am going to listen to the Dracula dramatized audio book (abridged) on Audible, but maybe not before my next book. Not sure. I will decide in the morning when I head back to Salem for another day of Practicum.

I am writing this to you from Sunday, that selfcare day I mentioned, so I am a bit behind.

Things are going well. The fence is all stained and looks great. I couldn't have done as good a job.

The Practicum is also going well, though I am not over fond of the drive. I try to vary phone calls and audio book time.

I am really enjoying being a counselor in training. I am told I am a natural and have good instincts. I don't want that to go to my head as I KNOW I will run into situations in which I do not know what to do, resistant clients, or saying the wrong thing.

I keep thinking about losing my job at the school as I have success with clients, and so that success feels vindicating.

I am behind on some things, I owe Lori an email or emails.

And I have lots of work to do, which is partially why I am behind on the blog.

But it's selfcare day, so I am going to sign off.

Love you!

~ christopher

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- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2610.08 - 10:10

- Days ago: MOM = 4116 days ago & DAD = 770 days ago

- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I post Hey Mom blog entries on special occasions. I post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day, and now I have a second count for Days since my Dad died on August 28, 2024. I am now in the same time zone as Google! So, when I post at 10:10 a.m. PDT to coincide with the time of Mom's death, I am now actually posting late, so it's really 1:10 p.m. EDT. But I will continue to use the time stamp of 10:10 a.m. to remember the time of her death and sometimes 13:40 EDT for the time of Dad's death. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.

A Sense of Doubt blog post #4245 - Letter to Dad #55 - Kalamazoo Tornado of 1980

A Sense of Doubt blog post #4245 - Letter to Dad #55 - Kalamazoo Tornado of 1980

Hi Big Guy,

I have been sitting on this topic for a while and trying to decide when would be best to publish it.

Right now, things in my life seem like severe weather, so this post is a metaphor for that tumult.

Though I am being a little melodramatic. There's no devastating path of destruction.

In fact, some things are going well. 

I managed a good day of self care on Sunday and plan to have another this Sunday. It's a set goal for me in this time of my practicum.

I worked with several people to solve a problem at my site that started last week, a week ago today.

Fence staining starts next week.

I wish you were here to do that with me. You liked doing that stuff together. I miss those projects. Though I am not doing this project. I hired someone with more expertise than I have.

As for the rest of this post, it's all captured content and images about the 1980 Kalamazoo Tornado that ripped through downtown Kalamazoo while I was stuck at home with mono.

I would have been at the civic theatre had I not been ill.

Many of my friends were there, and one foolish but heroic friend ran out of the building to warn people in Bronson Park to seek shelter and was thrown into an alcove on the side of the building as he attempted to return and the tornado literally passed on the street right next to him.

Crazy.

The city awarded him a medal of heroism.

More next week Dad, but about something else. :-)

Love you!

~ christopher


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_Kalamazoo_tornado

https://www.1980kalamazootornado.org/

Path of Destruction
Afternoon of Tuesday, May 13, 1980

1:30 | Tornado watch issued in Southwest Michigan
2:30 | Funnel cloud spotted in Van Buren County
2:35 | Reports of funnel cloud spotted near Bangor, Van Buren County
3:48 | Tornado damage reported 14 miles west of Kalamazoo near Glendale, Van Buren County
4:00 | Tornado warning issued and sirens sound for city of Kalamazoo and surrounding areas
4:09 | Tornado enters western part of city and township limits, moving eastward
4:09-4:12 | Tornado strikes neighborhoods near the edge of Kalamazoo Township and City lines, skips and slams through Mountain Home Cemetery – Mari Gilman is killed at the Norge Laundry and Dry Cleaning on West Main St.
4:13-4:19 | Tornado lands in downtown Kalamazoo – three people are killed; Francis Hardy while traveling down Rose St. near Bronson Park, and Christina Wellington and Lucia McFall on Farmer’s Alley behind the Gilmore Department Store.
4:20-4:24 | Tornado crosses Pitcher St. traveling towards Comstock Township, damaging several industrial plants – Raymond Moyer is killed on Wynn Rd. in Comstock Township.
4:25 | Tornado dissipates between King Hwy and Comstock Ave., in central Kalamazoo County, just northwest of the village of Comstock

Looking north on Rose St. from the South St. intersection., the Young Women’s Christian Association (now Greenleaf Trust) and Industrial State Bank (now Comerica) buildings are visible on right. The skywalk connecting a parking garage and the Kalamazoo Center Hilton Inn (now Raddison Plaza Hotel) is also visible. (KVM 80.752)

Tracing the Path:

The 1980 Kalamazoo Tornado

Forty years ago on May 13, 1980 a tornado bore down on Kalamazoo. In just 16 short minutes, the tornado left an 11-mile path of destruction, killing 5 people, seriously injuring 79, and causing over $50 million in damage.

The tornado touched down at 4:09 p.m. near the western edge of the city limits, striking the neighborhoods along the West Main corridor. After tearing through Mountain Home Cemetery, the twister leapt to the bottom of West Main Hill, plowing into the St. Augustine Cathedral. In Bronson Park, over two dozen trees that had stood for over 150 years were uprooted or damaged.

Kalamazoo’s pedestrian mall and its surrounding buildings were next along the path of destruction. The six-story Gilmore Department Store building suffered extensive roof damage, and its east wall collapsed outward, piling massive amounts of rubble into Farmer’s Alley below. The tornado damaged several additional structures as it traveled towards Comstock Township, dissipating at 4:25 p.m. just northwest of downtown.

As we look back on the Kalamazoo tornado, the resilience of the city and the positivity of its inhabitants were paramount in the aftermath of disaster. “I Survived the Kalamazoo Tornado—Let’s Rebuild!” t-shirts were produced and words of encouragement were hand painted on wooden boards exclaiming, “It’ll Take More Than a Wind to do Kalamazoo In” and “Yes, there STILL is a Kalamazoo!”

 

Devastation at a Glance

5 people killed

79 people seriously injured

F3 rating on the Fujita scale, which classifies tornadoes from F1 to F5 – an F3 is a severe tornado with winds of 158-206 mph.

$50 million in estimated damages

$1.8 million in estimated automobile damages

31 Kalamazoo homes and businesses demolished

173 Kalamazoo homes and businesses with moderate-to-severe damage

1,200 Kalamazoo residents left temporarily displaced from their homes and workplaces

16 minutes for the tornado to cut a path across Kalamazoo after it touched down at 4:09 p.m. north of West Main St. and Drake Rd.

328 students at St. Augustine Elementary School who were sent home early, a mere hour before their school was destroyed

4 windows out of 112 left intact in the Industrial State Bank building – located at 151 S. Rose St., the site is currently the Comerica building.

2 number of days it took for essential services to be restored in the Kalamazoo area

F3 on the Fjuita Scale

In June 1980, Dr. Tetsuya Theodore Fujita of the University of Chicago visited Kalamazoo to survey the damage left by the tornado. Dr. Fujita, in collaboration with Allen Pearson, head of the National Severe Storms Forecast Center, released a scale in 1971 to measure the intensity and severity of tornadoes called the Fujita Scale. While in Kalamazoo, Dr. Fujita confirmed a rating of F3, based on counterclockwise wind speeds reaching upwards of 150 – 175 miles per hour.

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- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2610.01 - 10:10

- Days ago: MOM = 4109 days ago & DAD = 763 days ago

- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I post Hey Mom blog entries on special occasions. I post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day, and now I have a second count for Days since my Dad died on August 28, 2024. I am now in the same time zone as Google! So, when I post at 10:10 a.m. PDT to coincide with the time of Mom's death, I am now actually posting late, so it's really 1:10 p.m. EDT. But I will continue to use the time stamp of 10:10 a.m. to remember the time of her death and sometimes 13:40 EDT for the time of Dad's death. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.

A Sense of Doubt blog post #4238 - Letter to Dad #54 - New Floor at Rivermaiden

A Sense of Doubt blog post #4238 - Letter to Dad #54 - New Floor at Rivermaiden

Hi Big Guy, So, we had our new floor put in. The job is not quite done yet. A few little things left, but that's how these jobs go. We also hired someone to stain the fence, and though he has not stained yet (because of rain), he did a great job prepping with cleaning and sanding. The fence already looks brand new!

I am not making a separate post about some sad news because others in my family did, but I want to tell you (and anyone who reads this) that my father-in-law, Rob, died Sunday. I went to say goodbye. As you know, I had been having lunch with Rob about monthly since you died for obvious reasons. I really loved those lunches and that time together, so did Rob. I will miss him very much.

Beyond that, my internship is going well, though I will have a change of supervisor. I still don't have a log in or an office, but those things are in the works.

Not much else to report. Things are going well otherwise.

Love you, Dad.

More next week.

Enjoy these pictures of our floor project.

Love, christopher

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- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2609.24 - 10:10

- Days ago: MOM = 4103 days ago & DAD = 756 days ago

- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I post Hey Mom blog entries on special occasions. I post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day, and now I have a second count for Days since my Dad died on August 28, 2024. I am now in the same time zone as Google! So, when I post at 10:10 a.m. PDT to coincide with the time of Mom's death, I am now actually posting late, so it's really 1:10 p.m. EDT. But I will continue to use the time stamp of 10:10 a.m. to remember the time of her death and sometimes 13:40 EDT for the time of Dad's death. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.