{"title":"Michael T. Keene","description":"Michael T. Keene is the author of eight books about unusual but true stories. Michael is also the producer of the documentary video Visions: True Stories of Spiritualism, Secret Societies, and Murder, as well as eight audio books. Although employed for more than twenty-five years as a financial advisor, Michael has combined his interest in local history, writing, music and filmmaking to explore unique and fascinating chapters of nineteenth-century New York folklore and stranger-than-life legends. The events that bubbled out of this period included the Anti-Masonic movement, the origins of the modern Spiritualist and paranormal movements and the women's rights and antislavery movements, as well as the founding of seven new religions and utopian communes. His \"Talking Hart Island\" podcast delves deeper into the book's content and can be found at michaeltkeene.com and major podcast platforms.","products":[{"product_id":"vietnam-reflection-the-untold-story-of-the-holley-boys-paperback","title":"Vietnam Reflection: The Untold Story of the Holley Boys - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eEight boys from the rural community of Holley, New York, died fighting in Vietnam. All went to the same high school where the average graduating class consisted of just 30 students. This is believed to be one of the highest casualty rates per capita of any town and school in the United States.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe 'Holley boys' were awarded 40 medals for combat and valor including seven Purple Hearts, the Bronze Star, Silver Star and the Vietnamese Cross for Gallantry. But they were more than soldiers and heroes. They played Little League, were Boy Scouts, went to sock-hops and performed in the high school marching band. But they also drove hot-rods, drank beer, smoked, and brawled. They weren't angels. They were boys--once.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eNow, nearly 50 years later, their stories are finally told. Drawing upon over 60 interviews with family members, access to personal letters, diaries, newspaper accounts of the day and after action combat reports, we learn not only about the lives of these boys but also about a seldom seen slice of American society and a remarkable small town you probably never heard of, before that damn war changed everything.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eMichael Keene served two tours in Vietnam with the United States Marine Corps. He is the author of six previous books about New York history and producer of the award-winning historical documentary, \u003cem\u003eVisions\u003c\/em\u003e. Michael can be contacted via email at: misterkeene@cs.com or you can visit him at: www.ad-hoc-productions.com\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51366081659103,"sku":"9780692794371","price":24.79,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/YR2uw-IfW59780692794371.webp?v=1789080813"},{"product_id":"the-psychic-highway-how-the-erie-canal-changed-america-paperback","title":"The Psychic Highway: How the Erie Canal Changed America - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Erie Canal delivered people to important places for important reasons, like Susan Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott to Seneca Falls for history's first women's convention, to Rochester to meet and support abolitionists Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman, to witness the Fox Sisters summon spirits and their eerie knockings, or maybe people on the temperance bandwagon hurrying to the Burned Over District so Charles Finney could save their souls. It was a time of intense individual focus and enlightened change in the ways in which people communicated. It was as if a bolt of electricity struck western New York, lighting it up as fertile ground for ideas and lifestyles that had never been expressed or attempted before. 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Mary Rote HAD SPENT the previous TEN YEARS CHAINED TO A WALL IN MADISON COUNTY, New York OFTEN NAKED AND SUSPENDED BY HER THUMBS.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDESCRIBED AS DEFORMED AND DEMENTED\u003c\/strong\u003e, SHE WOULD BECOME WILLARD INSANE ASYLUMS.... FIRST PATIENT\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e127 YEARS LATER IN 1996 THE WILLARD INSANE ASYLUM WOULD FINALLY SHUTTER ITS DOORS WHEREAPON A HORRIFYING DISCOVERY WAS MADE..... BURIED NEAR THE FACILITY WERE OVER 5700 BODIES.... 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BUT ALSO WE WILL HEAR OF REMARKABLE STORIES, OF INSPIRATION, HOPE AND HEALING\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51366642352351,"sku":"9780998850825","price":21.55,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/QBT0ZS313E9780998850825.webp?v=1789095214"},{"product_id":"question-of-sanity-the-true-story-of-female-serial-killers-in-19th-century-new-york-paperback","title":"Question of Sanity: The True Story of Female Serial Killers in 19th Century New York - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe women who serve as the subjects for this book, all share compelling stories. 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