July 14, 2022: Virgil Fox fans have a new book to savor. Dennis Block has released his exhaustive chronicling of the pre-Riverside years which is now available at BookBaby (https://store.bookbaby.com/book/virgil-fox-in-the-beginning).

June 29, 2022: Free memorabilia. For those who have read my first book ("Organists & Me") I'd be happy to send a tenth anniversary memento from Christopher Houlihan's ground-breaking Vierne2012 tour: either or both the program book and the campaign style promotional button. Just let me know your name and postal address (U.S. addresses only, please).

June 6, 2022: "Winterset in Time: Growing up Gay in Small Town Iowa" has been named a finalist (silver medal) in the 16th Annual Indie Excellence Awards in the category of LGBTQIA Non-Fiction.

April 10, 2022: As if the bibliography at the end of "Biblical Characters" were not long enough already, here are two entries I would have added if I'd discovered them before publication. "Arthur: God and Hero in Avalon" by Christopher R. Fee is a succinct and approachable summary of the Arthurian legends (2019, Reaktion Books). Of particular interest is an extension into later times and northern climes of the 'Corn King" theme which was familiar to people of Jesus' time and region. Fee identifies the figure as a "leader, hero--or sometimes a god--who sacrifices himself to provide plenty for his people." He continues, "Actual or symbolic sacrifice at midwinter to guarantee the rebirth of the Sun and the growing year was a commonplace of the ancient world, reflected in myths of figures including such notables as Mithras and Jesus..."

The other new entry would be "The Making of the Bible" by Konrad Schmid and Jens Schroter (2021, Belknap/Harvard University Press). This won't make good bedtime reading, but it is a scholarly and detailed exposition of its title. It calls attention, as did "Biblical Characters," to the connection of the biblical wisdom literature with pre-existing Egyptian materials.