Thursday, November 13, 2025
Today’s new Travalanche posts for November 13, 2025 are about Robert Sterling (the tv version of Topper), and a look at Tallulah Bankhead’s hometown (and my great-grandfather’s), Hunts…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:32PMTo pick up where we left off — the next stop in our Odyssey was Hunstville, Alabama, just a couple of hours south of Nashville. “The Rocket City”? you may well ask, based on the sign a…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:18PMWe have taken a trip to the silver mines this morning, discovering a lode of unsuspected ore in the life and career of Robert Sterling (William S. Hart, 1917-2006). I say “unsuspected” b…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:02AMWednesday, November 12, 2025
Today’s new Travalanche posts for November 12, 2025 are about character actor Liam Dunn and and the culture of the Southern frontier as transmitted through the museums of Nashville. Earlie…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:32PMHere’s a mind-blower and no mistake: character actor Liam Dunn (1916-1976) was only 59 years old at the time of his death! During his heyday, the last ten years of his life, audiences sure…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:24PMPart Two of our extended series on our recent heritage trip, as well as Part Two of our visit to Nashville. The hijinx we reported in yesterday’s post about Nashville music and nightlife w…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:18AMTuesday, November 11, 2025
Today’s new Travalanche posts for November 11, 2025 are about Rob Riggle (and his connection to both Veteran’s Day and September 11), Millicent Patrick (Creature from the Black Lagoon), …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:36PMAs promised yesterday, we embark on a chronicle of our Southern Sojourn, which commenced in the beating heart of Tennessee, its capital Nashville. (Do I sound like James Fitzpatrick’s Trav…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:36PMI was led to this story by an unusual route. I really liked a song that was used on the wonderful Hulu series Dying for Sex, which came out earlier this year. The song was “The Earth Won�…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:02AMNovember 11 is Veteran’s Day; it also happens to be the book release date for a memoir by a vet, Rob Riggle’s Grit, Spit, and Never Quit: A Marine’s Guide to Comedy and Life. Riggle is…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:02AMAn extraordinary Hollywood movie professional has been enjoying a belated if posthumous day in the sun, and her life is so remarkable it fills me with delight simply to report it. Milicent P…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:06AMMonday, November 10, 2025
Today’s new Travalanche post for November 10, 2025 is the start of a new series on my recent travels throughout the South. Earlier Travalanche posts for November 9 (in no particular order)…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 05:54PMForgive an old soldier, won’t ye? I just passed a milestone birthday two days ago, one so significant and potentially traumatic that I’m on day ten of self-coddling. This impending serie…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:48PMSunday, November 9, 2025
Today (November 9) is the closing day of Asheville’s centennial celebration of a seminal series of recording sessions that took place in that city during August 1925, which featured such p…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:06PMToday’s new Travalanche posts for November 9, 2025 are about Earlier Travalanche posts for November 9 (in no particular order) include ones on the Gentry Brothers Circus and some seminal 1…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 04:06PMNovember 9 was the natal day of circus impresario Henry B. Gentry (1864-1940). Gentry was a farm boy who lived with his large family on a spread outside Bloomington, Indiana. When the Van Am…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:48PMSaturday, November 8, 2025
Today’s new Travalanche post for November 8, 2025 is about British actress Angela Scoular. Earlier Travalanche posts for November 8 (in no particular order) include ones on: Some Famous an…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:18PMAngela Scoular (1945-2011) turned 20 the day I was born; it’s hard not to feel a bond with someone when there’s a correspondence like that. As it turns out, that period was to be the pea…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:36AMFriday, November 7, 2025
Today’s new Travalanche post for November 7, 2025 is about Joni Mitchell and a can of worms she opened. Earlier Travalanche posts for November 7 (in no particular order) include ones on: I…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:42AMJoni Mitchell (b. 1943) was born on November 7. Unlike some of my friends (all of them singers, and all of them female) I know very little of Joni Mitchell’s music apart from her hit singl…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 06:12AMThursday, November 6, 2025
Today’s new Travalanche post for November 6, 2025 is about rock musician, movie actor, and murderer Bobby Beausoleil. Earlier Travalanche posts for November 6 (in no particular order) incl…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:54AMNovember 6 is the birthday of murderous Manson Family member Bobby Beausoleil (b. 1947). I’m not here to celebrate the man’s life, by any means, but I just wanted to point out some areas…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 05:18AMWednesday, November 5, 2025
Today’s new Travalanche post for November 5, 2025 is about silent movie child star Baby Marie. Earlier Travalanche posts for November 5 (in no particular order) include ones on: Hats Off w…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:42AMThus far we have told you of Baby Peggy, Baby Leroy, and even Baby Rose Marie on this all-encompassing universal Ur blog! Today we tell a tale of yet ANOTHER baby! Can there be more babies? …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 05:12AMTuesday, November 4, 2025
Today’s new Travalanche post for November 4, 2025 is about Ralph Spence (The Gorilla). Earlier Travalanche posts for November 4 (in no particular order) include ones on: Will Rogers Joe Fr…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:06PMLittle is known about the origins of Ralph Spence (1890-1949), but by the mid ’20s he had earned a reputation as Hollywood’s most highly paid and best known title writer, and was highly …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 05:31AMMonday, November 3, 2025
Today’s new Travalanche post for November 3, 2025 is about the life and death of Hungarian Jewish silent comedian Charles Puffy. Earlier Travalanche posts for November 3 (in no particular …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:24PMI first learned about plus sized silent comedian Charles Puffy (Károly Hochstein, 1883-ca. 1943) from Ben Model’s excellent book The Silent Film Universe earlier this year. He also wrote …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:06AMSunday, November 2, 2025
Today’s new Travalanche post for November 2, 2025 is an All Souls’ Day message. For real! Earlier Travalanche posts for November 2 (in no particular order) include ones on: Burt Lancaste…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:36AMNovember 2 is, for some of us, All Souls’ Day, the day when we remember the Departed, which is to resurrect them, so to speak. Confusingly, it’s the third day of Allhallowtide, with All …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:12AMSaturday, November 1, 2025
Today’s new Travalanche post for November 1, 2025 is about about barnstorming Shakespearean Daniel Bandmann. On this day 100 years ago, three significant things happened: 1) Buster Keaton�…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:48PM 
