Jo Ann Wright, brief biography

Hello, not much to write about lately so I thought I'd do a brief biography so you'd know something about the woman writing this blog.  Also, I googled my name at a friend's suggestion and found lots of Jo Ann Wrights - none of them me and none of them directing to this blog, so here we go:

Like many another New Jersey resident, I was born in Philadelphia.  We lived there until I was about 12, then moved to Maple Shade, New Jersey.  That turned out to be a lucky move because at the time, Maple Shade students went to Merchantville High School, a very fine educational institution which probably changed my life.  

Books have always been at the center of my life and it was the same in my early childhood in Philadelphia.  My grandmother Lyons had several bookcases in the basement that I was permitted to borrow from and there I met Edgar Rice Burroughs, Guy de-Maupassant, Dickens and Twain, among many others.  All the books weren't for adults, I also borrowed and LOVED Outdoor Girls on a Hike, a series of books from the 1920's about plucky hiking and canoeing girls who also solved mysteries. 

After graduating from Merchantville High School, I worked at W. B. Saunders Publishing Company until I married and moved overseas.  My boyfriend had been drafted and when he found out he was being sent to Germany, he asked me to marry him.  We traveled for a year after his discharge, another wonderful adventure that shaped my life.

Back in the states, I went to college while I worked at a series of ordinary clerical jobs to pay the tuition.  First I took a degree from Glassboro in English, then another in Art at Rutgers and finally, I graduated from the University of the Arts in Phila. with a masters in Art Education.

During all of that, I raised my wonderful daughter, Lavinia, who is a filmmaker and journalist in New York.  

For thirty two years, I taught different grade levels in two schools in Gloucester City and as an adjunct professor at the Univ. of Arts in Philly.  When I retired 7 years ago, I pursued my interest in history and the outdoors as a volunteer, hiker, and blogger.  So there you have it!  (added detail - I wrote two books after I retired and self-published them both, though I prefer the modern term 'independent publishing.'  One is a historical fiction account of WPA workers in New Jersey, a photographer and a writer who is working on the State Guides.)

Latest outings:  A hike at Parvin State Park (where I go on a nearly weekly basis) and a hike around Pakim Pond at Brendan Byrne forest a few days ago before the temperatures dropped again.  So that's it for the past couple of weeks.  I was hiking every day at Timber Creek but my vet, Dr. Sheehen in FAirview (whom I most warmly and strongly recommend.  He is a great Vet and a true animal lover) suggested that anything under 20 degrees was too cold to walk a dog.  So we've been housebound ever since.  Hopefully it will warm up in the next few days. 
Happy Trails!  Hope you are staying warm!  Jo Ann  

A Perfect Day in Millville

On Thursday, January 16th two friends and I went to Millville and had a perfect day!  We had lunch at Wildflowers, a vegan, vegetarian restaurant (all three of us are vegetarians bordering on veganism).  Then we hiked the Maurice River Bluffs.  We did the blue trail up over the bluffs, up and down to the floating dock, beneath the towering pines and over the little bridge, beyond the mysterious ruins.  Then, when we got back to the car, my dog, Trixie, wanted to stay, so we did the orange trail which gives a nice view over the estuary part of the river.  There was a huge flock of some kind of bird we couldn't correctly identify, chattering away in the tree tops.  Nice to hear birds singing in January.  My two friends are 'birders' and one has an app for bird identification, but as we had no binoculars, we couldn't see the birds very well.  She thought they might be grackles.

After our walk, we headed back to town, to enjoy a coffee at Bogart's Book Store and pick up some books.  One of my friends is a frequent visitor and had dropped off a couple of boxes of books, so she had a book credit due which paid for her brother's birthday gift.  He likes true crime thrillers.  Bogart's will accept books and dvd's and credit you for them.  Barb Spector (the book credit holder) and I also took them up on their excellent prices for used dvd's and I bought a biography of Agatha Christie and another movie called "The Reading Room."  We enjoyed a hot 'cuppa' mine was hazlenut decaf, my friends had tea, and we enjoyed conversing with some of the locals.  A fellow in a red shirt was sitting at the counter when I was waiting for my coffee and he reminded me that the Maurice River is prnounced "Morris" not with the French pronunciation I use when I forget where I am and call it "Maur eeece" and he told me it was named for Prince Mauritz, a Dutch name.  He also showed me the window cabinet of local history books that they have at Bogarts, many of which are also in my collection from my time as a volunteer at Bivalve.  I've written about Margaret Mintz, local historian from Salem County, now deceased.  

By then, it was late afternoon and we headed home.  What a perfect day!  I picked up a bunch of brochures and a local paper while I was there and the paper had a cover story about Marianne Lods, who you might remember, wrote a book about her parents experience in Europe during World War II.  More on the brochures and the novel later.  The title was "It's Been a Long, Long Time.  And I had bought it and read it some time ago.  A very good read.
Happy Trails!  Jo Ann
I'm off to the movies and lunch with friends amidst the snow flurries this morning, Saturday, January 18. 

Big Timber Creek Dog Park in January (2014)

This morning I was standing on a hill overlooking Timber Creek which is thawing out after the freeze.  My dog was quietly exploring the ridge above where I was standing.  A bird began to sing and the church bells began to ring (I don't know why as today is Saturday) But the whole effect was so beautiful and comforting.

Walking my dog who is 4 years old today, according to her chart when I adopted her, is one of the most pleasurable things in my life.  She goes exploring alongside the trail and today I noticed her coat is exactly the same color as the dampened tree trunks in winter.  She is a mixed Labrador Retriever and Weimaraner (a German retriever breed).  She came from Animal Orphanage on Cooper Rd in, I think, Voorhees.  If you are a walker, as I am, and a woods person, there is no better friend than a dog.

The dog park area, fenced it - was all mud and giant puddles, so we kept to the bridle trails (left over from the Slimm's Horse Back Riding Ranch days) in the woods.  We didn't run into any other hikers today.  

Sorry I haven't visited any other interesting places recently or have any other 'history' news at present, but I thought it might be nice to talk about Timber Creek Park which is so important to my daily life.
Happy Trails,
Jo Ann

"Oh the humanity" the Hindenburg

Lounging around the house due to the weather day before yesterday,  I happened to catch the classic movie, The Hindenburg (1975) starring George C. Scott.  The TCM commentator mentioned that although it was nominated for several awards and seemed to be popular, it did not reach popular aclaim as a film.  I thought it was excellent and also very modern.  It strikes me that succeeded documentaries pretty much discount the bomb theory and go with the torn skin flap explanation of the crash and burn.  The movie seemed to lean heavily on the bomb theory.

It reminded me of driving out to the pines, in my teens, to see the wreckage when I was a teen in the 1960's.  I wasn't sure if it was a true memory or a made-up one (which I can get from time to time) so I asked my sister and she told me she, too, had been out to see the wreckage when she was a child with our father and mother!  She is only 49, so I guess it WAS still there.

Even on a day at home, if you are in New Jersey, there is history all around you.  I also saw the film American Hustle, which was set in New Jersey and built around the Abscam scandal which many of us remember, if not in detail, certainly in the names of the participants, in particular, Mayor Ericchetti.  It is an excellent film and I recommend it, although the amoral nature of the characters made me feel as though I had an oily film over my soul from contact with them.  

Happy Trails!  
ps.  I did get out to the woods today, to Big Timber Creek Dog Park which was nearly deserted, but I met another dog person and we had a great conversation and 4 laps around the park.  If you have a dog and want the dog to be happy and healthy, you've got to get those walks whenever you can, and before teh weather turns on you.  It was very pleasant in the park, I even had to take off my hat, mittens and scarf, it was so warm.
pss.  Does anyone remember The 2nd Fret?  wrightj45@yahoo.com

Another good blog to visit

Someone at the last Burlington County Historians Roundtable recommended this blog to me.  It looks good!  You may wish to check it out.  We are all in this together and I'm glad to be sharing news and information with as many people as possible to keep history alive for us all!  She has some information on things this month.
http://www.thehistorygirl.com/
Happy Trails!  Jo Ann

Post-New Year's Day Freeze

You may be hardy travelers and perhaps you are visiting some interesting place today, but I am home, hibernating in this newest snow storm and not even attempting Timber Creek Dog Park (my daily walk) with my dog, Trixie.  I would, perhaps, have gone on the walk because my dog gets into mischief if she doesn't have her walk, but among the chores I'm trying to do today is the laundry with my long underwear in it.  Without the long underwear, I can't imagine hazarding that walk, so, tomorrow I'll give it a go.
For today, I am doing the aforementioned laundry, and taking down the Christmas decorations.  Each one is wrapped in memory.  There is the green stone star from my trip to Ireland with my daughter two decades ago, my ornaments from Germany 1969 to 1971, the Nuremburg Christmas Faire, ornaments made by friends from the Gloucester City Library the year my daughter was born, and ornaments she made for me when she was growing up.  One is a plastic 'stained glass' chapel that my sister, Maryann who resides in West Virginia,  painted for me one year when she was a child.  She bought the paint stained glass kits for her granddaughters this year to make tree ornaments.  Naturally it makes me kind of sad to look at them and think of the years gone by and the people who have passed out of my life.
I will hate to take down the lights because, as was intended, they do help to keep away the dark of the 'deep mid-winter drear.'  Nonetheless, it is best to start the new year off fresh and with the old holiday tucked safely away for the future, when, because it was away, it will be special all over again. 
Because I have been both busy with Christmas and family visits and gifts, and stuck indoors for weather, I haven't got any news for you about places to go or things to do, however, there is one lecture at the Lyceum in Burlington County that I'll be attending January 15th, on the payroll robbery and shooting at Atsion Mansion in the heyday of the ironworks.  I don't have any further info on that but you could look it up under Burlcohistorian.com or some variation on that.  I'm sure that link is in another posting of mine from the burlington County Roundtable, but the ornaments beckon and I must get back to work.
Happy New Year again!  Jo Ann