Welcome to A.Marlowe Conrad's Field Notes!
Welcome to A. Marlowe Conrad| Hidden History & Heritage Travel
Hi, I am glad you are visiting my corner of the internet: the home of Field Notes, my blog about hidden history, outdoor heritage, heritage travel, conservation that also features my published writing and my books.
“Why did they name that town Cuckoo?” I asked myself for the ‘nth time as I drove through the verdant Virginia countryside. Shadowed by tall, cool trees that were probably small when the town was named, I looked for answers.
If you ever see me pulled off the side of the road, with my hazard lights flashing, I am probably not broken down; I am most likely taking pictures or reading a sign. If you want to do a welfare check, I will be grateful but will probably snatch you down into the historical bunny hole I am going down.
My name is Anne Marlowe Conrad, and I have spent over a couple of decades getting paid to make complicated things make sense. How a new handgun works, why a certain electrical device is snazzy, and plenty of how-to articles.
When I spent a year researching and writing a book called Canon City in Arcadia Publishing’s Images of America Series, I got hooked on historical research and telling people what I discovered. Canon City, Colorado, is a unique and quirky city where the main industry has always been prisons.
The itch A. Marlowe Conrad’s Field Notes scratches is not the polished version you get from a travel brochure, but the working copy as I explore places, people, and legends.
Here I ask the questions and show you the detours and dusty roads. If you are like me, you are insatiably curious about what makes people who they are and the impact towns have on history.
I have writing heroes who have inspired me. My father is one. He was interested in so many things, from flight to rock hounding gems from all over the world, hunting in South Africa and gardening. He never lost his thirst for information. Simple were the stories he told around the campfire or across the living room, and he wrote the same way. My dad Al Starner could tell the best tales, and I hope to do the same for my readers.
You will find my blog categories housed under Field Notes bounce in and out of a few different subjects, but they are all connected by the same thing: curiosity that won’t let me alone until I have found my answers. Each heading here is just a different pocket in my backpack.
Hidden History is where the highway marker detours live. It’s where we will tramp through the countryside of Virginia to save Thomas Jefferson or find out what a Galvanized Yankee is and which of my ancestors was one. I will tell you a funny story about a railroad in Florida and dig up obscure facts about the people and places in history will be a fun and meaningful journey we take together.
Heritage Travel takes us on the road. Spend a whole afternoon in a dusty museum and learn what legends make the places we visit a fascinating part of our lives. Why was Daniel Boone in Jefferson, North Carolina, and what is Lake Placid, Florida, famous for? I will take you to places you can visit and show you how to ferret out the best parts for your own journey.
Conservation is where we will chat about issues facing wildlife, the organizations fighting to preserve habitat and how average citizens, fishermen and hunters are actively working toward a better future for fish and animals.
Fishing camps, heritage companies who have created the outdoor products we have used for decades, and unique tidbits about places and events that shaped our outdoors is what Outdoor Heritage is about.
If you ever want to know what is in my backpack, what I am shooting and casting, and what survived my adventures and klutziness? Well, Field Gear will show you the products, where to find them and why you need to get them.
There is rarely a time when I am not engrossed in a book. I have an eclectic library with everything from historical novels to classics, and oodles of biographies about some of the most interesting Americans, at least to me. These will be From the Bookshelf, and don’t forget to look at my first book, Canon City.
Behind My Field Notes is a collection of tidbits about how I write, organizations, great writers and websites I follow online, like Funds for Writers, written by Hope Clark, whom I have followed and learned from for many years. Writing is super hard work and when I find something that helps me write better, I will pass it along here.
The other sections of my website bring you to my professional work, where I have added some of my Published Articles. These range from electrical and technical articles to firearms and travel articles. If you are looking to hire a competent and proven writer for your company, check these out and give me a holler.
My first history book Canon City, launched by Arcadia Publishing, is housed under the heading Books and Publications. Along with my book, is my father’s book The Emerald Hotel, by M.A. Starner. My dad spun a delightful tale about emerald hunters in South Africa, after he visited there. His greatest wish was for it to be turned into a movie. Unfortunately, he never saw that dream come true when he was alive. My sister Alissa and I would love to have you read it and see if agree it should be a movie. Canon City and The Emerald Hotel
My hope with my writing is to have my readers yell across the house, “Hey, you gotta hear this!” I know how to explain things, but now I want to tell you the story about why they matter, how they fit into history and why you should visit them for your own adventure.
Anne