In 2013, I wrote about David Drew Howe, the Maryland man who briefly stepped into the public eye by asserting a hereditary claim to the medieval title “King of Mann.” At the time, his story was circulating widely enough to merit attention: an American genealogical enthusiast announcing a royal lineage, a minor media stir, and … Continue reading The Curious Case of the King of Mann — A Coda
Boards and Banners: How Skate Decks Echo Medieval Heraldry
Recently, while watching Powell-Peralta’s Future Primitive, something I’d taken for granted in my youth hit me with unexpected clarity: the iconography of skateboarders isn’t far removed from medieval heraldry. The two seem like they belong on different planets—one born of knights and genealogical rolls, the other of concrete and rebellious energy—yet both compress identity into a … Continue reading Boards and Banners: How Skate Decks Echo Medieval Heraldry
Thomas Morgan of Tredegar: A Tudor Powerbroker
Thomas Morgan's arms (impaled on the right). Every so often, a figure steps out of the Tudor murk with enough documentation to feel almost modern. For me, Thomas Morgan of Tredegar is one of those rare Welsh ancestors who doesn’t exist as a rumor or a scribble on a pedigree roll, but as a man … Continue reading Thomas Morgan of Tredegar: A Tudor Powerbroker
Better a Has-Been than a Never-Was
Image generated by ChatGPT The Bumper Sticker That Started It A quip I posted a while back popped up on a social media feed as a memory today, alongside a picture I’d had AI generate of a “has-been” and a “never-was.” The post referenced a minivan I’d pulled up behind at lunch, with a bumper … Continue reading Better a Has-Been than a Never-Was
Man and the Computer: What Kemeny Saw Coming—and Where His Vision Bent a Little
I ended up down a rabbit hole a few months ago while reading about the early days of the BASIC programming language. That trail pointed straight to John G. Kemeny, and then to his 1972 book Man and the Computer. It’s a slim volume, written at a moment when mainframes hummed like industrial dragons and … Continue reading Man and the Computer: What Kemeny Saw Coming—and Where His Vision Bent a Little
William Blethyn, Bishop of Llandaff: A Welsh Churchman at the Edge of an Empire
Every so often, a figure from the margins of the historical record steps forward with more depth than expected. William Blethyn — Bishop of Llandaff from 1575 until his death in 1590 — is one of those people. He isn’t a household name, but when you tug on the threads of his story, you uncover … Continue reading William Blethyn, Bishop of Llandaff: A Welsh Churchman at the Edge of an Empire
Llandaff Cathedral: A Testament of Welsh Resilience
Llandaff Cathedral. Source: https://www.llandaffcathedral.org.uk Llandaff Cathedral is, in my mind, one of Wales’s most quietly compelling monuments — a place that tells its story not in a single grand flourish, but in layers of survival, damage, and intentional repair. It’s not just a building; it’s a chronicle of Welsh faith, politics, and the tenacity of … Continue reading Llandaff Cathedral: A Testament of Welsh Resilience
