Author Archives: smellincoffee

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About smellincoffee

Citizen, librarian, reader with a boundless wonder for the world and a curiosity about all the beings inside it.

Thirteen Days

Posted on June 26, 2026 by smellincoffee

The Cuban Missile Crisis is the closest time the Cold War came to turning into a hot war, and (presumably) a global holocaust. RFK served the President most immediately not as his attorney general, but his confidant and advisor. Thirteen … Continue reading →

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The Unfinished Odyssey of Robert F. Kennedy

Posted on June 25, 2026 by smellincoffee

David Halberstam was already a seasoned reporter when he began covering RFK’s fatal 1968 bid for the presidency. The bid itself was almost dead on arrival; RFK dragged his feet on deciding, and continually probed those around him as to … Continue reading →

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Bad Blood

Posted on June 24, 2026 by smellincoffee

When LBJ mentioned that Joe Kennedy’s son Robert would be excellent at leading something like NASA, RFK recorded this in his diary. The master of the Senate thought he had potential! Only a few years later, however, RFK and LBJ … Continue reading →

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WWW Wednesdays and High School Reunions

Posted on June 24, 2026 by smellincoffee

Today’s prompt from Long and Short Reviews is, “Have You Ever Attended Your High School Reunion? Why or why not?” Well…no. I graduated in 2003: by 2013 we were all facebook friends. My high school class didn’t even talk about … Continue reading →

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Ten Books on my Summer TBR

Posted on June 23, 2026 by smellincoffee

Today’s TTT is books on our summer reading list; as I normally do, I’m going to look back at the last quarterly TBR to see how I did. As it turns out, I batted .500 again! The ones I missed … Continue reading →

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1960: The Election that Forged Three Presidencies

Posted on June 22, 2026 by smellincoffee

As the Eisenhower administration began drawing to a close and a new decade loomed, America had a choice: stay the course, or shake things up? Although JFK would claim in his 1961 inaugural that the torch had been passed to … Continue reading →

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Kennedy and Nixon

Posted on June 18, 2026 by smellincoffee

President Richard Nixon was a sweetie-pie who wrote letters so tender to Jackie Kennedy she cried, and she wrote him gracious letters back. The idea of Nixon being sweet and caring does not sit easily with modern readers, but that … Continue reading →

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WWW Wednesday + Know Before You Go

Posted on June 17, 2026 by smellincoffee

Today’s prompt from Long and Short Reviews is, “Something to know before visiting my country or city”. Well, for starters, don’t come between May and October because most of the year we endure the Great Sticky Siege. As regards Selma … Continue reading →

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SHELLI: R-Evolution

Posted on June 16, 2026 by smellincoffee

An experimental incubator synth, with high-octane empathy protocols, has just run off with a baby. The baby is due to be delivered soon, but it appears this unit has become attached to the baby she’s carried for so many months; … Continue reading →

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Five Days in November

Posted on June 16, 2026 by smellincoffee

In his memoir of working in the Secret Service, Within Arm’s Reach, Dan Emmett said that he was inspired by seeing an agent on television jump onto the presidential convertible during the JFK assassination to join the service. That agent … Continue reading →

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