Author Neal Murphy Releases "East Texas Serendipity"

New book explores answers to life's many questions from author’s perspective

November 17, 2015, SAN AUGUSTINE — For author Neal Murphy, East Texans like him tend to see things from a more relaxed perspective and they are more attentive to the details given by Mother Nature. In "East Texas Serendipity - Discovering Stories, History, and Tales from an East Texan’s Perspective," (published by Xlibris) he shares some of the humorous events that happened to him over the years while living in East Texas.

"Kathy Fiscus" by Neal Murphy

October 5, 2015 - I am going to test you older folk’s memories with this story. I was thirteen years old when the event occurred, but I can still remember it vividly. There was continuous radio coverage, and a new medium, television, covered the story live which was a landmark event in American television history.

Kathryn Anne Fiscus was a three-year old girl who fell into an abandoned well in San Marino, California. She fell over ninety feet down the fourteen-inch-wide shaft of an abandoned water well.

Sneezes and Blessings by Neal Murphy

September 15, 2015 - It has happened to all of us. You are sitting in a room of people and your nose suddenly starts to tingle, followed by itching, then by the unmistakable urge to sneeze. All you can do is close your eyes and “let-her-rip”. Usually several people around you will say, “God Bless You”. You have just been blessed by people you don’t even know, all because you sneezed. Why is that? What is it that prompts strangers to want to bless you?

“Being Bamboozled” by Neal Murphy

August 31, 2015 - The next several months we citizens will be subjected to being “bamboozled” by thousands of stump speeches and political commercials on television. Yes, it’s election time in the United States again.

Are Clowns Scary by Neal Murphy

August 13, 2015 - I read some disturbing news the other day. I read that several recent national surveys reveal that clown performers now scare children more that they entertain them. I was shocked at this revelation.

“America's First Documented Ghost” by Neal Murphy

June 15, 2015 - How many of you readers believe in ghosts? How many are on the fence about this? How do we reconcile accounts of ghost sightings by honest, reputable people who evidently witnessed a strange event? I have never witnessed a ghost sighting personally, but have, I believe, been visited by angels, but that’s another story.

"Broom Lore and Old Wives Tales" by Neal Murphy

June 1, 2015 - The lowly broom has been around our civilization for centuries. It is said that Benjamin Franklin introduced broomcorn to the United States in 1725. He is said to have picked a single broomcorn seed of a Philadelphia lady, planted it and grew the first broom corn in the United States.

“A Bird In The Hand” by Neal Murphy

May 15, 2015 - Perhaps you have heard the phrase, “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush”. But is that thirteenth century proverb correct? Our cat, Miss Kitty, taught me a lesson about birds several years ago that disputes the phrase.

“The Changing English Language”

April 15, 2015 - When I was in both high school and college, the teaching of the English language was of great importance. I was taught that certain axioms of the language would never change over time, such as: never end a sentence with a preposition, do not use dangling participles, and never use double negatives either in speech or writing.

Five Things Nobody Told Me About Aging

March 16, 2015 - I was shaving the other morning and I noticed something – my ears looked larger than I remembered. I examined them closely and sure enough, my ears are larger in my old age. Then I noticed my nose, it, too, is getting bulbous. Could my nose and ears still be growing? No one told me about that aspect of aging.

Shelby County Today

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Submitted by Neal Murphy