Patricia Simmers Thompson will be forever remembered for her inspired, succulent interpretations of blue-plate classics that, to this day, remain beyond imitation. Though she left many of these priceless recipes behind, her children make largely feeble attempts to imitate her culinary artistry. Some, such as her recipe for wonderfully pungent spaghetti sauce, may be lost forever,now that bottle after soulless bottle […]
Meany Remembered as Brilliant Party Prankster
You know the kind of stories that reduce you to a senseless mass of convulsive laughter, where you involuntarily blurt out laughs like coughs, where your eyes stream with tears and you can’t speak? And just when you stop, you make eye contact with another person who also got the joke and start all over again? Those were the kind […]
A Twisted William Thompson Was Published in 1899
Who would have thought that William Thompson, the rugged frontiersman who was instrumental in the founding of Virginia City, Montana, was also a published author? Perhaps this explains the penchant of descendants toward things literary. Asked by the Anaconda Standard to reminisce about his first Christmas at Alder Gulch, a mining camp that included the town of Virginia City, Thompson relates in an avuncular […]
Visit to Boyce, Virginia Leaves One With More Questions Than Answers
I seldom see a town that bears my unusual family name. So I had more than passing interest in visiting the town of Boyce, Virginia, located only a two-hour drive from my hometown of Washington D.C. Unfortunately, the trip to the former railroad town left me with more questions than answers. A commemorative plaque in downtown Boyce, located […]
Eponymous Cactus ‘Highlights’ Trip to Boyce Thompson Arboretum
The Boyce Thompsoni hedgehog cactus, named after the great benefactor of the Boyce Thompson Arboretum in Superior, Ariz., allegedly grows “glorious magenta” flowers that emit an “irresistibly fragrant” aroma. It sprouts “showy red fruits” so tasty that early desert settlers raced to pick them before animals could eat them. Unfortunately, repeated visits to the arboretum have yet to provide first-hand confirmation […]
Victoria’s Secret Catalog Shot at Alder Manor
Our January 2008 trip to Alder Manor, William Boyce Thompson’s Italian Renaissance Revival estate in Yonkers, N.Y., revealed many interesting bits of trivia. Did you know that a Victoria’s Secret catalog was shot there, or that this is the house where Russell Crowe, playing the delusional John Nash in “A Beautiful Mind,” makes his secret letter drops? The juxtaposition seems oddly […]