I'm reading Bill Bryson's book One Summer in America about events in 1920's. I was reminded of the fact that France had seized Germany's industrial center for failure of the German's to keep up with their reparation payments dictated by the truce that ended World War I. The result was inflation out of control. The German Mark had traded at 4 to the dollar before the war and now shot up to 600,000 to the dollar. Prices began to double…
When we are very young time seems to move ever so slowly. When we are in our teens we are anxious to be grownups. When we are in our twenties it seems there are so many goals we must accomplish before we are "old." Then middle age comes upon us and each birthday with a zero in it makes us worry about getting old. If you are blessed to live as long as I have, you notice that after sixty…
I've written about this extraorindary woman every year since her death. Elizabeth (Betty) Catherine Devitt, who was born December 5, 1910 in Butte,Montana and died December 20, 1985 in Puyallup. Her children included my wife, Lita, Devitt (deceased) Hollis, Barbara and Monica. She was a very remarkable woman in so many respects. She was also someone for whom I had a great deal of admiration, respect and love. For a complete biography of this amazing person please see https://paulluverajournalonline.com/weblog/2012/12/elizabeth-catherine-barnett-1910-1995.html.html I loved…
My grandmother on dad's side of the family, Phyllis Filippa Luvera died in Anacortes, Washington on December 20, 1946. By coincidence, that is also the day my wife's mother Elizabeth Barnett died. Nonna Luvera was born in Italy May 26, 1870 and spoke little English. Since dad believed the children should speak English we never learned Italian and could only communicated with her through dad. She was typical Italian grandmother, an excellent cook and who was always feeding us something. She…
I’m happy to be back in circulation again. Seven weeks ago My law partners andI started a jury trial in Seattle involving a woman who had gone into a hospital in Wenatchee for a ten minute elective laser surgery on her vocal cord. She was to go home the same day, but the doctors caused an intense fire in her throat during surgery when the oxygen and laser combined with the tube in her throat. She had to be airlifted…
I was sent an interesting clip from the internet about a man named Hayim Solomon and the role he played in the Revolutionary war by supporting with his own money the Continental Army. It said that as a result George Washington agreed to put on the one dollar bill the stars in the shape of the Star of David. I looked this up on Snopes.com. This is a reliable source of what is accurate on the internet. Here's what it reports…
For the past several weeks my partners and I have been involved in a jury trial in Seattle which has limited my time to keep this blog current. I hope to get back into current reporting as soon as the trial ends. In the meantime, coming home to Gig Harbor on weekends has been a pleasure. The leaves turned to that wonderful Fall color and then the November winds virtually stripped the trees of their foliage. Today the harbor in town is…
Today is the anniversary of the death of my father, Paul Nicholas Luvera Sr. Born on March 25, 1898, he died in Anacortes, Washington on November 4, 1990 at the age of 92. I've published several accounts of his memories from his youth over the past couple of weeks. This is a brief outline of dad's accomplishments in living the American dream. A man with less then a seventh grade education who became a community leader and achieved a middle class…
I just don't understand the logic of the Republican party, assuming you can still consider it a unified party, regarding their tactics over the need to pass a budget. They say it is all about the abomination of the Affordable Health Care Act or Obama-care and the overriding need to stop it. It's my understanding that they believe this threat is so great they must not allow the law to be observed even though it has passed Congress, was signed…
