Author: jwappett@gmail.com

8/31/2021 Newsletter

It seems to me that these days, many people are standing up for their rights, as they perceive them to be.  On the surface, this would be an excellent way to behave in a democracy. Why then is it so divisive?

Many years ago, even before I began law school, my dad handed me a 3×5 card that he had written on in his trademark fountain pen calligraphy.  Any of his students from Warrensburg High School in the ‘50s and ‘60s would have recognized the writing, as it adorned all of their graduation diplomas and detention slips.

On one side of the card, it read “Privatum commodum Publico cedit”.  The translation on the back of the card read, “Private advantage yields to public (good)”. 

We talked about it some, and he explained that it was a concept dating back to Roman times and that it meant that while an individual has rights, they are tempered or limited by the needs of society.

Three years of law school and a career in criminal justice has clarified this concept for me.  I also learned that it is a part of the English Common Law that forms the basis of our law.  First off, nothing in the Bill of Rights is absolute.  Free speech does not allow you to yell “Fire!” in a crowded theater when there is no fire.  Further, “the pursuit of happiness” does not allow theft. In point of fact, the only person who can enjoy absolute freedom is the tyrant.  In bygone days, it was the guy with the biggest club who could do as he pleased.

That Latin truism describes the bedrock of democracy. We may enjoy many freedoms so long as they do not impinge on the rights and needs of others.  Our home is our castle unless the government needs the land for a highway. Our life is our own unless there is a war and we are drafted.

What does this have to do with the demonstrations I described at the beginning?  I would like to see a silent picket with a blown-up version of that 3×5 card walking back and forth near anyone expressing their “right” to something.  The sign would remind everyone that individual rights have limits and that the sensible thing to do is to discuss and find common ground with the needs of the rest of us. Compromise and courtesy rather than       confrontation. Wouldn’t that be a pleasant change?

1/30/21 Newsletter

Dust in my brain’s attic, volume 1 (My first attempt at a newsletter.)

Change of plan.  I initially suggested that I’d be talking to you about how easy it is for you to write and publish a book, but that will wait. 

The other day, a judge ruled that the videos taken of Patriot’s owner Kraft at a Florida massage parlor must be destroyed as they could not be used as evidence in the case against Kraft.  Since the case first made the news, it seemed to me that reporters and most people did not understand why such clearly relevant evidence was being suppressed.  Although I am not privy to the details of the case, I believe that this was not a case of a rich guy’s money getting him out of trouble.  It seems that the judge determined that one of the good guys messed up. 

The exclusionary rule is the authority of a judge to block evidence that has been obtained in violation of a constitutional protection.  As a famous judge was explained the exclusionary rule, “the criminal must go free because the constable has blundered.”

Surveillance warrants (including eavesdropping and video) are the most intrusive forms of police action, and courts require the tightest controls.  The application for such a warrant must provide probable cause (that it is more likely than not) that specified crimes are occurring, that evidence of these crimes will be found using this warrant, and that less intrusive police methods are unlikely to be successful. 

Unlike TV, the officers cannot just turn on their equipment and listen or watch until the warrant expires.  It is required that the monitoring officers “minimize” the intrusion by limiting their looking or listening to only criminal activity. If there is innocent activity going on, the officers must turn off their equipment and then only periodically turn it back on to see if the activity has become criminal again.

I supervised the application and execution of a number of these warrants over the years.  In every case, I ran a “minimization briefing”, instructing every cop who was going to monitor the equipment about the rules and when they could and could not monitor.  I then submitted an affidavit to the judge about this briefing, including a list of all attendees.

Near as I can tell, this process broke down somehow, and video of plain old massages was taken of people who had a right to privacy.  A lot of law enforcement work lost because the “off” switch was not flipped enough.

Now you know.  At your next virtual get-together, you will dazzle your friends with your legal insight, and since you will be wearing a mask, no one will be able to identify that boring person on the Zoom call.

See you next month.  Be safe!

2/27/21 Newsletter

Dust in my brain’s attic, volume 2

Change of plan, again.  I initially suggested that I’d be talking to you about how easy it is for you to write and publish a book, but that will wait a little while longer.

So, why do people enter careers in public service?  Whether the military, teaching, government or law enforcement, those who chose these life paths without an ulterior motive have to have a reason, methinks.

There are, I am confident, any number of psychological and sociological studies on this topic, but where is the fun in that?  For my generation, I choose to believe that for many of us, the seed that was planted in our tiny little adolescent brains came not from parental examples, religion, or other reasonable origins but rather from TV.  And not just any TV.  TV Westerns!

Now, you may tsk-tsk all you like, but the fact is that TV first became ubiquitous (How about that for a big word?) in the 1950s.  And throughout that decade and into the next, Westerns were massively popular, especially those in which the theme, or at least a common plot, was the lead character going out of his (sometimes her) way to help someone in trouble.

As my lead character in Rage in the Woods recollected, I used to curl up in my dad’s big red leather chair, covered in his WWII flight jacket with the sheepskin lining and fur collar, and watch our only three channels WRGB (Schenectady) and WCAX (Burlington, VT) and occasionally WNYT (Albany).  I genuinely do relate the smell of leather to watching Westerns.

In preparation for this newsletter, I sat down with pencil and paper (Yes, I still use those.) and began to list all the Westerns I remember from my childhood (the 50s and 60s).  I did not use Google or any other form of cheating, and I still came up with more than thirty-two shows!  They included locales in three countries, Zorro and Cisco Kid in Mexico and Sergeant Preston of the Mounties in Canada.  I didn’t even count the cartoon versions such as Quickdraw McGraw and his alter-ego El Kabong. 

What really strikes me is not just that I remember the names of the shows, but how many details are still stuck in and among my head’s dust bunnies.  For example, there was one episode of Yancy Derringer, in which the Federal Army sought Yancey’s arrest for having provided the derringer that John Wilkes Booth used to kill Lincoln.  I remember that he was exonerated when the gun they thought he had sold Booth was retrieved from a dried-out well by Yancy’s Native American sidekick.  Now, remember that there was no series syndication and no reruns during the off-season back in those days.  You got one chance to see it.

I recently bought the full set of Yancy Derringer episodes, and, sure enough, there it was.  The very episode I’d last seen when I was maybe six years old. It was just as I recalled it.  I also remember many of the theme songs and even some of the lyrics.

With a dream he’d hold ‘til his dyin’ breath, he’d search his soul and gamble with death. The Rebel, Johnny Yuma.

Paladin, Paladin, where do you roam?  Paladin, Paladin, far, far from home.

Okay, so here is a brief trivia quiz for those of you who wish to be rendered immortal in my next newsletter.

1. What did the show Shane and the show Kung Fu have in common?
2. Which member of the Cartwright family of Bonanza appeared in the first episode of The Rebel?
3. Who sang the theme song to The Rebel?
4. Who played the lead in The Deputy?
5. What was the unique weapon in Wanted Dead or Alive, and what was the name given to it?
6. What was Sugarfoot’s favorite drink when he walked into a saloon?
7. What was the image in the center of Paladin’s calling card in Have Gun, Will Travel?
8. Who was Marshall Dillon’s first deputy?  (This one is a gimmie!)
9. What company was the sponsor of Death Valley Days?
10. Who played Cousin Beau in Maverick?

Please go to my website johnwappettbooks.com and email me your answers.  Feel free to share this with your TV fanatic friends and bring them to their knees. See you next month.  Be safe!

2/27/21 Newsletter

Dust in my brain’s attic, volume 2

Change of plan, again.  I initially suggested that I’d be talking to you about how easy it is for you to write and publish a book, but that will wait a little while longer.

So, why do people enter careers in public service?  Whether the military, teaching, government or law enforcement, those who chose these life paths without an ulterior motive have to have a reason, methinks.

There are, I am confident, any number of psychological and sociological studies on this topic, but where is the fun in that?  For my generation, I choose to believe that for many of us, the seed that was planted in our tiny little adolescent brains came not from parental examples, religion, or other reasonable origins but rather from TV.  And not just any TV.  TV Westerns!

Now, you may tsk-tsk all you like, but the fact is that TV first became ubiquitous (How about that for a big word?) in the 1950s.  And throughout that decade and into the next, Westerns were massively popular, especially those in which the theme, or at least a common plot, was the lead character going out of his (sometimes her) way to help someone in trouble.

As my lead character in Rage in the Woods recollected, I used to curl up in my dad’s big red leather chair, covered in his WWII flight jacket with the sheepskin lining and fur collar, and watch our only three channels WRGB (Schenectady) and WCAX (Burlington, VT) and occasionally WNYT (Albany).  I genuinely do relate the smell of leather to watching Westerns.

In preparation for this newsletter, I sat down with pencil and paper (Yes, I still use those.) and began to list all the Westerns I remember from my childhood (the 50s and 60s).  I did not use Google or any other form of cheating, and I still came up with more than thirty-two shows!  They included locales in three countries, Zorro and Cisco Kid in Mexico and Sergeant Preston of the Mounties in Canada.  I didn’t even count the cartoon versions such as Quickdraw McGraw and his alter-ego El Kabong. 

What really strikes me is not just that I remember the names of the shows, but how many details are still stuck in and among my head’s dust bunnies.  For example, there was one episode of Yancy Derringer, in which the Federal Army sought Yancey’s arrest for having provided the derringer that John Wilkes Booth used to kill Lincoln.  I remember that he was exonerated when the gun they thought he had sold Booth was retrieved from a dried-out well by Yancy’s Native American sidekick.  Now, remember that there was no series syndication and no reruns during the off-season back in those days.  You got one chance to see it.

I recently bought the full set of Yancy Derringer episodes, and, sure enough, there it was.  The very episode I’d last seen when I was maybe six years old. It was just as I recalled it.  I also remember many of the theme songs and even some of the lyrics.

With a dream he’d hold ‘til his dyin’ breath, he’d search his soul and gamble with death. The Rebel, Johnny Yuma.

Paladin, Paladin, where do you roam?  Paladin, Paladin, far, far from home.

Okay, so here is a brief trivia quiz for those of you who wish to be rendered immortal in my next newsletter.

1. What did the show Shane and the show Kung Fu have in common?
2. Which member of the Cartwright family of Bonanza appeared in the first episode of The Rebel?
3. Who sang the theme song to The Rebel?
4. Who played the lead in The Deputy?
5. What was the unique weapon in Wanted Dead or Alive, and what was the name given to it?
6. What was Sugarfoot’s favorite drink when he walked into a saloon?
7. What was the image in the center of Paladin’s calling card in Have Gun, Will Travel?
8. Who was Marshall Dillon’s first deputy?  (This one is a gimmie!)
9. What company was the sponsor of Death Valley Days?
10. Who played Cousin Beau in Maverick?

Please go to my website johnwappettbooks.com and email me your answers.  Feel free to share this with your TV fanatic friends and bring them to their knees. See you next month.  Be safe!

Okay, okay!  I promised to talk about publishing a book and I will do so, but first.  I must vent my spleen on two different and unrelated headlines today.

The first one quoted a scientist, who exclaimed “We’re skating on a knife’s edge right now.”  Dear God in Heaven!  This is a full-blooded example of the mixed metaphor.  We can skate on thin ice.  We can balance on a knife’s edge.  We cannot do both.

The second headline has nothing to do with grammar.  It claimed that a witness in the George Floyd trial stated, I believed I was witnessing Floyd’s murder.”  My prosecutor half groaned in agony at the comment and the Public Defender half jumped out of my seat to object.  The statement itself is speculation on the part of the witness, which is improper.  The bigger problem is that the witness is testifying about the ultimate issue of fact, that the jury is supposed to determine.  Absolutely inadmissible.

There.  My spleen is vented, whatever that entails.

Each of the above might be the seed of a story, perhaps even growing into a book.  We all have stories, anecdotes, and observations in us that could be the foundation of a book.  Why not write one? 

Well, going back to Guttenberg, or earlier to find the Chinese who invented movable type, the process of publishing books has been controlled by printers and then their companies.  Getting one of them to accept or even consider your book has been an incredible mountain to climb, even if you could hire an agent to proselytize on your behalf.  The only self-publishing option was to pay a printer to produce copies of your book that you would try to sell, the so-called vanity publishing.

As Quickdraw McGraw would say, “Well, Hold on thar!”  Beginning about 2007, with the invention of the Kindle reader the publishing world was turned upside down.  Amazon has introduced Kindle Direct Publishing, a virtually free method of self-publishing.  Really!  I have published three novels, available in eBook and paperback form and I spent zero.  I don’t even have to pay for inventory on the paperbacks because Kindle prints them as ordered.  They provide the apps to convert your manuscript into the forms for eBook and paperback, and they also provide a lot of help to set up your book on the Kindle platform and even advertising and promotion apps.  And the support is growing rapidly.

Now.  Going back to the starting line there are many resources on how to write books.  For me, the guy who has been most helpful in writing popular fiction is James Scott Bell.  He has a number of books out, but I love his set of 24 lectures on the topic, offered on wwwTheGreatCourses.com.  For me, it is perfect that his lectures are about 30 minutes long, about the same length as my morning run.  I just set up a lecture on my phone and listen to it as I trundle along.  His course and books changed my writing a lot, as evidenced by my third book, “Rage in the Woods”. 

There’s an open invitation, to anyone who has a storyline in the law enforcement/criminal justice area.  I would be pleased to discuss a collaboration in writing and publishing the story.

Once again, I’m going to renege on my promise to talk about writing a novel, until next month.  In fact, I will be foregoing most of this month’s newsletter.  Part of this is due to our having gone away to Hawaii for a week and part is due to the fact that I am presently running a promotion campaign for “Rage In The Woods” right now.  This campaign is going very well and is getting a lot of people to check out the book.  I confess that it is providing the eBook for free through May 4^th. 

Now, those of you who bought a copy are probably feeling a bit betrayed, which I understand.  So, I offer you the ability to immediately exact your revenge.  Contact all of your family, friends and acquaintances to go to Amazon, type in the title of the book and purchase it for free before midnight on the 4th.  I will get $0 for the transaction.  Can you say “Mwaahahaa!”?

The purpose of the promotion is to expand awareness of the book and perhaps coax Amazon to market it, if the numbers over the next few days support the notion.

I will be back next month with a full newsletter, I promise.

Take care.

Let’s see now!  Hemingway, Clancy, Cornwell, Gerritsen, Grisham, YOU?  Maybe not the fame, but at least the writer part.

We all have life experiences.  We have all observed the lives of others.  We all have heard news stories and other anecdotes.  We have all observed our own lives and the lives of others.  It is from these sources that all writers draw their inspirations, and so can you.  I suspect that the fundamental stumbling block for you like it was for me, is the fear of failing to write well.

There are many ways to learn how to write fiction.  Even Stephen King has written a book on the subject.  After checking out that book and many others, I have settled on James Scott Bell as my instructor.  He is knowledgeable, straightforward, amusing, and focused on the actual process of writing.  My first encounter with Mr. Bell was by buying his course on The Great Courses.  It came as a series of thirty-minute lectures, which worked perfectly for me, as my morning runs last just over 30 minutes.  I could take my run while listening to a lecture and still have time to play a couple of tunes.  If you are not into audio lessons, Mr. Bell has written numerous pertinent books, focusing on any number of aspects of the art.

I won’t lie to you.  Writing takes a lot of time.  I mean A LOT!  For this reason, you will need to treat this like any good habit and allocate a regular block of time and stick to the schedule.  I know this to be true because I have had to manufacture a plan, despite the fact that I have only one known good habit…the afore-mentioned morning runs.  Yes, I really do run 3 miles, six days a week.  As I explain to anyone who cannot break away from me quickly enough, I am 69 years old with this one habit I must continue doing until I can’t stand up.  After all, what are the odds of me coming up with another good habit at this stage of my life?

Oh, not only do you spend time, but you will need to have other eyes looking at your work at some point in the process.  You can pay for proofreaders, but I am far too cheap and found that collecting a group of friends who like reading can do much the same work.  My Beta group of eight was a delightful way to share the experience and gain insight.

One last nugget.  Put the app Grammarly on your word processing program.  Even the free version cleans up your writing wonderfully.

That’s enough for this newsletter.  If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out, and I will give you what help I can.

Thanks for your time, and take care.

June 30, 2021

Six months ago, I embarked on a journey into the Fine Arts.  My kids got me a bass guitar and a set of lesson books, and I have been busy ever since.

Nearly 50 years ago, I briefly had a bass but never spent enough time with it to learn much of anything.  I promised myself that I would return to that and master that instrument and Stef recently told the kids about my pipe dream.

Taking online lessons from the Fender guitar people and practicing regularly these past six months has brought me to the point where I have 2 ½ songs down cold and many more to come.  The music theory portions of the lessons come easy to me from my years with a French horn and participation in band, orchestra, and even a jazz big band.

So why am I writing to you about all of this?  Simple.  We should encourage our kids or grandkids to take up musical instruments and learn to play them to the extent of their abilities or attention span.

I have learned so much about music construction and composition during the phases of my life.  But the real eyeopener is when you begin to appreciate harmony and various roles that instruments play in creating all music.  Early on, I was taken by the vocal harmonies of the Beatles and others and learned all the parts I could pick out from the LPs.  In one of my books, I even wrote about how I fell in love with the low vocal harmony of the song “If I Fell” from “Hard Day’s Night”.

My French horn days sensitized me to all the times those instruments appear in music, from Beethoven to Tommy by the Who…even in TV shows like the “Streets of San Francisco” theme played by the L.A. Horn Club.  Now, I am tuning in on the bass guitar parts of the music I’ve listened to for years.  A friend even suggested that I go back to the early Beatles (pre-Sitar) and listen to what McCartney was doing.  And he was right!  Paul is excellent.

STEM education is all well and good, but there is a lot more to growing up and life in general than just making a good living.  I am not suggesting that your wee ones run off and try to make a living as musicians.  God forbid!  But they might enjoy sitting back in a chair and actually appreciating the various parts of whatever music they are listening to.

So, I am learning a new skill, keeping my fingers flexing, listening to music in a different way, and encouraging my young grandchildren to open their ears, too.  All in all, a pretty good investment of time and money.  Thanks, family!

July 28, 2021

So, how many of you ever think about going to the Great Beyond?  Now that’s the way to set the mood, isn’t it?  I don’t ponder the future much, owing to the fact that I was a lawyer.  The only question for me is which circle of Hell shall I end up in.

What brought this on, you might ask. Yesterday, I was loading an update for Norton Utilities, and it proudly announced that my “service expires 1/1/2050”.  At first, I felt grateful that I wouldn’t have to worry for a while.  But then I realized that I would be 98 years old when I next have to fret about it. 

By then, I suspect that the only worry I will have will revolve around my sleep/bathroom cycles, which will resemble a German train schedule. 

Quick aside.  When stationed in Germany with the Army, I once watched a local drunk on a train station platform in Frankfurt.  He was, of course, dressed in a three-piece source (albeit ragged and dirty).  He had been sleeping on a bench for some time, and when he stood up without opening his eyes, he shuffled toward the tracks. There was nothing there, and I started to move to grab him.  As his foot reached out off the end of the platform, a train pulled up, and the door opened to allow his foot to land in the train car.  I could only applaud the precision of the railway system and the trust of the inebriated fellow.

Even though our lives are changing at a breathtaking rate, time moves on mercilessly.  2020 has proven that beyond any doubt.  Instead of having to replace light bulbs every couple of years, fluorescents and LED’s may well survive us.

I just hope that I will have the time and opportunity to impart some of what I’ve learned to my grandkids.  It appears that our adult kids have already passed me by.  Aside from that, I would like to imagine that a few people may think that I’ve contributed something worthwhile along my way.

Here’s hoping!