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John T. Cullen Nonfiction Pages: Welcome. This section is new and heavily under construction. Thanks for your patience. More info soon. Image at left: John T. Cullen touring the world (somewhere: Eiffel Tower? Empire State Bldg? Who knows. All in good fun). To return to this site index page, click the red box below.
Top Highlights. My professional background is at once in academia (BA UConn; BBA National University; MSBA Boston University), plus journalism (experienced news gathering/reporting), and industry (technical writer/editor/analyst). Small press/online publisher for over a quarter century (since 1996). U.S. Army veteran.
Stance. I am a cautious, logical, truthful analyst of historical or other intellectual topics that interest me. Good example is the 1892 true crime and famous ghost legend at the Hotel Del Coronado near San Diego. It was a national sensation when the Beautiful Stranger met her mysterious, tragic, and violent death (age 24). My interest lay in the true crime, not the ghost fable, but as a reporter you have to cover whatever interests the public and raises questions. I unraveled the most plausible solution (no ghosts involved) to the 125+ year old cold case in my scholarly nonfiction book *Dead Move.* I followed that up, at the suggestion of a Coronado acquaintance, with a noir period thriller *Lethal Journey.* My position is: if you believe in ghosts, then *Dead Move* reveals how Lizzie Wyllie (not Kate Morgan) became one. If you don't believe or don't care about ghosts, then it's still a rousing true crime investigation. I believe the ghost story (which appeals to the greater public) was a diversion created to divert attention from the owner of the hotel in 1892 (John Spreckels). I know it's painful to let go of the ghost story, but remember: truth is stranger (and more exciting) than fiction (including ghost stories). At the same time, the novelist in me says: there is fertile ground for a ghostly novel. My non-ghostly models for *Lethal Journey* included gaslamp period noir like the 2006 film The Illusionist,
Background. Fifty+ years professional working experience. Born in Europe as a U.S. citizen (Army brat), lived in West Germany, France, and Luxembourg, multilingual). Teens in Connecticut, later settled in San Diego, CA. Degrees include BA English University of Connecticut; BBA Computer Information Systems National University; and MS in Business Administration, Boston University (latter earned serving honorably six years U.S. Army in Cold War West Germany). After retirement, worked three years for fun as a part-time as a shuttle chauffeur at the Hotel Del; have lived in San Diego half century. Traveled all over North America and much of Europe. That's just a quick take on a long story; lots of material for my fiction and nonfiction.
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