// author archive

simon

simon has written 545 posts for readersvoice.com

Written Humour, 1936 p2

Here’s are some more samples from Written Humour by A. A. Thomson, which is a 1936 book published by A and C. Black, London. Mr Thomson talks about wit. He writes: Wit is to humour what salt is to meat. It is a thing of flavour rather than of substance and, mainly relying  for its […]

Written Humour, 1936 p3

Some more samples from Written Humour by A.A. Thomson, published 1936 by A. and C. Black Ltd, London. Mr Thomson says that for writing humorous articles, the best material is the ordinary lives of the people around you, of things that are “irritating, amusing, interesting, boring, delightful, exasperating”. He writes: An English visitor to New […]

Humor from Jewish folklore p1

READERSVOICE.COM aims to give a few samples from out of print and sometimes forgotten books. Here are a few shorter gags from A Treasury of Jewish Folklore. It’s a 740 page collection of all sorts of stories, collected by the author, Nathan Ausubel.  Some of these gags have been recycled in different forms through the […]

Humor from Jewish folklore p2

Some more gags from A Treasury of Jewish Folklore by Nathan Ausubel, originally published 1948. At the very least it should be required reading for anyone interested in learning about comedy… Superfluous “Which is more important, the sun or the moon?” a citizen of Chelm asked his rabbi. “The moon, of course,” replied the rabbi. […]

Humor from Jewish folklore p3

Some more samples from A Treasury of Jewish Folklore, by Nathan Ausubel. These are from Part 3 of the book: The Human Comedy… Courtesy to a Customer A dog dashed into the village butcher shop and ran off with a chunk of meat between his teeth. Thereupon, the butcher grabbed his meat cleaver and, brandishing […]

The day a B-17 landed in Sandgate, 1942 p1

READERSVOICE.COM aims to give some samples from interesting old books. These are usually out of print and sometimes forgotten books. Sandgate was a still a quiet seaside town in 1942, although officially it was a suburb of Brisbane. A Boeing B–17, or Flying Fortress, brought some excitement when it made an emergency landing on the […]

WW2 RAAF Station, Sandgate p2

Local history book RAAF Sandgate, At the Mouth of the Pine, continues on the emergency landing of a B-17 in Sandgate. The author writes: The civilians ran to the plane and began to congregate around it…the plane had been on a bombing mission. It had run into trouble, first with the engines, and then the […]

WW2 RAAF Station, Sandgate p3

The book also quotes from an official report on the B-17 and its crew passengers:. On board the U.S. Aircraft B 17. E. 41/2435 were the captain, co-pilot, navigator, engineer, bombadier, radio operator, two gunners and 13 passengers: In part the report said: Landed at 1745 hours 18.4.42 on reclaimed land north of Sandgate Station […]

The Magic of Story-Telling p1

READERSVOICE.COM aims to give some samples from old books. Many of these have been more or less forgotten, but they still have a lot of juice left in them. In some cases, they’re better than anything that’s come out recently.  This issue features The Magic of Story-Telling, which was a 1971 book by Clifford Warne. […]

The Magic of Story-Telling p2

The three types of story. Accomplishment, decision and theme… The third type is the theme story: a person struggles to realize a truth of vital importance to his living. King Midas wishes that everything he touches would turn to gold. He gets his wish. Then he kisses his little daughter and takes a mouthful of […]