On This Day
1657 – The Flushing Remonstrance articulates for the first time in North American history that freedom of religion is a fundamental right.
The Flushing Remonstrance was a 1657 petition to Director-General of New Netherland Peter Stuyvesant, in which some thirty residents of the small settlement at Flushing requested an exemption to his ban on Quaker worship. It is considered a precursor to the United States Constitution’s provision on freedom of religion in the Bill of Rights.[1][2] According to Kenneth T. Jackson, the Flushing Remonstrance was remarkable for four reasons:
it articulated a fundamental right that is as basic to American freedom as any other,
the authors backed up their words with actions by sending it to an official not known for tolerance,
they stood up for others in articulating a principle that was of little discernible benefit to themselves,
and the language of the remonstrance was as beautiful as the sentiments they expressed.[3]
Born On This Day
1907 – Mary Howard, English author (d. 1991)
Mary Mussi, née Edgar (27 December 1907 – 2 March 1991), was a British writer of over 50 romance novels as Mary Howard, who also wrote over 10 gothic romance as Josephine Edgar. She is one of the two novelists to win three times the Romantic Novel of the Year Award by the Romantic Novelists’ Association.[1]
FYI
Wickersham’s Conscience: 2020 in Review: Remembering Those We Lost
The Pete Duel Memorial Site: From An Interview with Glen A. Larson
The Pete Duel Memorial Site: Mark Speight and the shattering of a child’s illusions
Ernie at Tedium: Big Email Energy
Why your favorite email newsletter (not Tedium) always gets cut off by your favorite webmail client. (It may be all the tracking stuff in the links!)
Brain Pickings by Maria Popova: How to live with our human limitations: physicist Brian Greene reads Rilke; Beethoven on how music saved his life; to be an “Earth ecstatic”
Brain Pickings by Maria Popova: Octavia Butler on creative drive and how we become who we are, Teddy Roosevelt on the two pillars of citizenship, Dylan Thomas’s cosmic ode to trees
By Evan Jensen: Make a Living Writing: Top 10 Must-Read Posts of 2020
By Arlene Weismantel, The Conversation: What Hundreds of American Public Libraries Owe to Carnegie’s Disdain for Inherited Wealth One reason why the steel magnate spent much of his fortune building libraries is that he saw handing large fortunes to the next generation as a waste of money.
By Lucas Reilly: The Most Important Scientist You’ve Never Heard Of
Kathryn’s Report: Federal Aviation Administration Chief Had Helped Delta Air Lines Retaliate Against Whistleblower, Administrative Judge Rules Carrier used psychological evaluation to ground, intimidate pilot, Labor Department ruling says
By Nikki Gaskins, Patch Staff: Anti-Lockdown Song Draws Backlash Music legends Eric Clapton and Van Morrison have teamed to produce a controversial new song that blasts stay-at-home orders.
“Remember, those who are shutting down our economy haven’t missed a paycheck since lockdown began. We are not in this together. ”
Van Morrison
Ideas
By gabbapeople: How to Make an Old-school Neon Street Sign
By MadeByBarb: Huge DIY Concrete Face Garden Sculpture
By skiedra: Homemade Camper Trailer
By cowdogcraftworks: The Nicholson Workbench
Recipes
By Betty Crocker Kitchens: Dumplings
By Betty Crocker Kitchens: Retro-Fabulous Cheese Balls Are the App Everyone Has Always Wanted
By Susan Anderson, Helena, Montana, Taste of Home: Savory Dutch Baby
By Kardea Brown’s Best Comfort Food Recipes: French Onion Grilled Cheese
By Cathy Jacobs, The Spruce Eats: 15 Easy Crockpot Chicken Recipes to Make for Dinner Tonight
DamnDelicious
- Chicken Fajita Quesadillas June 13, 2026This post may contain affiliate links. Please see our privacy policy for details. 30 minute chicken quesadillas with onions and bell peppers using leftover rotisserie chicken (huge time-saver!). So quick, so easy, so good! Why you’ll love chicken fajita quesadillas what is the best cheese to use for quesadillas? Always opt for a cheese with […]Chungah
- Lemon Butter Fish May 29, 2026This post may contain affiliate links. Please see our privacy policy for details. Tender, juicy, flaky fish with a lemon-garlic sauce that will knock your socks off. A 20 minute dinner recipe – so fast, so easy, so good! Why you’ll love this lemon butter fish recipe key ingredients in lemon butter fish Butter Use […]Chungah
RecipeTinEats
- Coffee Cake with Cinnamon Streusel June 12, 2026Firstly, thank you for the Jaffle love. 🥰 Hit the Jaffle button above to see what he got up to today! Secondly – cake. Specifically, Coffee Cake! A classic crumb cake with a jammy cinnamon ribbon, loaded with lots and lots of nubbly, extra crunchy cinnamon streusel. Outrageously good. Coffee Cake with Cinnamon Streusel This... […]Nagi
- Introducing Jaffle! June 10, 2026Meet Jaffle! Future Chief Taste Tester. Son of a Dozer friend. A little bundle of golden, fluffy joy! 48 hours of instant happiness I didn’t expect to get a new puppy so soon after saying goodbye to Dozer. To be honest, I wasn’t sure when I’d be ready. And I had it in my head... […]Nagi
wikimedia
- Wikimedia Commons picture of the day for June 16 June 16, 2026Picture of the day View of Kirchberg an der Jagst, Germany, from the river Jagst. At the right the listed bridge, build in 1779; behind it the hill which supports Kirchberg Castle (top) and the old town of Kirchberg.
- Wikimedia Commons picture of the day for June 15 June 15, 2026Picture of the day Mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei), Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda
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Welcome to the Stump the Bookseller blog!
Stump the Bookseller is a service offered by Loganberry Books to reconnect people to the books they love but can’t quite remember. In brief (for more detailed information see our About page), people can post their memories here, and the hivemind goes to work. After all, the collective mind of bibliophiles, readers, parents and librarians around the world is much better than just a few of us thinking. Together with these wonderful Stumper Magicians, we have a nearly 50% success rate in finding these long lost but treasured books. The more concrete the book description, the better the success rate, of course. It is a labor of love to keep it going, and there is a modest fee. Please see the How To page to find price information and details on how to submit your Book Stumper and payment.
Thanks to everyone involved to keep this forum going: our blogging team, the well-read Stumper Magicians, the many referrals, and of course to everyone who fondly remembers the wonder of books from their childhood and wants to share or revisit that wonder. Isn’t it amazing, the magic of a book?