Eddie Aikau is a legend in Hawaii, and to surfers around the world. From the mid-60s to the mid-70s he rode the biggest waves at the most dangerous breaks. However, he was also a working-class hero, saving over 500 lives as a lifeguard on Oahu’s north shore. And in 1978, he tragically sacrificed his own […]
Hard-boiled detective writer Dashiell Hammett was born on May 27, 1894. From the age of 21-23, he worked as a Pinkerton detective and then joined the army. But he developed tuberculosis and the military discharged him shortly after joining. In 1920, he moved to Spokane, again to work for the Pinkertons. There, he served as
Frank Little was a Cherokee miner and IWW union organizer. He helped organize oil workers, timber workers, and migrant farm workers in California. Frank Little also participated in free speech fights in Missoula, Spokane and Fresno, and helped pioneer many of the passive resistance techniques later used by the Civil Rights movement. He was also
The history of American Union Busting and the Pinkertons go hand in hand. The Pinkerton Detective Agency, created by Allan Pinkerton in 1850, plays a prominent role in my novels, particularly Anywhere But Schuylkill. The powerful Reading Railroad, which owned most of the Schuylkill County coalfields, hired them to keep their workers in line. The
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