The August 2006 Hatchet is now online!

Stefani · Post by **Stefani** » Fri Aug 04, 2006 6:28 pm

The third issue of year three of The Hatchet: Journal of Lizzie Borden Studies, is now online for your reading pleasure.

In addition to publishing this latest issue on LuLu.com, I have also finally posted the complete Year One, Issues 1-6, on LuLu for you to order in print format (B&W and Color editions).

We have some excellent pieces in this issue: another great journey by Neilson Caplain, a truly moving piece by Michael Brimbau on growing up in Fall River, a new author to The Hatchet, Cynthia Avila, tells about her latest research, and Shelley Dziedzic gives us a first hand account of making the Borden murders into a film!

Plus, our 2nd Street regulars make appearances: Eugene Hosey, Douglas Walters, Denise Noe and Mary Elizabeth Nagle. And check out the new cartoon by Mary's daughter Pippa!

I am sure all our authors would appreciate any feedback you can offer them for their work.

Subscribers can access the online version and order the print edition (with a choice of B&W or color!) here:
http://www.hatchetonline.com/HatchetOnline/index.htm

Non subscribers can join for a mere $20 per year for all four issues at the same address above.

If you are a non-subscriber, and would like to buy either a hard copy (NOW IN FULL COLOR) or buy a download of the current issue, please visit my store at LuLu.com at this address:

http://www.lulu.com/PearTreePress

Enjoy!

theebmonique · Post by **theebmonique** » Fri Aug 04, 2006 6:42 pm

Great ! Mine is ordered...and as always...I impatiently await it's arrival. Sigh.

Tracy...

Haulover · Post by **Haulover** » Fri Aug 04, 2006 8:41 pm

i haven't read a word yet, but what a beautiful cover again!

mbhenty · Post by **mbhenty** » Fri Aug 04, 2006 10:28 pm

Once again, as always judging by past issues, Stefani's cover rises to the lofty standards that we have all come to expect in HATCHET covers. Well done Stefani, very studious and captivating. Love it........keeping in mind that the 3rd issue had a tuff act to follow.

Love the prespective, very commanding, hard to tell whether it was taken this year or 100 years ago.

Can you give us any narrative about the cover Stefani?

Stefani · Post by **Stefani** » Fri Aug 04, 2006 11:01 pm

I took the photo in March of 2003 when Kat and I were flown up to Fall River to appear in the "Lizzie Borden Had an Axe" Discovery Channel documentary. It was cold and wet and we walked all around the place, but not inside at that time.

You will note the image of the courthouse was taken before they added the handicap access ramp, which runs from the steps to the street area. The look of the place now is very different than this.

I like odd angles with images, and always take tons more pictures than I would ever need just in case I decide in the future to use one.

I applied a duotone action to make this image glow like that. It is the same action I used in another photo in this issue with Lizzie---the photo accompanying Denise Noe's article.

I have to say that the design of the inside of this issue is quite different than what I have done it the past. I previewed the print copy to test the color images and make sure I didn't have any printing issues. I am quite proud of the look of this one! I hope you, Michael, and Mary Naugle like what I did with your pieces.

I love feedback, positive and negative. So please, feel free to let me know what you think.

lydiapinkham · Post by **lydiapinkham** » Sat Aug 05, 2006 12:15 am

Hi, Stef!

I just discovered the issue's appearance and took a quick scan-through before checking in here. Kudos!!! The cover is beautiful (love both the angle and glow), we have a vast array of subjects and perspectives inside, and yes, I love what you did with my articles. The labels look beautifully crisp and new. The additional Brownrigg pictures are sensational (in either sense of the word)--the repeated image of poor Mary chained to the ceiling builds beautifully to Brownrigg's ultimate fate. Also, Pippa loves the mitering you did to the edges of her cartoon. I look forward to reading everybody's contributions!

BTW, how do we get to Sherry's Abby Column? I missed the link somehow.

--Lyddie/Mary

Stefani · Post by **Stefani** » Sat Aug 05, 2006 1:48 am

When you go to the download page it is at the top of the middle column. The link is there after ANNOUNCEMENT:

Should I make the font bigger? Or all in red? I don't want anyone to miss out on Dear Abby!

mbhenty · Post by **mbhenty** » Sat Aug 05, 2006 2:07 am

Thanks for the response and the summary on the front cover. Always good to know.

At first I thought it might be black and white. Then I thought I could see some color in it. Then I summerized that it may be a color shot taken on a very cloudy dull day. Well you got this novice pleasantly fooled; a duotone action, well, works for me. Color tone complimants the shot of a building that almost demands such a process.

Of course I need to wait for my copy to get here to read it's content. Ordered 5 copies for a start. Hand them out like candy. Since my stuff is in it I don't have the moxie or gall to collect money. Last time I gave a copy to Len and left one at the FRHS and even gave one to a stranger sitting near me at the coffee shop; since he showed sincere interest in the magazine. I think I obtained 8 copies last time. Will need to be more frugal this time around; perhaps keep all 5 copies for myslef.

Edit: Oh yes Stefani: Did the Davol Poems make it.....just curious.>>>??

Stefani · Post by **Stefani** » Sat Aug 05, 2006 2:23 am

yes, davol is in there. I shipped a complete set of all fifteen issues to the FRHS, the FRPL, and 92 Second Street. They should arrive next week. I want those who go to Fall Rivah to have access to them and then maybe they will order themselves one online. Save your money there, Michael, and don't pass them out at those locations!

mbhenty · Post by **mbhenty** » Sat Aug 05, 2006 2:47 am

That's great Stefani: that is for Mrs Davol. I'm happy for her.

I think that is a great idea and if you had to Market the Hatchet in just one place, with the exception of No. 92, it would be FRHS. Cool! Funny, I was sitting at the coffee shop today and I mentioned that to a friend of mine, telling him that I was going to probably see you and would contend that you should really drop off a couple of copies at one of those locations. If you can not recruit new subscribers there; where else? Yes, yes, Coul.

mbhenty · Post by **mbhenty** » Sat Aug 05, 2006 11:16 pm

Hey Stefani, check it out: Here is a post card that has just been placed on ebay.

It's of the Quequechan River. In front of the mills, just over the water, you can see the Railroad Bridge/Tracks that we use to walk as children; just as described in the article in the new issue of the Hatchet. The Barnard Mills in the background. Of course there are mills all around.

And if you look into the distance, just to the right, you can see the twin spires of Notre Dame Church. Just as I remember. Very Haunting......

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... Track=true

augusta · Post by **augusta** » Sun Aug 06, 2006 11:51 pm

GORGEOUS cover, Stef! I can't wait to order it.

How sweet to ask about 'Dear Abby', Lyddie. 'Bridget's Kitchen' was written for the issue, too. Wrote 'em, emailed 'em, then left for vacation the next morning not realizing they had not gotten thru to Stefani.

This may be dumb, but what is the FRPL? Oh ... The Fall River Public Library! An' I figgered that out all buy myselff.

Good post about that postcard, Mb. Too bad you didn't have it to use in your article, which I look forward to reading.

mbhenty · Post by **mbhenty** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 1:25 am

Yes Augusta: Wow, what a bummer. I bid on that postcard and I already have it. I have about 3 to 4 hundred Fall River Post cards and after I read your post I said, "wouldn't it be funny if I had it and didn't even know it". Yep, I have it.

The photagrapher must have been standing in the yard for the Chase Mill when he took this shot. Right on the other side of the Barnard mill is Quequechan Street, and about 1200 feet from that is the Flint Mills where Mom worked in a sweat shop making men's shirts.

Notre Dame is much higher than it looks in the post card. Of course it's gone now, but the mills in the post card are all there, so is the rail road tracks. But, if you were standing where the photographer took the picture there would be a 6 lane highway right in your face- Route 195.

Kashesan · Post by **Kashesan** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 8:10 am

I enjoyed Haulover's article on Angela Carter too. I'm a big fan of Angela's (she died too young) and can't wait to read her story about Lizzie.

Kudos Haul!

Kash

Kashesan · Post by **Kashesan** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 8:47 am

Lydia/Mary,
Wow, I was almost ill after reading the article on Elizabeth Brownrigg. It reminded me of the Sylvia Likens/Gertrude Banazewski murder in the 1960's. Kate Millett wrote a novel about it called "The Basement" The similarities are eerie, and goes to show how poor, unwanted young women were and are abused to death in this 'civilized' world of ours.
Very powerful stuff.

Kudos!

Kash

(PS-I live in Lynn Masssachusetts and remember the old Lydia Pinham Building well)

Bob Gutowski · Post by **Bob Gutowski** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 12:21 pm

I just ordered my color copy. Tell me - have you ever approached The House or The Historical Society about selling it?

lydiapinkham · Post by **lydiapinkham** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 12:26 pm

Hi, everybody!

All done with this issue. It gets more beautiful every time. I love the choices of pictures and fonts--especially effective in Michael's story. I love the Quechechan story, Michael; I've looked at all the beautiful cataract views on the library site, and it is hard to believe that they are all gone. Your whole treatment of the scar left by the highway is truly poignant. Who is Mrs. Davol? Her verses are a lovely companion piece, and the pictures are a perfectr dreamy match.

Fun to find out what was where in the old downtown Fall River.

Also loved the review, Eugene! I haven't read the tiger story, but really want to now. I wonder if Carter had a novel planned? That would explain the unfinished feel to the story. I really like the lady or the tiger reference, because that really is what we are all trying to decide about her. Also, the town's response to the child Lizzie prepares for her later judgment in court and in private.

As always, I enjoyed Doug's contribution. The baseball cards and pictures make very nice embellishments.

I like Denise's spinster story--more in that thread.

Thanks, Kash for the Brownrigg feedback! I had read about her long ago, but after immersing myself in testimony for the story, I found myself feeling dirty and depressed for at least a couple of days. I deliberately put off the Fast Food story, which was already pretty much in my head, to help get the taste out of my mouth! That tells it all: when a mutton chaser actually cleanses the palate!
They have a Pinkham building in Lynn? Kewl! I have a photo of the one in Salem. It is now a free well-baby clinic. Old Lyddie is finally giving outreal medical help.

I ought to try to size the photo for an avatar.

Shelley's piece about the homespun movie was a hoot. I loved your resourcefulness in covering 21st century traces (outlets, etc.) and approximating the look and feel of the Bordens'.

And speaking of resourcefulness, how clever of Cynthia to think of checking Mass. records for Lizzie's legal name!

I finally found the Dear Abby link--if anyone else is as dim as I am, there is no "CLICK IT" in big bold letters. You just run your cursor over the area where its mentioned till the little hand appears. Anyhow, Sherry rounded it all off nicely. Poor Abby! Someone really should tell her to find a new place to stretch out for a rest. Maybe a nice cool place like the attic or the barn.

Bravo and brava all round!

--Lyddie

Haulover · Post by **Haulover** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 10:22 pm

"lizzie's tiger" was actually more difficult to explain than the one covering the murders. i did not want to go negative on carter, but i was distinctly unsatisfied about this tiger at the circus story. i appreciate the comments on it, which tell me the thing is noticed.

mbhenty · Post by **mbhenty** » Tue Aug 08, 2006 1:07 am

lydiapinkham: Thank you for your kind words. Yes, doesn't Stefani do a wonderful job. Gosh!!! In what tiny research I did, I could not discover who Mrs. N. M Davol was. I found the poems in a little book about Fall River, called "Fall River City of Opportunity," printed in 1914. I ran it across Stefani and she liked it. Good for Mrs. Davol.

It would be nice if we could pick and choose and freeze frame many scenes or aspects of our lifes, but time marches on and the piece was just a reflection of one of those moments for me. Happy you liked it, thank you.

mbhenty · Post by **mbhenty** » Tue Aug 08, 2006 8:49 am

Recieved my hard copy of the Hatchet yesterday. Personally delivered by the Editor and Chief herself to my door in Fall River. Now, how COUL is that.

augusta · Post by **augusta** » Tue Aug 08, 2006 12:24 pm

I'd like to get hold of a copy of Angela Carter's 'Tiger' story too. I went a-browsing for it earlier this summer and found one publication of it for sale. There was some reason I didn't get it. I would really appreciate hearing of a copy I could obtain.

Haulover's stuff is really great, I think.

The entire 'Hatchet' is, I think. There isn't anything I haven't liked since its publication began. What a talent pool Stef has!

One of my all-time favorites is Mary Naugle's 'Lizzie Borden lyrics' for the song "Mona Lisa". Her piece on Nance and Tyngesboro was really good, too. I was gonna go up there and get a look at Nance's old manse. No need to now. I am tickled to learn that Mary is Lydia Pinkham. That was a surprise! You have a FAN here, missy!

I think Mary also wrote the piece on the Pepin sisters. That was real good. It prompted me to order the movie. I was surprised to see that there are several different versions of the story that were made into a movie. I chose the one that was shown on HBO 10 or so years ago.

lydiapinkham · Post by **lydiapinkham** » Tue Aug 08, 2006 11:02 pm

Thank you, Sherry! Which film was that one? I saw a French one recently that nearly put me to sleep. I got so sick of long dreamy shots of their front door that I wanted to heave a brick at it.

--Lyddie/Mary

Aw, Jeez, I just thought--good thing you didn't go looking for the Manse of Nance--there's nothing to see but the retirement community. That would have been a long wild goose chase. Guess you could have turned pheasant and turned up the road to Pheasant Lane Mall.

augusta · Post by **augusta** » Wed Aug 09, 2006 12:55 am

The DVD I purchased on the Pepin sisters is called "Sister, My Sister". It was made in 1995 and stars Julie Walters and Joely Richardson. It's $12.99 on Amazon; you can get a new DVD for like $7.90 from independent sellers if you click on 'see new and used'.

There is another one on the subject called "Murderous Maids" that was made in 2000. It is in French. Amazon wants $26.99 but you get free shipping. In the new/used section, a new one's lowest price is $18.70, but you have to pay for shipping. I wonder if it gives you the option of hearing it in English. It's very tempting. It's quite a story.

It was really neat to see actual photos of the girls in your article, Lyddie.
I'd never seen them before.

lydiapinkham · Post by **lydiapinkham** » Thu Aug 10, 2006 10:16 pm

I'll have to check out the one you saw, Sherry. I was disappointed in "Murderous Maids." It sort of follows the lower class martyr approach to the crime, which makes no sense to me. They changed the title considerably in translation to make it marketable in the States. The original title translates, I believe to "Blessed Assassins." Nuff said.

RayS · Post by **RayS** » Fri Aug 11, 2006 11:26 am

Aren't murders by "disgruntled employee" very common among crime news? Wasn't that the point of Edward Radin's casting blame on poor Bridget? "Going Postal?"
Remember Manuel Correiro?

I read that Genet's "The Maids" (don't know much else) was based on this True Crime in 1920s France?

You can read about strange crimes, like Bela Kiss in Hungary, in any book that is not limited to the English language. But it may not appeal to customers. After all, we know those folks on the Continent are all crazy. Not like the good old American Alfred Packer. (Hope name is correct!)

Bob Gutowski · Post by **Bob Gutowski** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 2:33 pm

I loved Shelley Marie Dziedzic's account of the making of her Lizzie film. "Titanic, Jack the Ripper, vampires..." I've been through them all myself! And then, you even get Len Rebello involved! This was a warm and amusing article - brava, Shelley!

I agree with you, Eugene - Carter's short story does fall a bit flat at the end, and you've explained why quite well.

I will apologize to Douglas Walters; baseball gives me hives. The result of being forced to watch it so much as a child, no doubt!

Mr. Caplain's second fictional cruise downtown was as much fun as his first. Mr. Brimbau's piece about his life in Fall River was splendid and thoughtful. I've congratulated Denise on her "whittlings" on that particular thread.

It's nice to know we may always call our gal "Lizzie" with impunity, too! Ms. Naugle's article on the loathsome Mrs. Brownrigg was disturbing. The woman reminded me of history's infamous "Lady Dracula," Erze (Elizabeth) Bathory.

This issue was another compendium of pieces we'd get nowhere else but in THE HATCHET, so how lucky are we to be alive right now?

lydiapinkham · Post by **lydiapinkham** » Thu Aug 17, 2006 12:13 am

I just read "Lizzie's Tiger," and I think I like it better than Eugene and Bob. I'll admit that the final line seems anticlimactic, but I can't help thinking that it was a first chapter leading up to the crime scene recounted in the other story. I'm just sure it must have been a novel she could never complete.

What I liked was the way it hinted at her future through an apparently trivial childhood scene. The tiger is described as "burning" like Blake's "tyger, tyger burning bright"--a significant allusion since it is one of the Songs of Experience following his Songs of Innocence. The tiger's stripes reflect the bars of its cage, and the Lizzie of the story strongly identifies with it--already keenly aware of the bars of her own cage. Carter seems to be hinting at the sexual abuse theory here by having the pedophile turn out to be the tiger tamer, at whom the tiger suddenly, to little Lizzie's delight, lunges in fury. Does the tamer remind her of Andrew? Is that why she hates to be kissed? It seems that this scene is chosen as a sort of epiphany for the child: a moment when she becomes what she will always be: proud, angry, aloof. That moment is so powerful that even the townspeople are suddenly aware that she is not one of them.

Funny. I don't go for the abuse theory at all, but I still find it a compelling story--even if she does for some reason get the date off by 10 years, setting it just before the Civil War begins.

--Lyddie