The musings of Sean Paul Murphy: Editor, Producer, Screenwriter, Author. Or, Hollywood -- and beyond -- as seen from an odd little corner of northeast Baltimore, Maryland.
Here's another COVID free ZOOM edition of the Yippee-Ki-Yay Mother Podcast, a lively discussion of the movies that sometimes devolves into a group therapy session.
In this episode, Chris Coker brings a sadly overlooked buddy/road/heist film from 1974 Thunderbolt and Lightfoot. The film stars Clint Eastwood and a young Jeff Bridges and was the directorial debut of Michael Cimino, of The Deer Hunter fame and Heaven's Gate infamy. The film hasn't gotten the due it deserves, and we try our best rectify that situation. Check it out.
My novel Chapel Street is now available! You can currently buy the Kindle and paperback at Amazon and the Nook, paperback and hardcover at Barnes & Noble.
I am an avid genealogist. The past is very important to me. I spend a lot of time in cemeteries photographing tombstones to upload on the website FindAGrave.
I enjoy recognizing long dead people by putting memorials to them online. However, every once and a while something grabs me about a specific grave. It could be the name, or the dates or a ceramic photo. In those cases, I feel compelled to dig a little deeper. That's what this series of blogs is about: The tales behind those graves. Some of my subjects will be heroes. Some will be villains. Some will be victims. And some will linger in between, like most of us. However, don't be surprised if the tales are inherently tragic. These are grave tales. They all end in death.
For this tale I returned once again to Ohr Knesseth Israel Anshe Sfard Cemetery. It is one of my favorite cemeteries and the final resting place of many fascinating characters. I have no idea what drew me to the grave of Yetta Palatnik. There was no photograph of the deceased. Nothing written on the tombstone indicated a life cut short. Sixty seems young to us now, but that was not necessarily so in 1934. Nothing bespoke tragedy, aside from the normal sadness that accompanies every death. Still, I felt compelled to look her up. I found a mystery, but to me the mystery was why was it considered a mystery.
The Evening Sun (Baltimore, Maryland), 09 October 1934, Tuesday:
4-STORY FALL KILLS
WIDOW AT JOHNS HOPKINS
-----
60-Year-Old Woman's Body
Found in Alley Below Window
-----
NURSE SAW PATIENT
HALF-HOUR EARLIER
-----
Was Being Treated For
Lacerations of Head
And Throat
-----
Discovered to be missing from her room on the fourth floor of the Halsted Building at the Johns Hopkins Hospital at 3 o'clock this morning, the body of Mrs. Etta Palatnik, 60-year-old widow, was found crumpled in an alleyway directly below the window by hospital attendants who had organized a search. She was taken to the accident room and there pronounced dead.
The woman, who lived in a room at 1528 East Baltimore street and who was being treated for severe lacerations of the head and throat said by her to have been inflicted by a "machine" was last seen at 2.25 A.M.by Miss Lancy Kinsey, a nurse. Miss Kinsey said that Mrs. Palatnik apparently was sleeping when she saw her at that time. At 3 o'clock when she again entered her room, the patient was missing.
Chair Beside Bed
A chair had been dragged over beside the bed, police who were summoned said. A window, facing on the alleyway, had been lowered from the top.
The accident room physicians said that the woman had suffered a fractured skull, a fracture of both legs and a fractured arm.
Mrs. Palatnik was admitted to the hospital on January 2. On that day she was found in her room at the East Baltimore street residence with lacerations on her throat and head. Her son, Isadore Palatnik, 2100 block East Fairmount avenue, was called by the persons living in the house. He told the police that his mother said she had been cut by a machine. He took her to the hospital.
Mrs. Palatnik's body was taken to the Hopkins morgue after she had been pronounced dead. Coroner J.S.H. Potter, of the Northeastern district, was notified and began an investigation.
Mrs. Palatnik is survived by three sons and a daughter.
What happened to poor Mrs. Palatnik seems obvious to me: Suicide. I don't know why the reporter played the events like a mystery -- aside from the obvious. Johns Hopkins naturally wouldn't want to be held liable for allowing a sick woman to throw herself out of a fourth story window. Still, why didn't the reporter directly hint at suicide? I'm sure it wasn't out of respect for the woman or her family. The newspapers of the time relished in lurid details. Why the hesitation here? The quotation marks around the word machine when it first appeared openly expresses skepticism. Was there really a machine? Based on the information available, I would suspect that her initial wounds were self-inflicted.
I have avoided suicide stories in these blogs. As a member of a family that has repeatedly experienced the trauma of suicide, I realize that the subject can be genuinely triggering. However, I went forward here. I was touched by the story of this poor widow. Yetta (Ita) arrived in the United States with her son Isadore (Itzek) on 22 December 1924. They arrived in New York City, but their final destination was Baltimore. Yetta was 51-years-old at the time. She was married, but neither her husband or her other children accompanied her.
Yetta wasn't in the country long enough to appear in many official government records. Fortunately, I was able to find an incomplete and somewhat inaccurate family tree online. According to that source, her maiden name was Oxstein. She apparently married Jacob Silverman and had three children with him: Samuel, b. 1896; Sarah b. 1898; and Harry, b. 1899. Jacob must have died or divorced her because Yetta later married Harry Palatnik and seemingly had two more children: Isadore, b. 1907 and David, b. 1924. Therefore, David was only ten-years-old when his mother died. But where was he? The thought of her having a ten-year-old son only compounded the tragedy. But I don't think she did. My research seems to indicate that the David Palatnik was the son of another Yetta Palatnik. That mistake saddened me. The one person who thought enough of Yetta and her family to research her and post her family tree didn't even get it right.
Not that the family made it easy. Her son Isadore Palatnik changed his name sometime between her death and World War II. By the time Isadore filled out his World War II draft registration form, he went by Irving Platt. I assume he made the change because it was easier to pronounce than Palatnik.
Here's his death notice:
Irving's death notice adds more siblings but also indicates that Yetta seems to have taken the Palatnik name with her when she died. A tragedy. I'm glad this blog gives me the opportunity to bring forth her name again.
Rest in peace, Yetta.
Remember, there is a story behind every grave. You never know what you're missing when you walk past one...
My novel Chapel Street is now available! You can buy the Kindle and paperback at Amazon and the Nook, paperback and hardcover at Barnes & Noble. Chapel Street is the tale of a young man battling a demonic entity that has driven members of his family to suicide for generations. It was inspired by an actual haunting.
Here's another COVID free ZOOM edition of the Yippee-Ki-Yay Mother Podcast, a lively discussion of the movies that sometimes devolves into a group therapy session.
In this episode we return to our favorite Christmas movies and some offbeat choices are made. We also discuss what constitutes a Christmas movie as opposed to a film that takes place at Christmas. And, most importantly, Podmaster Ralph decides to finally end the debate on whether or not Die Hard is a Christmas movie. Join us for the holiday fun!
My novel Chapel Street is now available! You can currently buy the Kindle and paperback at Amazon and the Nook, paperback and hardcover at Barnes & Noble.
Here's another COVID free ZOOM edition of the Yippee-Ki-Yay Mother Podcast, a lively discussion of the movies that sometimes devolves into a group therapy session.
In this fun episode, the Mother Podcasters bring their favorite Nicolas Cage films to the table. Nicolas Cage has become famous for his over the top acting and odd choice of projects -- but is that necessarily a bad thing? We don't think so. Listen to our choices, and where they fall on the 1-to-10 Cagey scale.
My novel Chapel Street is now available! You can currently buy the Kindle and paperback at Amazon and the Nook, paperback and hardcover at Barnes & Noble.
I recently completed my latest book Life Like - a high tech ghost story.
Here's the log line: Much to the consternation of his career-minded girlfriend, Andy Watson has drifted from one lowly job to another since college only to find himself working in a futuristic mausoleum where a new embalming technique combined with holograms and artificial intelligence make its permanent guests seem incredibly life-like. Andy's life turns upside down when he comes to suspect that one of its inhabitants, the beautiful Claudia Elser, was murdered by her husband. Life Like is an engaging rite of passage romp loaded with laughs and heart.
You often hear writers say their work was inspired by dreams. Life Like is the only story I wrote inspired by a dream. I had a near death experience while finishing up my award-winning documentary Sacred Ground: The Battle For Mount Auburn Cemetery. In the dream, I was walking through the ruined, decrepit grounds of Mount Auburn. Then I soon found myself walking through a new section of the cemetery where the bodies were preserved in glass chambers, like in the 1934 Boris Karloff/Bela Lugosi film The Black Cat.
The Black Cat
Unlike in The Black Cat, I could also push a button on the side of the burial chambers to talk to the dead in my dream. When I woke up, I knew I had a story I wanted to tell. It was just a matter of finding a compelling human story to attach to the concept. Of course, I pulled from my own life experiences for the characters and conflicts. In Life Like, I deal with my familiar themes of lost love, death and possible suicide -- but in a lighter manner.
Life Like started out as a screenplay. Here's a taste of the responses I got when I sent the script around Hollywood: "What the script has going for it most is its genuinely unique, high-concept premise -- as opposed to most other comedies, the material does not seem the least bit derivative." "A wonderful premise and unique to boot." "The material should be applauded for its quality characterizations." "Realistic and sharp dialogue." "The dialogue is endearing." "Strong character development." "It's entire third act stands out as the most invigorating part of the script." "A pretty funny and surprisingly emotional story about closure." "It's a fun and exciting read with a captivating plot and a happy ending!" "This project's prospects are rather bright." "Sure to get industry attention."
I was thankful for the kind words, but I got no real bites. Why? Because the stakes weren't high enough in the original draft. The script was a character study which would have sold in a heartbeat during the 1990s, but the market had changed. Little human stories are no longer in vogue. While I figured out a way to increase the stakes, Jim Proimos, a well-known illustrator and the author of children and young adult books, offered to develop the script as a graphic novel. Before we got beyond some initial artwork, Jim was invited to pitch animation ideas to some LA production companies. He asked me if he could pitch Life Like as an adult swim style animated series. I said yes. He began pitching before COVID-19 shut down Hollywood.
I also figured out how to increase the stakes. Instead of restricting myself to Andy's perspective only as I originally had, I started with the death of Claudia Elser and followed her story parallel to Andy's story until the two finally met. However, instead of revising the script, I decided to write it as a novel. Jim didn't feel a novel would interfere with either the potential graphic novel or an animated series. And now it is done.
Below you will find the first short chapter. Please keep in mind that I have only begun my editorial process. I still have a long way to go before the manuscript is ready for actual submission. Expect mistakes. Still, I am very excited about the book and I wanted to share it. Below the written text, you will find a video of me reading the chapter in my pronounced Baltimore accent. You certainly wouldn't want to miss that!
I hope you enjoy it.
Chapter 1
Claudia
Claudia Elser died in the early morning hours of Monday, July 18th.
The coroner placed her time of death sometime between two and four. Her body was found in a tub of cold bathwater, which prevented a more accurate determination. She was thirty-five-years-old.
Her maid, or housekeeper, or whatever the politically correct term is now, arrived at her gated Brentwood manor precisely at nine as usual. Gabriel Elser, Claudia’s husband, was already gone. The police later learned he left the house around seven. He went to his club and played a few vigorous sets of racquetball before heading to the office. He reported making no attempt to see his wife that morning. The two had ceased sharing a conjugal bed months earlier.
The maid found the house silent. That wasn’t unusual. Gabriel was a workaholic who only came home to sleep. Claudia, on the other hand, often fell prey to depressive slumps where she would remain in her bedroom suite for days at a time. The maid reported this was one of those periods.
After putting on a pot of coffee, the maid went upstairs and gently tapped on Claudia’s door. She got no response. She tried the door handle. It wasn’t locked, so she looked inside. The bed had been slept in, but Claudia was nowhere to be seen. The maid entered the room. She saw the door to the bathroom was partially open. She went over to see her long time employer lying motionless in the tub. With a scream, the maid raced inside. While trying in vain to revive her, she thoroughly disturbed the crime scene. Fortunately, she didn’t corrupt the glass on the floor beside the tub. Police later found traces of bourbon and barbiturates in it.
Claudia’s death made the news. She wasn’t a well-known public figure, but she was the primary owner of the privately held Montclair Media, a broadcast empire of over fifty television and radio stations and a patchwork of cable systems throughout the South and Midwest plus a stake in over twenty cable networks.
I spent the night Claudia died playing WarQuest, a massive, multi-player online fantasy game. In my defense, it was business, not pleasure. My roommate Clay played the game for a living. WarQuest had over twenty million subscribers and there was a hefty real world black market for rare and exotic items found in the game. That night, the two of us, and a team of online allies killed Askow, a dragon on the third elemental plane. Askow’s eyes were magical items highly valued by fantasy sorcerers and enchanters. Clay had a buyer in Japan willing to purchase them for six-hundred-dollars in real money. Our share of the rest of Askow’s loot brought us another two-hundred-dollars.
I found four hundred dollars waiting for me in my PayPal account when I awoke at ten the next morning. I needed them because I was supposed to be at work at Starbucks at eight-thirty. That was it for my boss. He was a pretty cool guy, really, but he took the whole tardiness thing way too seriously.
Oh well.
That was a pity. I liked working at Starbucks. Making coffee was cool, and I loved the smell. It was a thousand times better than waiting tables. There was no way I could go back to restaurant work. It wasn’t pride. I didn’t mind serving people. I simply lacked the coordination or balance necessary to carry the trays. Every one of my attempts at waiting tables ended with an embarrassing spill. Mexican food, I discovered the hard way, looked the most disgusting all mixed up on the floor.
My car wasn’t good enough for Uber or Lyft. I made better tips delivering pizzas the old fashioned way than I could with Grubhub or DoorDash, but it was too dangerous. I was never robbed myself, but every driver gets a gun shoved in his face eventually. You just had to knock on enough doors. Plus, it was pretty embarrassing to deliver a pie to a party you should have been invited to as a guest. That, I had experienced.
I could actually make more money playing WarQuest with Clay than I could at any of those jobs, but my girlfriend Holly nixed that idea. She said I’d never be able to get a real job if the only thing listed on my resume was playing a videogame. Technically speaking, WarQuest wasn’t a videogame. It was an online game. But her point was well taken.
She was right.
She usually was. Or so I thought. Claudia would disagree, but I’ll get to that later.
Here I am reading the chapter:
While you're waiting for Life Like to hit the market, please check out my other books.
My novel Chapel Street is the story of a young man, Rick Bakos, battling a demonic entity that has driven members of his family to suicide for generations. It was inspired by an actual haunting my family experienced.
I recently made two appearances on Cue It Up With The Q Brothers. The YouTube show is a side project of my two fellow Mother Podcasters Ralph and John Quattrucci. I was honored to be invited onto their more family oriented program.
In the first episode, the brothers asked me to bring a film to discuss. I brought one of my favorite spaghetti western comedies My Name Is Nobody. I picked the film because I knew John had been watching the Man With No Name trilogy by Sergio Leone. I thought this picture, starring Terence Hill and Henry Fonda, was a natural progression from those films. It turns out that neither of the brothers had seen the film so they dove in with great freshness. It was a fascinating discussion.
Here's the trailer of the film:
Here's our discussion:
A week later, the Quattrucci Brothers called me back in. They had both watched the first episode of the new Disney+ documentary The Beatles: Get Back. They knew I was a Beatles fanatic, so they invited me on to discuss it. I was more than happy to comply.
My novel Chapel Street is now available! You can currently buy the Kindle and paperback at Amazon and the Nook, paperback and hardcover at Barnes & Noble.
