MOUNT VERNON — While researching archives for potential stories, I sometimes bump into information that proves interesting, but difficult to use. One such tidbit is a reference in the July 11, 1916, issue of the Mount Vernon Democratic Banner, a long-running local newspaper. The news item is a small column-filler which reports that noted automobile […]
Mark Sebastian Jordan
Posted inArea History
History Knox author speaks at Loudonville museum on Shawshank book
LOUDONVILLE — The Cleo Redd Fisher Museum’s Speaker Series continues this month with a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the film Shawshank Redemption on Monday, March 17 at 7 p.m. In the late spring of 1993, a young Mark Jordan had the opportunity to check something off his bucket list: Be in a movie. […]
Posted inArea History
The production that never was: Mark Jordan shares the Appleseed Center idea that never sprouted
MIFFLIN TOWNSHIP — You can’t live for 50 years without having a few stories to tell, particularly when you’ve managed to get into a few interesting adventures along the way, as I have. (Brief aside: My proudest moment is still the time I caught up my mother with my latest activities, and she shook her […]
Posted inArea History
Is this a view from the ‘Other Fredericktown?’
FREDERICKTOWN — A bit of a mystery to begin the new year. I search many places for images and stories for this column of Knox County history. One area that has often proved fruitful is vintage postcards, which were once a highly popular way of contacting friends through the mail. Since one side of the […]
Posted inArea History
Gertie the Dinosaur fueled Fredericktown in the 1950s
FREDERICKTOWN — In a recent vintage photo of downtown Mount Vernon in the early 1950s, we saw the sign (if not the actual building) for a Sinclair gas station. This image from around the same time shows the Sinclair station that used to operate in Fredericktown at the intersection of South Main and Columbus Road, […]
Posted inNews
News Man Weekly: YMCA demo lawsuit, speed bumps and Mark Sebastian Jordan
MANSFIELD — The 12th episode of the free News Man Weekly Podcast has dropped. In this week’s edition of the News Man Weekly podcast, Richland Source City Editor Carl Hunnell is joined by Mark Sebastian Jordan, local author/playwright/actor/director/historian and journalist. The two old friends talk about Jordan’s newest book, “Get Busy Living: Doing Time at […]
Posted inNews
News Man Weekly: Speed bumps, new duties and Safety Service Director Keith Porch
MANSFIELD — The 11th episode of the free News Man Weekly Podcast has dropped. In this week’s edition of the News Man Weekly podcast, Richland Source City Editor Carl Hunnell is joined by City of Mansfield Safety Service Director Keith Porch for the second part of a two-part discussion. On this week’s show, Porch talks […]
Posted inLife and Culture
History Knox author pens ‘Get Busy Living: Doing Time in Shawshank’
MOUNT VERNON — In 1993, budding young writer Mark Sebastian Jordan had a once-in-a-lifetime chance to work as a background actor — an extra — in a Hollywood movie. Figuring it was something to check off on his bucket list, Jordan joined the supernumeraries for the filming of The Shawshank Redemption. Little did he think […]
Posted inArea History
Johnny Appleseed’s heroic night run tracked from Mansfield to Mount Vernon & back
MOUNT VERNON — In early September of 1813, tensions were running high along the Ohio frontier. The United States was at war with Great Britain, and through their fort at Detroit, the British were encouraging natives displaced by encroaching white settlements to attack. In reality, the Indians didn’t attack in north central Ohio until the […]
Posted inLife and Culture
Mansfield native’s short stories collection explores the human side of addiction
MANSFIELD — Nick Rees Gardner wants to expand the narrative around addiction. Gardner is a writer, critic and teacher living in Washington, D.C. but his roots are here in Richland County. He graduated from Mansfield Christian School in 2007. He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in English from The Ohio State University and a […]