SMILES: THE SOUL UNDRESSED
Ten Smiles that are Windows to Your Personality
Every person has a "signature" or baseline smile that places their personality into one of ten categories. This smile is an unconscious behavior that reveals one's soul undressed.
MALLWALKING etiquette
A primer for exercise protocol at the mall
Mallwalking is an enjoyable exercise regimen which avoids health club expenses, bad weather, traffic hazards, leg injuries, dog bites and muggings. The mall has trip-free walkways, security, clean restrooms, long hours and ever-changing scenery. Here are some guidelines.
The Friendship
The value of friendship is revealed in this heartwarming story of two high school friends whose lives diverged until as septuagenarians they bonded again while mallwalking as part of their medical rehab for coronary bypass surgery.
Sarah
Depression and Anorexia
A middle-aged woman battles for meaning and for life itself against the dark, suffocating forces of depression and anorexia. Read about her remarkable coping rituals.
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THE VILLAGE OF DICKEYVILLE: CHARMING AND HISTORIC
Dickeyville has the quaintness of a New England town on the western edge of Baltimore City and it is on the National Historic Register. This essay reveals its history and links provide a gorgeous photo tour and walking tour instructions.
TORPECKER
The story of romance and war for a World War II torpedo-bomber pilot.
How big government destroyed the cities
The lack of strategic planning during the simultaneous implementation of well-meaning Federal government programs after World War II led to the draining of workers from the urban cores. The concentration of poor left in the cities created a vacuum filled by the drug culture, which was enabled by the permissiveness of the 1960s.
the 1950s: Those Were the Days My Friend
An homage to a brief era in American History without war, recession, traffic nightmares, drugs, high murder rates, social promotion, latch-key kids, riots, wanton permissiveness, and the nanny state.
STORY OF BALTIMORE'S only NBA basketball TITLE
On April 21, 1948 the Baltimore Bullets defeated the Philadelphia Warriors to win basketball's world championship and the only NBA title the city has ever won. MVP and future Hall-of-Famer Buddy Jeannette received a television set and the rest of the players got pen and pencil sets.
THE GETTYSBURG NATIONAL TOWER SAGA
From the day it opened in 1974, Gettysburg battlefield purists fought for its removal but lost 15 lawsuits to the developer. The purists finally achieved its destruction to conclude what 60 Minutes correspondent Morley Safer called "The Second Battle of Gettysburg."
THE ROSS WINANS-B & O RAILROAD FEUD
The 1850s ended with the acrimonious destruction of Ross Winans' relationship with the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company and his demise as a railroad man. That divorce contributed to Baltimore's demise as one of the world's leading producers of locomotives.
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CENTRAL RACECOURSE: BALTIMORE'S FIRST GREAT TRACK
Central Racecourse was Baltimore's first nationally prominent thoroughbred race track and the initial Baltimore home track of the Maryland Jockey Club. A charter from Congress allowed them to move from Annapolis and begin Baltimore racing in 1831. It hosted Hall-of-Famers such as Boston and Fashion and celebrities such as Alexis de Tocqueville and President Andrew Jackson.
Super LISTING AGENTS: THEIR SECRETS
In a crowded, competitive field which doesn't require a college degree for entry, only a few become super listing agents. Super agents are the lifeblood of the industry and there are 10 secrets to that elusive status.
You may have free use of materials on these pages but
must mention this website as your source and include the
bio/blurb: "Paul H. Belz is the author of The Monster
Lincoln: The Lies My Schools Taught Me and the novel
The American Opus.
THE MONSTER LINCOLN
Lincoln freed no slaves. Those who did have been cruelly negated by American history. Lincoln's only plan was for a white state, achievable by 37-years of gradual emancipation accompanied by deportation.
MANY HAPPY RETURNS: COPING WITH DIALYSIS
Steve Rash developed many coping mechanisms in his thirty-year battle with end-stage renal disease. Two transplant rejections led him on a courageous search for a fulfilling life while enduring three decades of dialysis.
THE POLIO MIRACLE
Polio was conquered in the U. S. in the 1950s by vaccines. But in 1945, 12-year-old Clare contracted bulbar polio, the disease's deadliest form. She was isolated to await death when she made a vow.
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Paul Belz Writings
ESSAYS, NOVELS, AND COMPILATIONS
THE DAIRY QUEEN FRANCHISE THAT SAVED A MARRIAGE
Two workaholics with successful careers were drifting apart. To save their marriage they quit their jobs, opened a Dairy Queen franchise and worked together at their mall store.
THE HEALER
The story of a urologist with a passion for mallwalking. The surgeon searched a lifetime for elusive fulfillment and relationship skills until cancer brought him his epiphany.
THE PRODIGAL DAUGHTER
A story about ambition, choices, consequences and coloring books. She abandoned two husbands and a loving family to pursue modeling dreams in New York City. Then one day she disappeared without a trace.
RUSSIA WAS THE BEST FRIEND AMERICA EVER HAD
Without Russian assistance in the American Revolution, the War of 1812, and the Civil War, the United States would not have survived.
THE FLIRTATION
The Eye is Love's Tongue
For two years the mallwalkers enjoyed a complex romance without physical or verbal contact; not even a hello or a goodbye. The remarkable relationship was built entirely on eye contact!
The HISTORY OF CHRISTMAS
The history of the Christmas holiday and how all of its modern rituals and traditions began.
CORNUCOPIA OF HUMANITY:
A Parade through the Mall
A large suburban regional mall is the best laboratory in America at the dawn of the 21st century for observing the full spectrum of humanity on parade.
HISTORIC PRESERVATION
Why It's Important and How Much is Enough?
This essay explains why historic preservation is essential to a nation and explores the question of how much preservation is appropriate.
YEARNINGS
America's New Social Paradigm as the 21st Century Begins
The personal story of Sidney, a mall security guard. What men and women wanted as the 21st Century began in America.
THE LURE OF A TRAIN WRECK
When asked about her vacillating relationship with Grace, Rachel likened it to a train wreck. "It's too fascinating not to be drawn to it, but then you're repulsed by what you find."
BALTIMORE WATER HISTORY
A fascinating history of the three 18th and 19th century water controversies that created and shaped the city of Baltimore, Maryland.
THE UNLACQUERED PUZZLE
Preserving Puzzles and Friendships
Whether completing a jigsaw puzzle, developing a friendship or evolving a marriage, a late-stage decision must be made about permanence.
THE FIRST JEW
An Essay on Organized Religion
After living in the same city for over 50 years, he became her first Christian friend and she became his first Jewish friend.
MARIA'S ROSARY
The rosary never left the hand of this Johns Hopkins surgeon's wife. She believed it had more power to create miracles than modern medicine. Water she brought back from Lourdes made a believer of the paralyzed son who had long joined her husband and daughters in ridiculing her zeal.
The National Anthem SHOULD BE REPLACED
"The Star Spangled Banner" is rooted in racism, treason, sexism, and back-room politics. The United States needs a new national anthem.
A SCHOOLTEACHER SURRENDERS
He taught English for 40 years in an urban core American city. His view on the government's destruction of the public school system and his coping strategy for his 40th year in a violent environment makes a compelling story.
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF THE MALL
A humorous, anthropomorphic look at the annual and daily rhythms of an upscale, regional suburban shopping mall at the end of the 20th century.
The CATHOLIC CHURCH, SLAVERY & TANEY
A sketch of the Catholic Church's long support of and involvement in slavery and the Maryland Church's influence on Roger B. Taney and his 1857 Supreme Court Dred Scott decision.