Category Archives: Books and Reading

“There is no statute of limitation on the truth.”

The Guardian: Ex-FBI agent opens cold case review into who betrayed Anne Frank. “Vince Pankoke and his team will use new techniques to analyse large amounts of data to solve mystery of diarist’s capture.”

“A retired FBI agent has launched a cold case review into identifying those who may have betrayed the hiding place of Anne Frank and her family to the Gestapo in 1944.

Investigative techniques developed in the past decade, including the crunching of big data to uncover leads, are to be used by a team of 19 forensic experts led by Vince Pankoke.

The Anne Frank House in Amsterdam has made available its archives and welcomed the initiative, which is being filmed and chronicled online, as the investigators, including historians, psychological profilers and former police detectives, work through the evidence.

The cold case review team has supervised a reconstruction, using actors, of the day of the Frank family’s arrest. One of the founding fathers of the FBI’s behavioural science unit, Roger Depue, is analysing contemporary witness statements and interviews.”

The New York Times: Ultimate Cold Case: Who Betrayed Anne Frank?

“A former FBI agent is heading up a cold case team more than 70 years after Nazi occupation police stormed the secret Amsterdam canal house annex where Anne Frank was hiding and sent her to her death in a concentration camp.

Suspicions that someone betrayed the Frank family are not new, but the latest attempt will seek out new connections in the case of the Jewish girl whose diary has captivated millions of readers worldwide.

Retired agent Vincent Pankoke said he had high hopes of solving one of the biggest World War Two mysteries in the Netherlands with the help of Big Data and modern policing techniques.”

The Washington Post: Who betrayed Anne Frank? Artificial intelligence could finally solve the mystery..

“For nearly 75 years, some of the greatest investigative minds have tried to figure out who tipped off the Nazis about Anne Frank and the seven other Jews who were hiding behind a movable bookcase in Amsterdam.

Now, a former FBI investigator working with a production company hopes the decades-old mystery can be solved with the help of a new mind — an artificial one.”

The effort is crowd-funded, see Cold Case Dairy for more information.

“Was the Cat in the Hat Black?”

Letter to First Lady Melania Trump from Liz Phipps Soeiro, School Librarian, Cambridge, MA.

“Dear Mrs. Trump,
Thank you for the ten Dr. Seuss titles that you sent my school library in recognition of this year’s National Read a Book Day. (Sent second-day air, no less! That must have been expensive.) I’m proud that you recognized my school as something special. It truly is. Our beautiful and diverse student body is made up of children from all over the world; from different socioeconomic statuses; with a spectrum of gender expressions and identities; with a range of abilities; and of varied racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds.”

“I attempted to create a library of black excellence along the Appalachian Trail.”

Atlas Obscura: Exit Interview: I Was a Black, Female Thru-Hiker on the Appalachian Trail. “On joining an exclusive group that’s 75 percent male and overwhelmingly white.” By Sarah Laskow.

“About two weeks ago, I was looking to see if there were any other black women who thru-hiked in 2016 and blogged about it, and I found one. It was called browngirlonthePCT.com. She talked about running into a hiker with a Make American Great Again hat. His trail name was MAGA. I don’t know what I would have done.
[…]
One of the reasons I did this in 2016 was that I wasn’t so sure I would do it in 2017. If I were planning my thru-hike for this year, I’m not sure I’d go. That’s sad. It’s really, really, really sad. The rule is you don’t talk about politics on the trail, but it’s going to become increasingly hard not to. Especially if you want to talk about diversity or the environment.”

Buzzfeed: How Black Books Lit My Way Along The Appalachian Trail. “I can confirm that one does not walk 2,000 miles across the face of this country as a black woman without building up an incredible sense of self.” By Rahawa Haile.

Links via MetaFilter: And I thought, maybe I could hike this trail one day.

Obituaries

The Guardian

George Michael (Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou). “Wham! singer who went on to a solo career and became Britain’s biggest pop star.”

Carrie Fisher “Actor who played Princess Leia in Star Wars was also known for her bristling intellect and writing that mixed candour, sweetness and wit.”

Watership Down author Richard Adams dies aged 96. “Adams’ novel first published in 1972 became one of the bestselling children’s books of all time.”

Deutsche Welle in English

Iconic ‘Star Wars’ actress Carrie Fisher dies at the age of 60. “She had been hospitalized after suffering a heart attack during a flight from London to Los Angeles last week. Fans have turned to social media to express their condolences.”

Pop icon George Michael dies, aged 53. “The British pop star and former singer of Wham!, George Michael, has died at the age of 53, according to his publicist. The global superstar reportedly “passed away peacefully at home” in England.”

‘Watership Down’ author Richard Adams dies, aged 96. “The English novelist Richard Adams, whose most famous work was “Watership Down,” an adventure story about rabbits, has died. Other successes were “Shardik” and “The Plague Dogs.””

Deutsche Welle auf deutsch

US-Schauspielerin Carrie Fisher ist tot. “Als Prinzessin Leia in der legendären Kino-Saga “Star Wars” wurde sie berühmt. Jetzt starb die Schauspielerin Carrie Fisher im Alter von 60 Jahren an den Folgen eines schweren Herzinfarktes.”

Ex-Wham!-Sänger George Michael ist tot. “Der britische Popsänger wurde nur 53 Jahre alt. Mit “Last Christmas” landete George Michael einen Hit, der seit fast vier Jahrzehnten regelmäßig zu den Feiertagen ertönt. Jetzt starb er überraschend zu Weihnachten.”
Verflixtes Jahr 2016 – Jetzt ist auch noch George Michael gestorben. “Als ob das Jahr 2016 noch nicht genügend Legenden eingesammelt hat. Nun ist auch George Michael gestorben – mit gerade einmal 53 Jahren. Fans und Stars trauern weltweit um einen ganz Großen des Showbiz.”

Die Zeit

Carrie Fisher: Die ewige Prinzessin. “Carrie Fisher spielte in mehr als 40 Filmen mit und war eine sehr gute Autorin. Doch in Erinnerung bleibt sie vor allem mit einer Rolle: Prinzessin Leia aus “Star Wars”.” Von Dirk Peitz.

George Michael: Lieder eines besseren Lebens. “Der große britische Popmusiker George Michael ist mit nur 53 Jahren gestorben. Er kannte die hellsten und dunkelsten Momente und hat für alle Welt darüber gesungen.” Von Dirk Peitz.