All Photography by Joseph O'Donnell IV Unless Noted.

The Passing of Joseph J. O’Donnell, Sr.

May 9th, 2022
Photo taken of Joseph J. O’Donnell, Sr while on a dream trip in Ireland.

It is with great sadness and remorse that the Family of Joseph O’Donnell announces his passing on March 6, 2022. We wanted to notify all his friends, fans, and business associates of this sad news.

Please click here to donate.

The family is asking for a small donation to help with medical bills, a gravestone, keeping sites open, and credit card expenses.

Joe was a loving father, husband, and grandfather. He enjoyed model railroading, science, writing, painting, gardening, hiking, and reading books. Joseph helped other people he didn’t know which includes Toys for Tots and the 2018 fire in Fairfax County , VA.

Joe loved his magazines, “The Eerie Digest,” “The Arts and Entertainment Magazine,” and “Science and Nature Journal” that he published and all friends and fans he was able to meet. He wanted so much to have his books published that he worked so hard. Unfortunately, that never happened.

He was passionate about his ancestry and enjoyed the research he had to do. He found many family members and enjoyed his success in locating them.

He tried to help readers of the magazines connect with others that might help them in their goals.

Joe solely financed the magazines and websites. He never made income from them. Our goal is to have the sites gong for awhile so that you can enjoy them as much as he enjoyed writing them. We know that times are hard for everyone. We would appreciate any stipend that you are able to give.

God Bless and Thank You.

THE PUMPKIN PATCH by Author Joseph J. O’Donnell

September 21st, 2021
Joseph J. O'Donnell
Author Joseph J. O’Donnell

     Cindy was a loner and never related to kids her own age in the neighborhood.  Some teased her others avoided her, and everyone seemed to talk about her behind her back.

       It was tough to be an eleven-year-old and she could never fit in.   As with other children in her predicament.  She developed make believe friends that she could relate to.  Her friend was real as it was a scarecrow her grandfather put up in his pumpkin patch in her backyard.  He had passed away two years ago after living with her family for a while.  He was a widower and his daughter, and her husband took him in after his wife died.  He had a farm a distance outside of town and Cindy’s mother and father thought it better that he lived with them because he was getting on in years and the farm had become too much for him to handle alone.

Read more »

Black Tower – Chapter 2

August 1st, 2021

Read CHAPTER 1

Joseph J. O'Donnell
By Author
Joseph J. O’Donnell

          Chet Lawrence looked out over the city from his penthouse office on the fortieth floor.  It seemed like it was only yesterday instead of three years ago, when his dream of this building was no more than that of a dream.

He thought of the deals he had made and “pocket money” to have to lay out in political contributions to the mayor then in power, to prevent the city government from taking any actions in the project.  In everyday life in New York City, it is known as “supporting” your local politician, but when those, other than the political bosses, practiced this ritual it was known as the protection racket. 

Read more »

In Search of … Me (Part 7) By Author Joseph J. O’Donnell

July 12th, 2021
Author Joseph J. O’Donnell

    As of my last episode I have just received a more extensive upgrade of my DNA analysis. Ancestry.com Is always uncovering new data, whether it be a DNA upgrade, or simply adding new info in helping you discover your family tree.

   According to the new results of my DNA sample the figures have changed somewhat since my last findings. I have now been declared 70% Scottish, 19% Irish, 9% English and Northwestern Europe, and 2% Norwegian (those pesky Vikings).

   This has made more sense to me as my mother’s maiden name was Mills (of which I have found many of my cousins now living just north of me), and my father’s namesake moved to Scotland from Ireland, due to the Great Potato Famine, at about 1830. He then married a Scottish girl not long after he arrived there.

   For the next several generations the sons of the O’Donnell clan married women of Scottish lineage until my father arrived in America and married my mother (a Mills).

   I will keep my readers informed, and updated, with any new info as it arrives. I hope that my search results can help anyone who is considering in their quest to find their bloodlines and how to promote their own family ties.

JOD/TAEM

BLACK TOWER – Chapter One

June 13th, 2021

John was sitting in the electrical room having his usual lunch break. It was an odd shaped room. Sort of an irregular triangle attached to the rest of the boiler room by a long narrow hallway near the single freight elevator which serviced the east side of the basement. Another elevator servicing the west side, emptied out on the far end of the boiler room only accessible after a long walk through several rooms and down another corridor.

He had been employed here now as a handyman for nearly two and a half months, only a few days after the opening of the skyscraper, and it sure beat his last job as superintendent of a fourteen story office building near city hall. No more problems or worries and the tips and overtime were better too. “By a long shot”. He thought.

The room became the local hangout for the workmen and had a long table, plenty of chairs, and a small refrigerator and closet to keep the hastily packed lunches that their wives prepared. There was even an automatic coffee machine on top of the small closet to help kill the hours or warm up your insides if you were put on the snow removal detail in winter.

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HAPPY 100TH ANNIVERSARY

April 1st, 2021
Joseph O’Donnell

This is our 100th issue and we are about to move forward and make this, and all following issues, grow again. During the pandemic we had laid low, but we intend to sally forth to capture our readers hearts again!!!

                    Joseph J. O’Donnell-publisher

Culpeper’s Early Settlers by Joseph J. O’Donnell

April 1st, 2021
Joseph J. O'Donnell
Joseph J. O’Donnell

(Part-2)

The earliest inhabitants known to the area were the Manaoac tribes. They lived along the Rappahannock River west of Fredericksburg and east of the Blue Ridge Mountains. These native people were known as the Piedmont Tribes and were hunters and gatherers, and also practiced farming. Their success with this was due to the fertile soil made rich with by the run-off of minerals by streams and rivers from the Blue Ridge Mountains. Their crops consisted of corn and squash.

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Interview with Jackie Bailey Labovitz

March 10th, 2021
Jackie Bailey Labovitz

TAEM- When does science become art? The answer is when you cross botany with photography. I have found no truer answer than with the work of Jackie Bailey Labovitz. I chanced meeting her on a drive to Sperryville, Virginia where she is the curator of an art studio there known as Cottage Curator.

TAEM- Jackie, the tour of your studio was simply breathtaking and a must for our readers. Please tell us how you chose this location and where we can find it.

The Cottage, formerly the architecturally charming Rappahannock County schoolhouse located at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the historic village of Sperryville Virginia, is the perfect place. Exquisite light streams through the original glass panes of floor to ceiling windows where first and second graders once sat. And “Little” Washington and the Shenandoah National Park are nearby neighbors.

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My Virginia – Culpeper

February 11th, 2021

By author Joseph J. O’Donnell

Joseph O'Donnell, Sr. and Joseph O'Donnell, Jr.
Author Joseph O’Donnell, Sr.
and Photographer Joseph O’Donnell, Jr.

   Our magazine has traveled through much of Virginia over the years and we have sadly missed a lot of territory. The recent pandemic cost us time and a lot of opportunities to explore more of this great Commonwealth. We have decided to go deep outside the boundaries we normally frequented and visit the boundless farmlands and communities that support them. We decided that our first choice would be Culpeper, Virginia.

Read more »

In The News! My new book is finally Published! by author Joseph J. O’Donnell

April 11th, 2020
Writer Joseph J. O'Donnell

Finally! After a long stretch my new book, Tales For Late at Night – Darker Times is now on the book stands at the Amazon Kindle Book Store. You can see, and purchase it, by clicking on Our Book Store here or on the Homepage Tool Bar above.

My new anthology of Short Stories is great for late night reading, and will give all our readers another source of entertainment during the world’s battle with Covid-19.

Please enjoy my work and click on LIKE on all my work to let me know that I am well serving my readers. I also ask that you make Donations to The Eerie Digest , and my new magazine, The Science and Nature Journal (which can easily be reached by clicking on the Science icon at the tool bar on this Homepage). This will definitely help further productions for ALL my readers enjoyment.

Read more »

IN THE NEWS! See Our New Science and Nature Magazine

March 4th, 2020
Science and Nature Journal Logo

   The Science Section of our magazine has taken a giant leap forward at last ! For several years we toyed with the idea of placing all our science stories and interviews in a more formal, and appropriate, setting and we decided that the subject deserved a magazine of its own.

   Now the day has come in which those interviewed can proudly show off their stories. We decided that magazines such as Scientific American would satisfy the more sophisticated setting for this subject and we went about planning a similar style for our readers.

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Play It Again Sam by Author Joseph J. O’Donnell

January 28th, 2020
Author Joseph J. O'Donnell
Joseph O’Donnell

     Sam Perrillo was one of the most reliable hit men of the New Jersey mobsters. He was big, beefy, and tough. Almost anyone who met him would surely feel uncomfortable in his presence. He wasn’t a smart man, but he knew how to keep his mouth shut about any assignments that he was given. He was also very proficient in his work. All these qualities assured his benefactors that he could handle any delicate matter for them quickly, and quietly.

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Playing With Dragons by author Joseph J. O’Donnell

December 24th, 2019
Author Joseph J. O'Donnell
Author

Tom was a large young man with a very congenial personality. Most in the village considered him a big oaf, only good for menial labor. He helped out wherever he could to earn his room and board, and was paid little more than that. The old man who visited the village took a liking to Tom. He was considered a character unto himself, and drew suspicious stairs from the others. Rumors had it that he was a wizard, but rumors like this were never confirmed. Nevertheless, the small populace of this out of the way village, believed in most anything that was bantered about.

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The Crazy Lady by Author Joseph J. O’Donnell

December 3rd, 2019
Author Joseph J. O'Donnell

There was an old woman

That lived in a shoe

Who reminded children of dark nights

And not Winnie-The-Pooh

 She was dread by her neighbors

And kinfolk alike

And particularly dreaded

By every little tyke

Read more »

Coming Soon : My New Book by author Joseph J. O’Donnell

November 20th, 2019
Author Joseph J. O'Donnell

I have a new anthology coming soon to Our Book Store and Amazon Kindle titled ‘Tales for Late at Night- Darker Times.’

Joe O’Donnell, our photographer and superb graphics designer in his own right, has completed the new book cover design for the long-awaited book which I have submitted to this article. Joe has quite a few accomplishments under his belt and his book cover design can proudly take its place amongst his many fine works.

I want to thank Joe personally for his contribution to my writing and I’d like to point to his contact info at the bottom of this article for ALL my readers who wish to employ him for their literary works. You can contact him through his site below.

Thanks so much again, Joe!!!

TAEM/ JOD

Joe O'Donnell, Jr.

Joe O’Donnell’s Contact Page

Midnight Watch by Joseph J. O’Donnell

October 28th, 2019

Author Joseph J. O'Donnell

by Author Joseph J. O’Donnell

John Carver was collecting a nice pension from the Army. Single and retired, he took to fishing to pass the days away. He would take trips to fishing holes across the country where his ‘Angling Magazine’ boasted trophy size catches and peaceful surroundings. His pension didn’t quite cover these trips, so he worked three nights a week as a night watchman for a security company.

John was known as a practical joker by some of the co-workers that he shared his nightly watches with. This particular night he literally had a graveyard shift to man. A union grave digger’s strike left a large local cemetery unattended, and waiting graves caused a backlog in coffins that went unburied. The management decided to store the caskets in a large warehouse on the grounds that normally housed the tractors, and digging equipment, used on the premises. They didn’t want any of the coffins vandalized and they wanted to keep temptation out of reach of the pranks the local youths might conjure up. Read more »

The Raven Revisited by author Joseph J. O’Donnell

October 1st, 2019

Author Joseph J. O'Donnell

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary, over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore, while I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a  tapping, as of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door. “Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door- only this, and nothing more.”

I was an English teacher at Stone Junior High School, in Centreville, Virginia. I had always cherished this subject throughout my own school days, and it feels almost natural for me to make this my career. Read more »

TAEM Takes a ride on the Walkersville Southern by author Joseph J. O’Donnell and photographer Joseph O’Donnell

October 1st, 2019

Joseph O'Donnell, Sr. and Joseph O'Donnell, Jr.On the 16th of September our magazine turned its eyes to the North to see what new adventure we could muster up. Approximately two years ago (see the September 2017 article) we ventured to Cumberland City Maryland and toured the area on the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad. We decided to do so again , but at a closer location to home.

Our photographer, Joseph O’Donnell, found such a venue and brought it to my attention. Game for a pleasant afternoon jaunt in ideal weather conditions , we headed north to Maryland once again to the Small town of Walkersville where a splendid small tourist railway and museum stood. Read more »

TAEM Welcomes Back Author Raymond Benson

September 1st, 2019

Raymond BensonTAEM- Once again we have the honor of interviewing the first American author of the famed James Bond novels . We last interviewed Raymond in our July 2014 issue of our magazine. At the time we discussed his recent publications of the series ‘Black Stiletto : Secrets & Lies’ and ‘ ‘Ice Cold- Tales of Intrigue from the Cold War’. We recently learned that Raymond has just completed another great novel, ‘Blues in the Dark’, so we caught up with him to find out more about it. Raymond what genre is this novel written in?

RB- We call it a thriller, but I think it’s more of a suspense novel, or perhaps a literary thriller. My publisher, Skyhorse, is beginning a new crime imprint this fall, Arcade Crime Wise, and I’m proud to be one of the first publications under that banner. Read more »

Pay the Piper by Joseph J. O’Donnell

September 1st, 2019

Author Joseph J. O'Donnell

Margaret and I had lived in our new home for approximately six months before we began to notice the strange occurrences that changed our lives. Prior to these happenings, we had busied ourselves by redecorating the interior and making repairs where necessary.

It was an old house, but we loved it’s classic Victorian character. There were areas of the house where it showed maintenance had been lacking. All in all there was nothing major to the structure that needed an overall. The heating system was something that needed updating, but the plumbing and electrical fixtures were up to building codes. We had additional electrical and telephone outlets installed for my computer and a cable television box put into the living room for our new large screen TV, but that was about all. This gave us time to putter around the house and add a few of those personal touches. Read more »