Below are twelve buildings or sites that appear in St. James Park. There are photos of what these places looked like in 1933, the time in which the characters in the novel inhabited. It is intended to give the reader a visual sense of the novel. Each of the tour stops ends with what the place is like today. All but ten of these places are in downtown San Jose. One can also use this as an unblemished historical tour to San Jose. Every building or place has their own separate

In the early twentieth century, there were small hotels catering to recent Italian immigrants in San Jose. These were clustered around an area now known as Little Italy on the perimeter of downtown. One prominent example was the Hotel Torino at the corner of W. St. John (formerly San Augustine) and Pleasant Streets. A 1988 California Historic Resources Inventory described the Hotel Torino as a “two-story wood framed structure was originally used as a hotel. The Italianate-sty

St. James Park is the first novel of a planned triptych about dreams conjured and crimes committed throughout the history of what is now known as the heart of Silicon Valley. It will depict San Jose in varying stages of its development from its orchard-based economy to one centered on advanced technology. The novels will feature some of the same locations. Each of the novels’ fictional characters will be different as they inhabit their own set of historical circumstances. Wha

The novel, St. James Park, reflects actual events that occurred in San Jose in 1933. Brooke Hart, was a recent graduate of the then...

During Prohibition, a state official once complained there were more illegal distilleries in operation in Santa Clara County than in any...

Swirling around the Brooke Hart kidnapping was a belief that such a horrendous crime must have originated outside of their community. It...

Long before there was a Silicon Valley, Santa Clara Valley was known for another industry. It was home of the fruit and vegetable food...

In 1933, the Jesuit-run University of Santa Clara thought of itself as well-regarded, elite and intimate. Detractors thought of it as a...

St. James Park is the name of my forthcoming novel about a 1933 kidnapping. Many scenes take place in this park. St. James Park has been...

St. James Park is an historical novel about San Jose and its environs, a region that existed long before there was a phenomenon called...

Try and Get Me focuses on America’s thirst for vengeance perpetrated by sensational journalism to incite the public’s wrath. Howard...

Fritz Lang’s 1936 Fury opens in Chicago when Joe Wilson, an ordinary working man, and his fiancé Katherine must separate for months...