The Mountain
Laurel Review began publishing on July 28,
1993 with its August issue. Publisher Harold T. Beck, long fascinated
with the history of northwestern Pennsylvania, began writing historical
pieces for various local publications. When he wrote the first two chapters
of Cornplanter
Chronicles,
his wife, Sharyn, saw the potential and insisted he no longer
give away his work It was at dinner on the evening of June 14, 1993
she told him that he would either sell the story to a publisher or develop
his own publication where his writing could be featured. During the
weeks that followed, Sharyn, Harold and John Gates developed the concept
that became The Mountain
Laurel Review.
| Publisher
& Editor
Harold Thomas Beck
|
|
The Mountain
Laurel Review became a free publication with distribution
in McKean and Warren Counties, Pennsylvania and Chautauqua County, New
York. The articles centered on issues of local importance, often criticizing
elected officials and the practices of law enforcement. It was because
of those articles that Warren County attorney Barry Lee Smith approached
Mr. Beck and introduced him to certain unknown facts about the
Kathy Wilson Murder Case.
Mr. Beck's sensational series, Something Rotten In Warren County,
soon began to expose the real facts behind a case that over a million
people assumed was a perversion of justice. The Pennsylvania State Police,
for a brief time only, because of the series of articles, was forced
to reopen the case and undergo a small amount of scrutiny regarding
their handling of the case. Mr. Beck has since published two books:
Ripe For the Picking, The Story of the
Kathy Wilson Murder Case,
and The
Wrong Arm of the Law,
about the investigation, trial, and subsequent ramifications of his
involvement and the exposure of the wrong doings of law enforcement
and the justice system.
The Mountain
Laurel Review went on line May 9, 1998 with
the headline: WE ARE NOW A DAILY ONLINE NEWSPAPER! The article continued,
"News stories will be posted daily. We will attempt to offer the
news and slants on the news where the public has been misled. For example:
Cheri O'Mara and Kathy Kelly, while appearing on WESB's live talk show,
LIVE LINE, were asked about the article in the MLR about a possible
deal with American Refining Group. Both denied that any deal was ever
contemplated and both denied that there was any truth to the article
written by John Gates. Both are liars. Not only is John Gates' article
100% accurate, but we will soon publish more of the misleading statements
made by O'Mara and Kelly on that live interview and in response to phone
in questions. Watch this place for more stories and commentaries as
they happen." Little did we know at the time that we were creating
a new form of communication - the blog.
It was also about that time the Mountain
Laurel Review took up the ice cold case of
the disappearance of Marjorie
West, a four year old who went missing on Mother's
Day, 1938 without a trace. The search for the missing child at the time
was the largest manhunt in U.S. history since the search during the
famous Lindberg kidnapping. It was headline news across the nation for
thirty days and the resurrection of the case stirred the memories of
the local population. Local stories claimed that she
was taken to Canada and hidden by members of the family, while others
asserted that she fell down an abandoned oil well. Mr. Beck investigated
each of the items of gossip and concluded that none of the had any credence
except to note that the meanness of a small town. He began a nationwide
search for the missing child using photographs of her older sister in
1998 and by 2000 he was ready to follow up and attempt to close the
mystery.
The Mountain
Laurel Review has maintained a continuous
presence, first in local, and then in national commentary since 1993.
Mr. Beck achieved national prominence as a top rated liberal radio talk
show host when he produced and hosted The Bud Beck Show from 2002 -
2004. His daily monologues were posted on this site as his daily commentary
during those years. He has also written six books: Ripe
For the Picking, The Story of the Kathy Wilson Murder Case
; Cornplanter
Chronicles, A Tale of the Legendary Seneca Chieftain
; The
First Terrorist Act ; Tyrannus
Bush? ; The
Wrong Arm of the Law ; and
Finding Marjorie West..
Today the Mountain
Laurel Review is expanding its coverage by offering
aspiring writers and artists an open forum
for their writings and creations. The
Pen and Quill Society is a literary club of college oriented
artists, students and instructors alike, all eager to have their voices
heard on a variety of subjects. It costs nothing to join and all are
welcome to present their views on national and local topics of interest,
as well as use this as a forum to publish poetry and fiction..
The MLR is published by Mountain Laurel
Publishing Corporation, P.O. Box 28, Custer City, PA 16725. © 2011 Copyrighted
material. Nothing can be reproduced without the express written permission
of the MLR and the MLR and the respective author reserve proprietary
rights on all that appears on this site.
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