Write to the King of Funny Faces

There are two addresses here:



Hate mail goes to the address on the left. No bullets, please.

Fan mail goes to the one in the middle.

Warm Regards,

Erik B. Anderson
The King of Funny Faces
Independence Township, New Jersey
Established 1782

Erik Visited Kwame Nkrumah's Tomb

Accra, Ghana, July 1995 - I went to Ghana with a group of college students and professors from West Chester and Temple Universities. The first place we went to was the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum and Memorial Park.

It is designed to look like a tree stump to signify "The Big Tree Has Fallen." Big Tree is an affectionate term that Ghanaians use to call their leader.

Kwame Nkrumah was the first president of The Republic of Ghana, which is the first African country to obtain independence from one of it's European colonists in 1957. He wrote a lot of books about the struggle for independence. He used many of Mahatma Gandhi's techniques. Mostly forgotten in many parts of the West now, he was almost as influential as Martin Luther King, Jr. in the 1950's and 1960's. It was a great honor to visit his mausoleum on the first day of our trip.

I would like to thank Dr. Nelson Keith of West Chester University, who was our Big Tree. I also want to thank my Nye Bro, Dr. Padmore E. Agbemebiese, the Chief of the Abor Village in the Volta Region of Ghana, for taking us there.

That whole trip was profoundly influential on me in my formative years. I promise to post more blogs about the Slave Castles, Mensah Village and other events in Kumasi, Accra, the Volta Region and elsewhere around Ghana.

Warm Regards,

Erik B. Anderson
The King of Funny Faces
Independence Township, New Jersey
Established 1782

THE FREE JAMES TITUS MOVEMENT HAS BEGUN

PRESS RELEASE

From The Desk of: Erik B. Anderson                                                Contact: Erik - 908-979-3493

THE FREE JAMES TITUS MOVEMENT HAS BEGUN

November 7, 2009 - Erik B. Anderson, a resident of Independence Township (NJ), today asked Governor Jon Corzine to pardon James Titus, the man found guilty of the 1886 rape and murder of Tillie Smith in Hackettstown. In the book In Defence of Her Honor: The Tillie Smith Murder Case by Denis Sullivan, it is written:

A careful reading of the trial transcript supports the argument that Titus' guilt was never established beyond reasonable doubt. The state never proved that rape had been committed at the time and place alleged, let alone that Titus had committed it. (Chapter Eight; Page 124)
In his letter to the Governor,

Mr. Anderson wrote:

James Titus was a small, frail, young man. His father committed suicide when he was only fifteen. He was prone to what we would call panic attacks today….He was terrified. They were going to hang him! He was able to stay alive by signing a confession, but in exchange he had to serve nineteen years doing hard labor at the New Jersey State Prison. The Reverend who said a prayer at the “last public rite that will ever be offered to poor Tillie Smith” at the Union Cemetery, after it was all over, said: “We regret, O God, to-day that there has been so much leniency shown the murderer in this case (NY Times, Nov. 24, 1887).”

Reverends are supposed to be compassionate! That one wasn’t. Please be compassionate, President Governor Corzine!

The Free James Titus Movement is something that has been building up inside Mr. Anderson for a long time. “It’s just bizarre that whenever I hear anyone talk about Tillie Smith, they get real quiet and tell uncomfortable jokes. This is a rape and murder we’re talking about, not a Halloween legend. I’m tired of living in so-called Weird New Jersey,” he says. Expect an online presence: a petition, a blog, a MySpace page, a Facebook group and more. “A Pardon is something that should happen. It is plain as day that there was reasonable doubt. The fact it occurred over 120 years ago makes it even more imperative that a Pardon happen as soon as possible. The real killer is still out there. Why would anyone want to stop this?”

Every American Citizen Has A Moral Obligation To Circulate Petitions, Write Letters, And Do What They Can To Free James Titus.


http://freejamestitus.blogspot.com/        *       http://myspace.com/freejamestitushttp://twitter.com/freejamestitus

*********************

Erik B. Anderson is a performing artist, a scholar and a concerned citizen. In 1996, he worked as an intern at the Chester County Historical Society Museum and Library when he was a Sociology major at West Chester University (PA). He won a debate with William F. Buckley, Jr. that same year. His other achievements include: visiting slave castles in Ghana in 1995; managing a Campaign Office in Hackettstown for Congressional Candidate Anne Wolfe in 2004; and, helping True Crime author Ann Rule (The Stranger Beside Me: The True Inside Story of Serial Killer Ted Bundy) in 2002.

#30#

Traffic is a Serious Problem in Hackettstown

Hackettstown sits at the bottom of Schooley's Mountain.  The Musconetcong river turns west towards Philipsburg where the Golden Skillet, which is one of the last privately owned Fast Food restaurants in New Jersey. It's a classic. In fact, it was my father's favorite restaurant, but it also would be nice if we could knock it down and build a road over where it is, so that we could reduce traffic on Mountain Avenue making it not the most dangerous road in New Jersey anymore. Here's a letter I am proud of that I wrote to the Warren Reporter about this issue.


Click on picture to read Erik's letter.


I didn't choose the title "Shame on state". I wasn't trying to blast them. It is just a difficult situation.

Most of the bypass would affect Washington Township (Morris County) but most of the benefit would go to the Town of Hackettstown, so, if the Highlands Council were to permit, it's very much Washington Township's decision to do it or not. But, as you know, in Northwest New Jersey, everybody watches Fox News and listens to Rush Limbaugh (at least all the elected officials do), so there is a slim chance in hell that.

Also, this fight is not even a problem because the Highlands Council has designated all of Washington Township (Morris County) a protected territory, so they aren't developing anything on the other side of the Musconetcong. The Highlands Act and the Highlands Council is very controversial in Northwest New Jersey. Most of the rest of the state gets it's water from up here, and the residents up here don't like it.

Just google "Highlands Act NJ" or "Highlands Council NJ" and you'll see what I mean.

Here are just a few resources you can look at to find out more, if you want:

-New Jersey Highlands Council (Official Website)
-New Jersey Highlands Council - Master Plan
-Environmental Controversy, New Jersey Style: The Highlands Council and the NJ DEP - NJ.com Blog
-Lower affordable-housing quotas by Highlands Council might entice towns to follow its plan - Hunterdon County Democrat
-Landowners looking to take Highlands lawsuit to New Jersey Supreme Court - Express-Times
and the most recent news from my Township:

-Independence Township rejects state Highlands law mandate- Express-Times, Nov. 14, 2009

So I hope that makes you aware of what is perhaps the most pressing issue in Northwest New Jersey. It's all inter-related. If you think of something you can do to help, like go to a meeting and speak out, or write a letter, please do it. We need all the help we can get.

Warm Regards,

Erik B. Anderson
Independence Township, New Jersey
Established 1782

Hackettstown Needs More Trains

I do not condone graffiti or vandalism, but I do sympathize with this criminal's message:



Someone wrote "We need more trains!" on the NJ Transit train schedule at the Hackettstown Station.

It also says, "Get more people living here." There is a diagram of a house and a train station. In between the house there is the phras "f'ing done", which is an abbreviated version of a vulgar word commonly used to vent frustration when someone is overwhelmed. Under the house, it says:

"Do you know what 2500 gls of diesel fuel cost?
National Average: $6, 528.50"
Call 908-889-2424
if you have any questions."

The King of Funny Faces' blog does not make any claim that the facts cited in this graffiti are accurate. The number is a Fanwood exchange. I have no idea if it is a home number or a business. I hope it is the number to the firm that did the study that determined the diessel fuel cost. I wouldn't know what to say if I called, really. It might be the vandalizer, so I am nervous about interfering with a police investigation.

It's true. There are only three trains in the morning and three trains in the evening that come to Hackettstownk, which is the end of the Morris-Sussex line. Here is an article I read a few weeks ago about the new Mt. Arlington train station on the Morris-Essex line. It is only about a year old, and it only gets an average of about 80 passengers a day. It's going to be a long time, before it makes a profit. But, again, with only six trains coming through a day, no wonder it only gets a few passengers.

I am not the only person around here who is for more mass transit. This letter to the editor is titled We need more mass transit.

I hope you get my point. Finally, here is a video I made just after I took the picture of the graffiti above. There were three people to my left, and the rest of the car was empty. Riding the train can be fun, especially if you've got an iPod playing Iggy Pop songs like I often do:



Warm Regards,

Erik B. Anderson
The King of Funny Faces
Independence Township, New Jersey
Established 1782