Nate is the Red Carpet Librarian, working to provide lifelong support services to the Topeka and Shawnee County area, while also working closely with the library's sports collection. He is a Dad, sports enthusiast, history buff, and loves to read adventure novels as well as sports and historical non-fiction.
Contact Nate at nhohl@tscpl.org
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Gettysburg is probably the most important and well known battle ever fought on American soil. For even the most casual student of history, most of the landmarks, important moments, and generals who fought in the battle of Gettysburg have familiar names. Because of this rich history, a trip to this historic battlefield is an opportunity that should not be passed up. To [...]
Joyeux Noel is an extraordinary movie that portrays the Christmas Truce that took place on the Western Front during World War I. While there were several incidents along the entire front, the focus of this film is on one particular area which contained soldiers from Germany, Scotland, and France. Joyeux Noel is set in 1914; the war has been raging for less than a year, [...]
If you ever find yourself on Interstate 24, traveling through Tennessee and Georgia, it is worth your time to stop at the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park. The oldest National Civil War Military Park, established in 1890, the Chickamauga and Chattanooga sites provide a host of things to do and sites to see. The Battle of Chickamauga [...]
Antietam National Military Park is located near Sharpsburg, Maryland, right on the Potomac River, about an hour northwest of Washington D.C. In the South this battle was referred to as Sharpsburg because the Confederacy normally named battles after the nearest town, whereas the North frequently named them after the nearest geographical feature, in this case Antietam Creek. Antietam was [...]
Fall From Grace is a documentary which provides an amazingly unbiased look at the Westboro Baptist Church which is based here in Topeka, KS, and is run by Fred Phelps and his family. The writer/producer/director, K. Ryan Jones, made this striking film as an assignment for a film class at the University of Kansas, not knowing [...]
Suspension is a riveting and somewhat disturbing look at the ways in which power and control, even in the hands of a good person, can spiral quickly down a dangerous path. After a car accident leaves his wife and son dead, Daniel, portrayed by Kansas City actor Scott Cordes, finds his son’s video camera and [...]
Topsy Turvy is a delightful film which portrays the creative duo of Gilbert and Sullivan during their collaboration of The Mikado. It deservedly won Oscars for Best Costume Design and Best Makeup by bringing the world of theater in the late 19th Century to life. The movie starts out in the mid 1880s, during a time in which Gilbert and [...]
Before Clint Eastwood became a household name as a director with such hits as Million Dollar Baby, Unforgiven, Mystic River, Flags of Our Fathers, and Letters From Iwo Jima, he brought us Bird, which pays tribute to one of the greatest artists in a genre of music close to Eastwood’s heart. Charlie “Bird” Parker, one [...]
Does anyone remember how The Last Emperor dominated the Oscars in 1987? It won nine Academy Awards including Best Costume Design, Cinematography, Art Design, Sound, Film Editing, Musical Score, Adapted Screenplay, Director (Bernardo Bertolucci), and finally, Best Picture. Despite this gaudy resume, The Last Emperor tends to fly a bit under the radar. This is unfortunate because it is [...]
When I watched The Red Violin for the second time a couple of weeks ago, it had been a few years since my first viewing. I can say with certainty that it will not be that long before I watch it again. In fact, I enjoyed it so much, I’m thinking about watching it this [...]
The Mission is a beautiful, yet heart wrenching movie which not only won an Oscar for Best Cinematography, but was also nominated for six others, including Best Picture, Director, Film Editing, Costume Design, Art Direction, and Original Score. It tells the story of the 18th Century struggle between the South American native tribes, most notably the Guarani, and the Spanish [...]
