Aron, Paul

(Paul D. Aron)

ADDRESSES: Home—Williamsburg, VA. Office—The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 429 Franklin St., Williamsburg, VA 23185.

CAREER: Writer, editor, and journalist. Virginia Gazette, Williamsburg, VA, former reporter; Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Williamsburg, senior editor.

AWARDS, HONORS: Prizes for news and feature writing from Virginia Press Association and Chesapeake Publishing.

WRITINGS:

Unsolved Mysteries of American History: An Eye-Opening Journey through 500 Years of Discoveries, Disappearances, and Baffling Events, John Wiley and Sons (Hoboken, NJ), 1997.

Unsolved Mysteries of History: An Eye-Opening Investigation into the Most Baffling Events of All Time, John Wiley and Sons (Hoboken, NJ), 2000.

Count the Ways: The Greatest Love Stories of Our Time, Contemporary Books (Chicago, IL), 2002.

More Unsolved Mysteries of American History, John Wiley and Sons (Hoboken, NJ), 2004.

Did Babe Ruth Call His Shot? and Other Unsolved Mysteries of Baseball, John Wiley and Sons (Hoboken, NJ), 2005.

Mysteries in History, ABC-Clio (Santa Barbara, CA), 2005.

SIDELIGHTS: Paul Aron, an award-winning journalist, has a keen interest in historical mysteries—both American and international. With the research skills learned during his career as a reporter, Aron has writ ten several books looking at some of the most debated occurrences in history and has, if not conclusively given an answer, at least amassed and reviewed the main arguments and theories surrounding these events. His 1998 work, Unsolved Mysteries of American History: An Eye-Opening Journey through 500 Years of Discoveries, Disappearances, and Baffling Events, contains a discussion of thirty events in American history that scholars and citizens alike are still pondering today. These questions include everything from wondering when people first appeared in America to who shot President John F. Kennedy. Newark, New Jersey, Star-Ledger contributor Libby Barsky said of the book, "The author has made learning these historical events more appealing by using the mystery format. As in all good mysteries, the prose is clear and spare making this a user-friendly book."

In 2005 Aron wrote Did Babe Ruth Call His Shot? and Other Unsolved Mysteries of Baseball. The book examines some of the most intriguing mysteries ever discussed by baseball fans, including whether or not Babe Ruth called his home run in the 1932 series against the Chicago Cubs and whether or not "Shoeless Joe" Jackson really threw the 1919 World Series, among others. He also looks at questions that are important to baseball as a modern-day sport, such as whether or not small-market teams can compete, why the Cubs can not seem to win, and whether or not players were better during the early years of the game. Booklist critic Wes Lukowsky noted that the book is "carefully researched and entertainingly presented," and a Publishers Weekly reviewer wrote: "Aron does a nice job of reminding readers that these ponderables are part of the enjoyment of following our national pastime."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, September 15, 2000, Mike Tribby, review of Unsolved Mysteries of History: An Eye-Opening Investigation into the Most Baffling Events of All Time, p. 205; February 15, 2005, Wes Lukowsky, review of Did Babe Ruth Call His Shot? and Unsolved Mysteries of Baseball, p. 1049.

Publishers Weekly, January 28, 2002, review of Count the Ways: The Greatest Love Stories of Our Time, p. 284; January 17, 2005, review of Did Babe Ruth Call His Shot?, p. 43.

Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ), January 17, 1999, Libby Barsky, review of Unsolved Mysteries of American History: An Eye-Opening Journey through 500 Years of Discoveries, Disappearances, and Baffling Events, p. 7.