REVIEWS AND MEDIA FOR RHETTA AKA

REVIEWS AND MEDIA FOR RHETTA AKAMATSU

 

Radio:

Let's Talk Ghosts w/Rhetta Akamatsu

January 31, 2008

CPR Show Welcomes Author, Rhetta Akamatsu

February 24, 2008

 

ParaWomenRadio With Amy and Kristy! - Oct 16,2008

October 16, 2008

 

Reviews for Haunted Marietta:

 "I'd give it three thumbs up if I could" - Meiya Brentari

"5 out of 5 stars.." Anita Stewart

"I think if you wrote text books on history more people would understand and enjoy facts"-Jean Pitt Dover

 

BOOK REPORT ON HAUNTED MARIETTA

Eddie Hunter

"Chicken Fat" Blog

I finished reading the book HAUNTED MARIETTA by Rhetta Akamatsu.

It is not ghost stories with frightening plots that happened in Marietta. Vincent Price is not playing the fiddle while Marietta burns and the Alexander Stephens Clay statue in the park melts. Nothing like that. Not even any sudden BOOS! (gotcha!)

It is simple events or sightings of beings that probably used to be living and a good dose of local history to help paint the picture.

Ms Akamatsu tells of places all over Marietta and on the outskirts such as Sandy Plains Road and as far south as the Concord Covered Bridge. She usually gives her theories why a certain area or objects might attract ghosts, such as bridges.

She tells of haunts in downtown and the killing fields (and mountain) of the Civil War and explains the possibilities of why the spirits settled on a particular place.
The Civil War plays heavily in her narration because this town was under U.S. marshal law from the summer of 1864 on for a couple of years. The citizens starved and lived their lives in despair. Life was hell then…. The brewing ground for unsettled spirits.

Some people are skeptics about ghosts. Well, if they are they are.

You can read this book and keep your belief intact but still enjoy this book just for the local history education you will absorb. Rhetta Akamutsu covers every major historical event that I can think of. It lacks detailed facts and figures but has quality run-downs of each event that unfolded in Marietta.

Another thing I enjoyed about the book, which I already mentioned in a previous blog is that it mentions Chicken Fat and me three times!!!

Reviews for T'ain't Nobody's Business If I Do;

T'Ain't Nobody's Business If I Do" Book Preview

Wednesday September 3, 2008

Reverend Keith A. Gordon

About.com

 

T'ain't Nobody's Business If I Do book coverAuthor Rhetta Akamatsu has a lot of interests, and one of them is blues music. When reading about the blues, the Marietta Georgia native discovered that female blues singers were often overlooked in books written about the music. To help balance the scales, Akamatsu put together T'Ain't Nobody's Business If I Do: Women Blues Singers Old and New, which takes an in-depth look into the lives of blues women from both the early days of the music as well as the contemporary blues scene.

Akamatsu put a lot of research into T'Ain't Nobody's Business If I Do, and she covers an impressive range of blues artists. The first section of the book, titled "The Early Blues Women," includes profiles of classic early era blues singers like Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, Ida Cox, Memphis Minnie, and Sippie Wallace, as well as R&B-oriented modern era singers like Ruth Brown and Big Mama Thornton.

The second section of T'Ain't Nobody's Business If I Do covers "Blues Women From The '60s To The Present," offering profiles of old-school blues and R&B artists like Etta James and Irma Thomas, as well as traditionally-oriented contemporary blues singers like Marcia Ball and Saffire (the Uppity Blues Women), along with more pop-and-rock-oriented performers like Bonnie Raitt and Janis Joplin, among others.

Eighteen women are covered in the pages of T'Ain't Nobody's Business If I Do, a long overdue effort to put the significant and influential contributions of female blues artists in their proper context.

 

 
4.0 out of 5 stars Blues Women in a Class by Themselves, August 15, 2008
By  Gretchen Lee Bourquin (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews
This review is from: T'Ain't Nobody's Business If I Do: Women Blues Singers Old And New (Paperback)


When I first heard of Rhetta Akamatsu's new book T'aint Nobody's Business If I Do: Women Blues Singers Old and New I was intrigued. The book chronicles the lives and struggles of the great female blues singers in the last century.

I like blues music; the rhythms, feeling and drama behind it. But I had never considered that "women's blues" was something different and distinct from "men's blues" Akamatsu illustrates that it definitely has it's own place. Women's blues is sassier, tougher and more rebellious than the men's blues - not that Muddy Waters and B.B. King are anything to sneeze at. But when women got the blues they didn't shrivel in the corner. They stood up and fought back with a strong voice and sometimes with both fists.

The book begins in a casual, conversational , tone that like the women of the blues makes no apologies. It is well researched and chronicles eighteen different blues acts, including Mamie Smith, Etta James, Janis Joplin, the blues group Saffire and many more.

This book made me look at blues music differently. It is more than just a genre or form of music, but carries a feeling that transcends whatever genre was prevalent at the time from Vaudeville to Rock and Roll.

T'aint Nobody's Business gives a good overview of different female blues performers laid out in a way that is both informative and entertaining. But I give one warning - This book definitely left me wanting more. I think it might be time to buy a new CD. I hope I can pick just one.

 

 

REVIEWS FOR GHOST TO COAST

A Paranormal Delight
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13 Apr 2008
Ghost to Coast, penned by Rhetta Akamatsu, is a delightful guidebook to the unexplained and ghostly.

The lively tone of the book begins with an introduction detailing the author's personal paranormal experiences, and reasons for writing this book; it was appealing enough to make me wish it was longer.

The rest of the book is an excellent paranormal reference manual that includes:

• A ghost tour directory, cataloguing a list of ghost excursions by state. It is well researched, with website listings, price lists, contact information, etc. The directory is peppered with a smattering of reviews, based on the author's personal experience.
• Two informative articles (one by a contributing writer) on paranormal investigation and ghost hunting, detailing the proper equipment and technical facts needed for ghostly research. Even if you don’t intend on joining the ranks, both items make entertaining and enjoyable reading. Immediately after these two pieces is a state by state listing of paranormal research and ghost hunting organizations, complete with some intriguing photos.
• An article (by another contributing writer), discussing both the scientific and metaphysical concept of spirits, that I found a thought provoking commentary.
• A listing of haunted hotels, with excellent location and contact information and occasional notes of interest. Always useful knowledge for planning that extraordinary vacation.
• Also included is a lovely poem or two, which I found an enjoyable treat.

Overall, I found Ghost to Coast to be engaging, out of the ordinary, and well worth reading.

 

 REVIEW BY BECKY POWELL
 

If you are into ghosts at all, you have to have the comprehensive ghost-hunting guide, Ghost to Coast, by Rhetta Akamatsu.  Ghost to Coast is a compendium of ghost tours across the country.  Akamatsu has been thorough, including tours for almost every state.  Anything from the Ghosts and Good Time Girls tour in Alaska, to Casper, Wyoming’s Living History Ghost Tour can be found in this guide.  All the important information is there:  websites, addresses and phone numbers, even prices and hours.& ;nbs p; Many of the tours are reviewed by Akamatsu as well, with emphasis on the number of stops on the tour, and the ghostly commentary of the tour guides.  Even more fun is the listing of haunted hotels in the U.S.   You could plan an entire vacation around ghost-hunting with this guide.

 In an Introduction, Akamatsu shares her experiences with the supernatural, including a ghost that regularly visited her family when she was a child.  Akamatsu’s approach is lighthearted.  She obviously enjoys pursuing the mysteries of the spirit world.  But, her approach to investigating is historical and scientific.  She highlights the back-stories of reported hauntings and provides advice and tips from expert paranormal investigators on everything from equipment to safety.  The book includes a listing of paranormal investigating resources around the country, as well.

Ghost to Coast is a must have for anyone planning to do serious ghost hunting, or for anyone who wants to have a fun and unique vacation experience.

 

NEWSPAPER ARTICLE: 

Local haunts

 


By Carleigh Kate Knight
Marietta Daily Journal Staff Writer


It was just another early evening at Three Bears Café, and manager Malia Hennies was carrying food upstairs from a basement kitchen. The staircase light was burnt out, it was dark and she when she reached the top of the platform, she heard heavy footsteps following her. She turned around to thank the cook for helping her - but no one was there.

"It was very clear that someone was walking up the stairs. I got goose bumps and a cold chill. It was definitely creepy," said Hennies. "I believe in ghosts and perhaps another realm … but it doesn't frighten me like that. It's almost playful."

It seems everyone has an eerie, mysterious and unintelligible story. Some think its just their imagination, others deny it even happened and some, like Hennies, believe it is a ghost.

However you reconcile paranormal experiences - meaning something beyond the range of scientific explanation - it's hard to ignore the heart-stopping, skin-crawling and unsettling feeling of possibly encountering the supernatural.

Marietta, a town steeped in Civil War history, with several old buildings still intact and occupied, its not hard to find ghost stories. Joni Goodin, founder of Ghosts of Marietta, a walking ghost tour, collected the tales and now takes people on a 90-minute jaunt through the haunted places in town. She tells stories of a ghost dog in a local cemetery, a grieving sister and a mysterious fireman.

"The Kennesaw House is pretty fascinating. Some claim there are 700 ghosts there since it was once a Confederate hospital and morgue," said Goodin.

The house was built in 1844, and in 1855, the Fletcher family added on a bed and breakfast. They had three daughters, and it's believed that one of the daughters could still be there, according to Goodin.

"I'm not sure why. But they did live through the Civil War, a terrible time of tension and death. The Fletchers were Unionists, and it was really a period when families were being ripped apart and women were being left alone," she said.

Dan Cox, founder of the Marietta History Museum in the Kennesaw House, said he has many pictures of ghosts. "I've heard and seen all types of stuff. When I get here at 6 a.m., I hear footsteps. But I don't really believe in that stuff; it's just the imagination," he said with a laugh.

Ghost investigators and the paranormal community are trying to find out why ghosts haunt certain locations, and advances in technology are making it a little easier than relying on tales and legends.

Kevin Fike with Historic Ghost Watch and Investigation in Atlanta has surveyed several Marietta locations, including Three Bears Café and the Kennesaw House. He uses electromagnetic meters to note changes in currents, thermometers to detect changes in temperature, cameras and digital voice recorders.

"We use all the equipment and see if things pair up because usually you have several things going on," he said, adding that his team doesn't charge to investigate.

Marietta resident Rhetta Akamatsu is a member of a paranormal group called Ghost Hounds, an investigative group. "We want to learn as much as we can, not just think something or feel it. What can back it up," she said.

They do see some commonalities. Usually haunted places or ghost stories involve a young, unnatural, traumatic or unexpected death; one reason Civil War and Antebellum houses may be haunted.

"Old hospitals and prisons are usually haunted and places where a person might have an attachment," said Akamatsu, author of Ghost to Coast, a paranormal handbook to ghost tours, haunted hotels and investigation groups.

Each ghost expert has a different perspective on what these spirits are. Fike, a Methodist, suspects a ghost is a person without a body that hasn't chosen to ascend to heaven, typically because of unfinished business. Akamatsu, a Unitarian, believes that ghosts are energy released from a body after death that's not ready to move on.

Goodin, who fell into hosting ghost tours as a second job in Key West, isn't quite sure what they are - she just loves telling stories.

"The tour is for people who want to hear cool stories and get a huge dose of history … on a cool fall evening, it's nice to gather with a group of people and share experiences and stories," she said.

She said bring your camera and an open mind - people have reported strange feelings of grief in certain locations and street lamps have turned off when they walk underneath them.

"No ghosts have ever jumped out at us, but some strange and subtle things have happened."

 

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