Joel Haas Writing Samples

Recent writing for Saturday Evening Post

Saturday Evening Post  July 21, 2025

Between 1835 and 1900 100,000s of children in urban areas died from drinking "swill milk," an immensely profitable side product of brewing whiskey. Swill milk was known to be adulterated with water, eggs, some cow manure, and all milked from sick cows. New York City's Department of Public Health found swill milk healthy on two different investigations. Swill milk was not confined to just NY City.

https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/?s=swill+milk

Saturday Evening Post  June 24, 2025

 James Caleb Jackson was a forerunner of RFK, Jr.  He had a firm belief in "the water cure," trousers for women, exercise and proper whole grain diet.  He successfully sued Kellogg, forcing Kellogg to market their imitation cereal as "granola," while Jackson made and marketed "granula."  Many celebrities of the 1800s, Black and White, took a "water cure" at his huge spa called "Our House On the Hill."

https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2025/06/bloomers-and-breakfast-cereal-james-caleb-jackson-and-the-founding-of-a-health-movement/

as contributing writer for Walter Magazine a selection of seven  articles on history

Walter Magazine April 9, 2020 

Raleigh, NC on the eve of the Civil War. Raleigh Just Before the Storm.  

https://waltermagazine.com/featured/raleigh-just-before-the-storm/

Walter Magazine November 1, 2020 

Overachiever Dorothea Dix did not just set the modern foundation for treating mental illness. She was a leading authority on American wildflowers. She had a hand in astronomy and life boat services and served the entire Civil War as head of nursing for no pay and took no days off.

 https://waltermagazine.com/current-issue/the-intrepid-life-of-dorothea-dix/

Walter Magazine March 3, 2020

During WW2 the US held 375,000 German prisoners of war. Most did agricultural work but some were put into building secret projects.  At war's end 8,000 POWs escaped to avoid being sent back to Germany. Only four or five were not re captured. 

https://waltermagazine.com/explore/hometown-pows-german-and-italians-support-n-c-s-economy/

Walter Magazine June 20, 2020

Shangri-La exists!  It's more remote and smaller than most people imagine.

https://waltermagazine.com/explore/shangri-la-nc/

Walter Magazine December 2, 2019

Raleigh's oldest Episcopal church bells ring each Sunday in a complicated manner known as "change ringing." Only 57 other US churches have enough bells and trained ringers to do "change ringing." 

https://waltermagazine.com/art-and-culture/christ-church-bells/

Walter Magazine July 31, 2020

The most highly awarded and well paid cartoonist you have never heard of lives and works in Raleigh.  He's funny enough he could have had his own cartoon series.  But corporate advertising art directors pay much better.

https://waltermagazine.com/community/people/cartoonist-jack-pittman/

Walter Magazine September 29, 2023

The annual North Carolina State Fair in Raleigh each October has been through many stops and starts as well as location and format changes.

https://waltermagazine.com/explore/on-the-grounds-170-years-of-the-n-c-state-fair/

Writing on my travels in Taiwan 

Mountains Beyond Mountains

Early organic tea farming in mountains of northern Taiwan around the tea town of Ping Ling

https://joelhaastravels.blogspot.com/2009/04/mountains-beyond-mountains.html

There Goes the Bride

Marriage customs in Taiwan are beyond strange to the average Westerner, from red bridal gowns, to sexy photos six weeks in advance of the marriage and all people invited to the reception afterwards are required to bring a red envelope containing money. 

https://joelhaastravels.blogspot.com/2009/04/taiwan-weddings-there-goes-bride.html

Additional writing experience-

General assignment reporter for Raleigh NC News & Observer

1970-1971

two free years touring Europe

1974-1981

writing and editing a series of very successful Western paperbacks for a series my late father started called, "Fargo."  Of the series of 40K words  I wrote "The Border Jumpers," and "Death Valley Gold."

1982-2018 worked as a free lance metal sculptor, sold to about 100 galleries across the US. Specializing in art for the garden. I wrote several articles for Carolina Gardener and an article for Better Homes & Gardens. The topic for both magazines was placing art in the garden.

2019-to present--free lance writing