H Beam Piper (sci-fi author) was Pennsy nightwatchman

[rrinker]

Wow, I did not know that either. I've read nearly all of his stories that I could get my hands on. One series that has been continued by other authors since his death is the Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen series, centered around a PA State Policeman who was transferred to an alternate universe that is just discovering gunpowder, but in the same physical area of central PA. On one of my trips out west I came back the 'scenic' route instead of staying on i-80 and drove through the parts of central PA described in the stories. There have been at least 3 sequel novels by other authors. In addition, there have been several other stories added to the original Paratime collections.
After reading the article, I see how Piper was able to write excellent sword battles as well as early firearms encounters accurately and with great detail.

--Randy