Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron Range

A 21st century memoir of a place and a people:

(Buy now on Amazon or BN.com) — The IronRange is a string of blue collar towns along an iron formation in northern Minnesota, many of which formed in the early 1900s amid an influx of immigrants who came to work the iron mines. As the IronRange gets older, change approaches. Today’s generation of Iron Rangers must bridge the gap between then and now, what we know and what will one day be. From the global economy to climate change this unusual place and its unique people represent an important part of the next century. The generation that will enact this change, however, faces many difficult contradictions. That’s the subject of a new book by Aaron Brown called “Overburden: Modern Life on the IronRange.”

What’s it like to be a blogger in a place where most people still don’t use the internet? What do you do when you love where you’re from but see an outside world full of possibilities? How can you shape the future when the people of your town can’t stop talking about the past? In humorous stories that range from the global to the deeply personal, Brown seeks to share the story of his people and family while charting the history and future of the IronRange and places like it.

Aaron J. Brown is a fifth generation Iron Ranger, currently helping raise the sixth generation of Browns on the IronRange. A columnist and past editor for the Hibbing Daily Tribune and regular commentator for KAXE radio, Brown has worked in northern Minnesota media since he was 16. He now teaches at HibbingCommunity College and runs a blog (MinnesotaBrown.com) from his home in rural Bovey. He and his wife Christina have three sons.

“Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron Range” is available at independent bookstores across northern Minnesota, most Minnesota Barnes and Noble locations and online at BN.com, Amazon.com and available for special order at most stores through Partners distribution system.