Thank you, Virginia (again)

Last Friday I spoke at the Virginia (Minn.) Historical Society annual dinner about my book “Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron Range.” It was a fun evening with a very welcoming crowd. I get a kick out of giving speeches when people audibly “harrumph” at the mention of Bob Dylan. There aren’t many crowds left that still do that. And nothing reminds you that you’ve written about the Range city of Hibbing more than its cross-Range rival of Virginia than when you read your work to an audience of people who looooove Virginia. But in all seriousness the importance of Range history and the understanding of history in general is of vital importance. No one understands that better than the people who donate their time to local historical societies.

I was seated next to society treasurer Harry Lamppa who explained it this way (I paraphrase):

To build a fence you set your first post. That’s the past. Then you set your next post, which is today. But you need both posts to align the third one, which is the future. Without the past you don’t know where you’re going.

Thanks to the Virginia Historical Society for inviting me and to all the kind people who told me their stories after the event. As with all Iron Range events, it took about two minutes to establish a personal connection to just about anyone.

Comments

  1. Jean Cole says

    Thanks for coming to Virginia, Aaron. It was great to finally catch the (full) presentation!

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