-
Despite checkered history, reorganized Essar Group ready to launch Mesabi Metallics
My new essay appears in the Minnesota Reformer today. (“Good news on the Iron Range: $2 billion Mesabi Metallics is finally happening; for real this time.”) Like much of what I write, it will interest readers on the Mesabi Iron Range. But the impact hits wider. Here we see the corporate maneuvering that shapes our…
-
Stuck in the middle with you: life in the ‘sandwich generation’
My latest column for the Minnesota Star Tribune, “In the quick of time — a dispatch from the ‘sandwich generation’ years,” is out now. Readers here might remember the jolt my family took when my mom suffered a stroke in 2022. In one terrible turn of events, a relatively healthy child care provider in her…
-
Weighing past and future impact of U.S Steel on the Iron Range
Eight years of intensive historical research and 44 years of intensive living on the Iron Range taught me more than I ever planned to know about the steel industry. My latest column, “With merger on the ropes, the fate of U.S. Steel will shape the future of the Iron Range,” is in the Wednesday, Sept.…
-
Who’s driving the bus?
It’s back to school season! For me, this has always been a special time of year. I loved school as a kid. College, too. I covered education as a reporter and editor. Then I became a college instructor. As a parent, school meant something different: freedom, maybe, but also the growth and development of those…
-
First Strib Voices column begins in an Iron Range underground mine
If you missed the news, I’m joining the newly rebranded Minnesota Star Tribune as a contributing columnist. My first column publishes today at StarTribune.com and Monday, Aug. 19 in the print edition. Today’s column: “Old family photo reveals how much has changed on the Iron Range.” This first piece was inspired by an old photograph…
-
Brown named contributing columnist for Minnesota Star Tribune
Today, I bring news for longtime readers of MinnesotaBrown.com. Starting next week, I join the Star Tribune as a contributing columnist. My columns will appear twice a month on the opinion page and StarTribune.com. This is a lifelong career goal I’ve been trying to manifest for at least 10 years. The Star Tribune is the…
-
As flames rise, true progress beckons
My latest essay for the Minnesota Reformer, “As flames rise, true progress beckons,” is out today. This column continues last week’s exploration of the natural world in an industrial landscape. Go back far enough and you realize that words don’t always mean what we think they do. Call someone a “nimrod” today and they’re likely…
-
Children of the slash pile
Today, my latest essay, “Children of the Slash Pile” ran in the Minnesota Reformer. Here’s an excerpt: Working people came in like aspens, regenerating what was destroyed, with no memory of what came before. Today, some of us enjoy the privilege of thinking we’ve always lived here. In realizing this, we might better understand the…
-
Talkin’ Iron Range blues on the ‘Mississippi Valley Traveler’ podcast
A few weeks ago, I wrote a column featuring a new book about traveling along the Mississippi River by Dean Klinkenberg. A few weeks later, I appeared as a guest on Dean’s podcast to talk about the Iron Range. You can now listen to my interview on Dean’s podcast. It’s an hour-long talk, and we…
-
Public talk to explore past, future of Iron Range schools
I know it’s summer vacation, but here’s the deal: I love school. I loved preschool. They had this crane that used magnets to pick up blocks. I loved kindergarten. I learned to read early, which felt like a superpower. This continued all the way through college. Sitting in lectures for classes my advisor put me…
-
Interview highlights relatability of rural health care woes
After my latest essay, “Health care ‘implosion’ in Greater Minnesota,” in the Minnesota Reformer, I received many kind comments and some very insightful responses. Trying to help my mom after her stroke has been something of a private matter until now. It’s nice to feel the support, even when we’re all still exploring what solutions…
-
Lecture will detail 1920s Klan activity on the Iron Range
Public lectures were once a hot ticket on the Iron Range. Before TV, streaming services and YouTube, you had to see someone talk at the local auditorium if you wanted to go down an informational rabbit hole. Well, these days, some of us try to keep the tradition alive. I’ll be giving a free public…
-
Rural health care system barely holding on
My latest essay for the Minnesota Reformer is out today. Read it now. Longtime readers know that my mother suffered a serious stroke in late 2022 that changed her life and, to a lesser extent, mine. Every time we see a new doctor or medical provider, they look at her chart and remark how few…
-
U.S. Steel merger reveals complexity of foreign investment
My latest essay for the Minnesota Reformer, “Allies in Alloys” is out today. Check it out. After covering iron mining on the Mesabi Range for a couple decades, I’ve observed several mergers, acquisitions, shutdowns and assorted skullduggery. What I learned is that the mining business is a highly specialized analog to our political system. One must…
-
What goes up ain’t ever coming back
My latest essay for the Minnesota Reformer is out today, entitled “A Fistful of Helium.” This one’s been floating around my office like an old birthday balloon for several months. In fact, the helium discovery near Babbitt is one of the topics I’m most asked about when I’m out and about. I hadn’t written anything…