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Histro-tainment at sunset tonight
Tonight I’ll be giving the keynote presentation at the Virginia (Minn.) Historical Society Annual Dinner at the Elks Club on 5th Ave. North. As usual I’ll be exploring some aspects of my recent book “Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron Range.” I’ll also be sprinkling in some newer material to keep my brain from smoothing…
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Rock out, Friday night history style, as my ‘Overburden’ road show forges ahead
I’ll be giving the keynote speech at the Virginia (Minn.) Historical Society Dinner this Friday. The social hour begins at 5:30 p.m. with the dinner and my whatsit to follow. Unfortunately, I didn’t get this up in time for anyone to RSVP for the dinner but you can check out the events page at the…
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20 percent off "Overburden" until May 2!
Being married to a self-described cheapskate is complicated business. We divide fabric softener sheets. I’m eating some kind of rabbit food for breakfast because it was free with a coupon. But it’s all worth it. We don’t have to worry about money because I’m not spending it on boomerangs (Seriously, one time on a high…
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‘Overburden’ gets boffo review in DNT
My book “Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron Range” was featured in Sunday’s “What are you reading?” segment in the Duluth News Tribune. This is the segment that replaced an actual human book editor with submitted reader reviews. But hey, why sweat the journalistic implications when a reader has something this nice to say about…
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Thank you, Superior!
Thanks to everyone who came out for my “Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron Range” lecture at UW-Superior yesterday. It was a nice crowd, especially considering how beautiful the weather was over in Superior Friday afternoon. Outside, college students wandered around in shorts. All the beverages and foodstuff that had frozen in my car over…
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Rolling south to Sup-town
Don’t forget: I’ll be giving a free lecture/reading at UW-Superior today for my book “Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron Range. The program begins at 2 p.m. in the Manion Theater of the Holden Fine Arts Building. I’ll be talking partly about the book, a blend of humor, history and cultural observations of the unique…
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Iron Range development ‘constipated,’ says me
Matt Perrine of the Duluth Budgeteer interviewed me for the “Five Questions” segment this week in advance of my Friday appearance at UW-Superior. The post also appears at the Duluth News Tribune website. Asked to describe Iron Range economic development in one word, I chose “constipated.” How could you not click on that? Related posts:…
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‘Overburden’ tour heads to Superior on Friday!
This Friday, April 17, the “Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron Range” tour returns to the road. I’ll be giving a lecture and reading from the book during a special appearance at the Manion Theater in the Holden Fine Arts Building on the campus of the University of Wisconsin at Superior. Superior is across the…
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What’s with the guy in the green shirt?
Last week I detailed my first-ever Twin Cities book tour and teased the fact that some finagling friends snuck (sneaked?) me onto the House floor for a photo. Forgive the self-indulgence but here it is, fresh from the mail: From left to right, House Majority Leader Tony Sertich (I served on his first campaign), me…
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Follow MinnesotaBrown network on Facebook
I think I’m finally familiar enough with the Facebook world to advertise the fact that you can follow this blog on Facebook by clicking on the widget you see down the right hand column or this link. I’m half a year into using Facebook and have to say that I really recommend it … the…
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A ‘vital’ life in the ‘Zone of Plenty’
One of the best things about writing a book like “Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron Range” is all the stories, clippings and first hand accounts that people give you afterward that weren’t in my book. This little number arrived in the mail last week from a Mr. Earl Currie. It’s a 1943 advertisement for…
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An Iron Ranger in a strange land
As readers of this blog know, I subsidize my blogging by begging readers to buy my book “Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron Range” (available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble). Last week I took the “Overburden” road show to the Twin Cities for the first time. It was an exciting trip and I’m now…
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Thank you, Twin Cities!
I have returned from the Twin Cities. My first metro book tour for “Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron Range” was a success and I thank all those who came out to events and wished me well in my travels. Wednesday morning, a blizzard had wrapped up northern Minnesota. Though snowfall was less than expected,…
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Here we go
At this hour I am taking stock of my situation regarding the overnight snowfall and my plans to get from Balsam Township in the wooded heart of Itasca County to the bustling (and also snowed upon) metropolitan area for today’s 4 p.m. reading at Coffman Memorial Union at the U of M. It’s normally a…
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‘Overburden’ heading south tomorrow
The first time my parents brought us to the Twin Cities they didn’t tell my sisters and I where we were going until our Oldsmobile station wagon pulled onto I-35. It was a long drive and they didn’t want us to melt down in excitement. My first question once we got there: what’s behind those…