David Beard
Freethinkers host Visiting Scholar on the Jiu Jitsu of Argument
The Lake Superior Freethinkers hosted Shane Courtland for a talk at the College of St. Scholastica. Courtland is a Superior native who completed an undergraduate degree at UMD, a PhD at Tulane, and now serves as a leader in the Institute for Humane Studies at George Mason University. (more…)
Thank you for the coffee …
To the angel who prepaid several people’s coffee at a mall-area coffee shop on Sunday — thank you. I appreciate the kindness.
A Bit More about Helen Futter
A reader has sent some information about Helen Futter, the subject (I think) of some thoughts I’ve had about record collections, midcentury media, and pop culture. (See here, here, here, here, and here.) Generally, reflecting on what (I think) was Helen’s record collection, donated by her estate to Gabriel’s Books in Lakeside, I treated her like a “typical teen,” listening to records on her “Victrola.” (more…)
Jane Yolen awarded Sophie Brody Medal for 2022
Duluth’s Holy Cow! Press author Jane Yolen, author of Kaddish: Before the Holocaust and After, has been awarded the Sophie Brody Medal for 2022. (more…)
Lake Superior Writers taking over NEMBA
The Northeastern Minnesota Book Awards have a new organizing body, Lake Superior Writers. As a fan of NEMBA, the University of Minnesota Duluth and LSW, I think this is good news for all. (more…)
Literary History of Duluth: Duluth Benedictine Books
It looks like (from the Online Computer Library Center records and the books I found at Gabriel’s) Duluth Benedictine Books was a brief experiment in recording the lives and institutions of sisters who live at St. Scholastica. (I just finished a jar of strawberry rhubarb jam I purchased at their most recent jam sale — so yummy.)
I wonder whether this was a project fueled by one of the sisters? By someone determined to write down history or by someone who recognized that telling these stories could also help recruit for the sisterhood (whose numbers are dwindling)? (more…)
The Last of the (I Think) Futter Collection
So, this is the last batch of records purchased at a $5 bag sale at Gabriel’s Books in Lakeside. (more…)
Closer to the Core: Helen A. Futter’s Records
Yesterday was a “snow day,” meaning things were open, but my Kia Soul was not equipped to get me there while the snow fell on the ice. So I took a break from grading some excellent papers by my students to go over my next stack of records from Gabriels’s Used Bookstore in Lakeside. (more…)
Local writers share their stories
From my friends at work; this looks cool. (more…)
“Duluth on Duluth”
Back in 2000 George Killough, then an English professor at the College of St. Scholastica, edited the book “Minnesota Diary, 1942-46” the journal of Sinclair Lewis during the time he lived in Duluth. (more…)
Indigenous Stories of Strength: Jessica Gidagaakoons Smith
The Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health’s Great Lakes Hub in Duluth, located at 1915 South St. near the Duluth Labor Temple, just sent out an announcement of Indigenous Stories of Strength, a website collecting stories of life under COVID-19. (more…)
A Record Collection Autopsy
Once more through the trove of treasure from Gabriel’s Books in Lakeside. In addition to finding awesome old records and books, you should know, if you have kids: “All children, from birth to high school graduation, may pick out a book for free, each time they visit our store.” They are well-worth a visit. (more…)
Gems and Treasures from the College of St. Scholastica Book & Media Sale, 1
The Library at the College of St. Scholastica, once a year, both weeds its collection and accepts donations (I presume from faculty and staff) for a sale. Popular reading starts at a dollar, I think — recent bestsellers. The rest starts at a quarter and slides, over a week, down to a dime, then to “free, just please take them.” (more…)
Recent panel on creative leadership in Duluth
A recent panel on creative leadership really taught me a few things, so I’m sharing it with you all here. It featured local creative innovators and leaders Aryn Lee Bergsven, LeAnn Littlewolf and Hella Wartman.
The Zoom link in the poster is dead, but the panel can be found by clicking here.
Literary History of Duluth: William Sommers
I’ve struggled with how to blend a history of publishers in Duluth with a history of authors. It feels like that would widen my scope beyond the manageable. And then I find a book like this. (more…)
I’m starting a new project and need help. What do you know about Poetry Harbor?
I’m looking for people attached to Poetry Harbor.
Google tells me that the late Patrick McKinnon (DNT spotlight here) was a founder, maybe? So was Ellie Schoenfeld? (more…)
Questions about the literary history of Duluth: The Wordshed
Still working on building a literary history of Duluth. Has anyone information about “The Wordshed” as a Duluth publisher? I can only find:
Alaska: a man from Kanatak: the story of Paul Boskoffsky, by Paul Boskoffsky; Lloyd D Mattson; Harvey Sandstrom. The Wordshed, 2006. ©2002
Alaska: new life for an ancient people, by Lloyd D Mattson; Ruben Hillborn. The Wordshed, 1999. ©1999
Reading a Record Collector 1
I haunt the resale shops looking for “records that look like books.” I’m referring to the folios of LPs that were common (a) when prepackaged by the label, as a way to sell extended plays and collections when records didn’t hold too many songs and (b) when sold blank, as a way for an individual collector to store and carry multiple, individually-purchased discs.
When I find a collection stored in the sleeves of such a folio, I snatch it, wondering who collected these masterpieces. (more…)
More Literary History of Duluth: Lake Superior Writers
I’m still working on my literary history of Duluth. Lake Superior Writers has published or co-published several volumes. If you were involved in some of these collections and have stories to share, message me or comment below. (more…)
Reconstructing a literary history of Duluth: Calyx Press
I’m trying to build a history of literature in Duluth, and I’ve decided that one useful heuristic would be publishers. So, what can you tell me about Calyx Press and Cecilia Lieder? (more…)
Philosophy of Love, Sex and Relationships
Sarah LaChance Adams and Rob Adams and their family no longer live in Duluth, but Sarah can be heard talking about the philosophy of love, sex and relationships in the October episode of Why? Philosophical Discussions About Everyday Life. The episode is titled: “How do philosophers talk about sex, love, and desire?”
Halloween spookiness awaits at the Icebox Radio Theater
Recently, a post appeared on my Facebook feed announcing the Halloween season of the Icebox Radio Theater in a creepy way. Jeff Adams, artistic director of the community theatre company that records in International Falls but is heard around the world, wrote:
We’re finally ready to tell this story. Years ago when my daughter was still at home, we worked together on a photography project taking pictures of our century-old Minnesota home. When we exported the photos to a computer for editing, this image was among them. (more…)
9/11, on the 20th Anniversary of ten days after the events
It’s a week or so since 9/11, and the special issues of magazines unsold in the checkout lane are being reported unsold, stripped of their covers and reported destroyed. The television guide on my Roku is no longer choked with 9/11 documentaries and “looks back.” In fact, I can barely tell it happened.
I remember how difficult it was to return to normal after 9/11 — how many days it took before the late night shows could broadcast, for example. It feels like we snapped back awful fast this time.
Well, I didn’t. Here’s my last post on 9/11 for Perfect Duluth Day, looking at some writings, some poetry, after 9/11, talking about what life is like after. (more…)
9/10
I’m still talking around 9/11 as I write this series of posts. I am worried that any effort I put into converting my experience into words will diminish that experience.
Perhaps that’s what I see most of all in the Congressional records one year after 9/11. Below are bits and pieces from a joint session of Congress, held in New York, on the one-year anniversary of 9/11, where most everyone, except maybe Paul Wellstone, talks around 9/11. (more…)