David Beard Posts

Train Day at the Depot

Saturday was National Train Day. The Depot was hopping, and I loved it. Picture of a very cool train set below.

The Peoples Temple: A Unique Duluth Resource

My friend and colleague Elizabeth Nelson has donated some remarkable materials to the archives at the University of Minnesota Duluth.

The Elizabeth Nelson Peoples Temple Collection contains items relevant to the alternative religious organization founded by Jim Jones, best known for a mass suicide/murder in 1978 at its “Jonestown” settlement in Guyana.

Arrowhead Regional Arts Council announces grant recipients

The Arrowhead Regional Arts Council has announced its most recent grant recipients.

Duluth playwright to celebrate world premiere of ‘Two of Us’

Congratulations to my colleague, Mark Stanfield, on the forthcoming world premiere of his play, Two of Us. It will be performed Sept. 13-21 at the Watford Palace Theatre in England, with a transfer to Home Manchester, and then a national tour in 2025. The play dramatizes a last conversation between Paul McCartney and John Lennon.

More information about the play can be found at the Watford Palace Theatre site.

Adas Israel: A Talk and a Book

During the Twin Ports Festival of History, my friend Phil Sher gave a speech about the history of the Lithuanian Jewish community in Duluth. Phil is the author of a recent book, Adas Israel, available on Amazon, that was a product of a unique partnership between the University of Minnesota Duluth and the community.

Radio (A Reflection and an Event)

Before I start to talk about Luke Moravec and Bill Siemering, who visited the University of Minnesota Duluth on Zoom Wednesday afternoon, I want to talk a little bit about why I love radio so much.

“Stalked by My Stepsister” shot in Duluth

[This post originally contained an embedded video that is no longer available at its source.]

Local author Phil Sher sent me a note asking me to share that the Lifetime cable channel original movie Stalked by My Stepsister was shot in Duluth. It was released in October.

I think I can see the Lakewalk and Leif Erikson Park. I think I can see the interior of Glensheen. IMDB confirms the Duluth shooting sites.

Has anyone watched it, or know anyone involved in the shooting?

Do I own this star now?

I picked this up in a thrift store. The frame is worth as much as I paid for it — the certificate is a bonus.

Saturday in Canal Park

Some kids appeared to be having fun in Canal Park Saturday.

The Nerd Habit of Collecting Signatures

As I mentioned in a previous post, at MarsCon in Bloomington last weekend the son of a nerd who had died was selling his father’s collection of media, books, games and ephemera.

I picked up the Doctor Who cookbook from the previous century, some trading cards, all for pennies on the dollar. Perhaps the best find, or at least the one I can’t ever imagine finding again, was the single by the actor who played the third Doctor, Jon Pertwee, “Who is the Doctor?”

Signatures for a Nerd

At MarsCon in Bloomington last weekend, the son of a recently passed nerd was selling his father’s collection of media, books, games and ephemera. I picked up the Doctor Who cookbook from the previous century, some trading cards, all for pennies on the dollar.

Riley Grace Brett at Gabriel’s Book Store

I met a new local author in the wild over the weekend at Gabriel’s Book Store in Lakeside. Riley Grace Brett volunteers there; she has also released a new novel.

Pączki Day (and Ash Wednesday) in Duluth

Hello from a former Catholic who misses life in Milwaukee, where Pączki Day was a thing. Ash Wednesday was a day when you could walk the streets and see your tribe, and Duluth seems to have none of that. Maybe I walk the wrong streets.

Seeking migration stories to teach, publish

This semester, I will be teaching a class focusing on migration stories. If you have a favorite such story (about human migration, bird migration, software migration), especially one with a Duluth connection, please send it my way: dbeard @ d.umn.edu, or comment below.

Former Duluthian writes about hockey-playing cousin

Former Duluthian Crystal Gibbins writes about northeast Minnesota hockey legend Henry Boucha on the Coffee House Press website.