David Beard
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. (more…)
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. (more…)
“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. (more…)
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?” (more…)
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. (more…)
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. (more…)
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. (more…)
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. (more…)
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.
Former Duluthian teaching painting online
Former Duluthian Nancy Valentine teaches bamboo painting online (thanks to an arts grant).
Coloring pages related to this project are available via Google Drive.
Thoughts on Flags, Art and a State of Perpetual Revolution
This post is about the new Minnesota State Flag, about abstract art, and about the exhausted feeling I get in contemporary politics. (more…)
Saturday Morning TV
While this post isn’t specifically about Duluth, I am hoping that posting will bring some Duluth stories out of the woodwork.
Below are lists of Saturday-morning cartoons as they ran in my childhood. I remember many of them (Scooby-Doo, of course; repackaged cinema cartoons like Bugs Bunny Looney Tunes; originals like the animated Star Trek). (more…)
Community Resource List: Freelance Grant Writers
I’m seeking entries for a community resource list. The category of resource I am hoping to build first is “Freelance Grant Writers.”
If you’d like to be on such a list (one I am hoping to convince the University of Minnesota Duluth would be good to have both internally and to serve its community better), please comment below with your name, your electronic presence (e.g., website, LinkedIn, or social media) and the areas you are comfortable writing grants in (e.g., arts, the environment, education, etc.).
Learning the back-story of “Random Acts of Radio”
I am sorting through items found at the College of St. Scholastica book sale, and I ran into this CD from the 1990s.
It feels like an argument could be made to submit this to the archives and special collections at the University of Minnesota Duluth as a significant artifact of the Duluth music scene. (more…)
A lot of work to do before I can find joy on Thursday
I want to take a second to talk about an event some friends of mine are putting together. It’s being done entirely on volunteer energy (except for some food provided by UMD catering), it includes music and writing and community discussion, and I’ve never been so excited for an event that I think will make me sad. (more…)
What is the future of Ordean Plaza?
A recent Duluth News Tribune story about plans to convert the top five floors of the Ordean Building into rental housing included a brief mention of the city selling the small park next to it.
This particular little postage stamp of parkland is called Ordean Plaza, a public square across from the Duluth Public Library. It’s part of the larger Fifth Avenue Mall, a late-1960s and early-1970s effort to beautify Fifth Avenue West. (more…)
Zombie Media: Honey West, the Girl from Uncle and More
I’m still amazed at the media I am finding around town — especially since Best Buy announced it will no longer sell movies or TV shows on DVD or Blu Ray. Will we see a resurgence in the medium in ten years, as vinyl and even cassettes have come back lately? (more…)
New Collections, Projects and Ideas for Publishing Mentorships
As a teacher of writing at the University of Minnesota Duluth, I’m both concerned with how students learn to express themselves and how they position themselves for lives and careers after graduation. Of late, I’ve been trying to develop coursework and experiences for students that prepare them for careers in publishing. This includes learning about BookTok, developing materials to explain the difference between an editor and an agent, and more. (more…)
Duluthians at the Twin Cities Book Festival
The Twin Cities Book Festival was held on Saturday, Oct. 14. The event “offers bibliophiles all the joys of in-person browsing, meeting writers and publishers, and activities for readers age 1 to 101,” according to its website. (more…)
Poet Laureate Collection unveiled at UMD
The Twin Ports area has long been a literary center for Minnesota. Now, the history of the literary community in Duluth is open and available to researchers and readers alike in the Archives and Special Collections of the Kathryn A. Martin Library at the University of Minnesota Duluth. The Poet Laureate Program is the heart of a collection of materials available to the public. (more…)
Northeastern Minnesota Book Award Winners for 2023
An old fire tower in the north woods, a busy Duluth harbor on the day tall ships arrive, and an 1894 murder on Minnesota Point are just some of the settings for books honored in this year’s Northeastern Minnesota Book Awards. (more…)
Sherlockiana at the Book Sale: Barry Day and Val Andrews
There was an entire bookcase of books about Sherlock Holmes at Friends of the Library Book Sale at the Superior Public Library. I took home two full shelves. (more…)