The Slice: Blake Romenesko’s Lake Gossip
Blake Romenesko talks about the new Twin Ports history zine Lake Gossip, the first edition of which tells the quirky story of Duluth ice houses.
In its series The Slice, PBS North presents short “slices of life” that capture the events and experiences that bring people together and speak to what it means to live up north.
Bart Sutter’s new poetry collection revels in the natural world
Bart Sutter in the apple trees.
“Lake Superior is God.” Bart Sutter wrote that declaration in his 1998 book Cold Comfort, a collection of essays about “life at the top of the map.” The work was well received by readers, culminating in a Minnesota Book Award for creative nonfiction, and Sutter’s permanent status as a northern force. (more…)
Mystery Photo: Miss Norton
No fewer than five pennants hang on the wall in the photo on this undated postcard. Three are illegible, but one clearly indicates someone is a fan of Duluth. Another pennant represents the Withee Farmers Market of either 1912 or 1913. Withee is a village in Wisconsin, about 140 southeast of Duluth. (more…)
PDD Geoguessr Challenge #19: Sister Cities Smörgåsbord
Duluth’s sister cities
Five of the previous six Geoguessr challenges have looked one by one at Duluth’s sister cities: Ohara Isumi, Japan; Rania, Iraqi-Kurdistan; Växjö, Sweden; Petrozavodsk, Russia; and Thunder Bay, Canada. As a Geoguessr game has five rounds, it only makes sense to conclude the series with a challenge that includes all five cities. (more…)
Build a Goddamn Bob Dylan Statue Already
For real, I think there needs to be more serious discussion about a Duluth Bob Dylan statue. He’s the (checks notes) greatest songwriter in the world (the Nobel Prize people compared him to Homer and Blake), and Duluth is his (checks notes again) literal birthplace. Where did I read — perhaps buried in the epic comments of this PDD Facebook post — that local/regional Dylan relatives disfavor statues, as opposed to a nice plaque or something? An MPR article cites “a Dylan family member” who states a preference for educational work instead. I get it. But Dylan must have dozens of relatives, did we ask them all? Do we have to ask any of them, since Dylan belongs to the world?
I also get that statues are falling out of favor and may become problematic. The meaning of a statue can change. Maybe it would be better to just name a street, or a music center, or erect a plaque — something you can quietly change up or take down in a hurry if history reverses on you. But respectfully, I worry that plaques and manhole covers are simply too boring to honor the greatest songwriter in the world besides Taylor Swift.
You think Taylor Swift will only get some nice manhole covers? You think they won’t build a statue in her hometown by the time she’s Dylan’s current age of 82? (more…)
Postcard from the St. Louis County Courthouse in 1924
This postcard was mailed June 1, 1924 — 100 years ago today. It shows the St. Louis County Courthouse in Downtown Duluth, which opened in 1909. (more…)
Rachael Kilgour – “Dad Worked Hard” (live at The Current)
“Dad Worked Hard” is the third song Duluth native Rachael Kilgour performed during a recent studio for a session at the The Current hosted by Radio Heartland’s Mike Pengra. All three songs are from her 2023 album My Father Loved Me.
The Slice: Duluth Punk Rock
The Vintage Hideaway flips the script on antiquing
Nichol and Tony Hommerding, owners of The Vintage Hideaway. (Submitted photo)
A thrift and antique store in Hermantown has brought a fresh take on antiquing and thrifting in the Twin Ports. The Vintage Hideaway focuses on uniquely staging items, restoring pieces looking for a little bit of love and creating a welcoming environment by offering coffee and snacks in its pantry. (more…)
Video: A mountain lion in northern Minnesota
This video of a mountain lion just south of Voyageurs National Park was captured on April 16. The trail-camera footage is from the Voyageurs Wolf Project, which is focused on understanding the summer ecology of wolves in the park. This is the third video of a mountain lion the project’s cameras have captured in the past three years. All three animals seemed to be wandering through and were only caught on camera once before they appeared to leave the area.
Duluth 2024 Primary Election Primer
The filing period for candidates running for federal, state and county offices in Minnesota is from May 21 to June 4. The primary election is Aug. 13; the general election is Nov. 5. (more…)
PDD Quiz: May 2024
See how many of this month’s headlines and happenings you remember with this week’s current events quiz!
The next PDD Quiz, scheduled for June 16, will test your knowledge of the Superior Hiking Trail. Please submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at [email protected] by June 11. (more…)
The Final Resting Place of Private John Matthew McGillis
Left: Private John Matthew McGillis, photo courtesy of Jasper van Kampen. Right: His burial place (Photo by Matthew James)
John Matthew McGillis, known to his family on Duluth’s Park Point as Jack, died on Christmas Day 1944, one day before the end of major fighting in the final German offensive of World War II. He wasn’t a combat soldier. (more…)
Rachael Kilgour – “Heart on Fire” (live at The Current)
Duluth native Rachael Kilgour visited The Current studio for a session hosted by Radio Heartland’s Mike Pengra. She played three songs from her 2023 album My Father Loved Me, including the track featured here, “Heart on Fire.”
Jesus Christ Meets Bob Dylan in a Hotel Room in Tucson, 1978
Bob: I’m ready to accept you, Lord.
Jesus: Not so fast there Bob. I need you to do something first.
Bob: Name it Lord.
Jesus: I need you to rub out Jimmy Gravante.
Bob (stunned): The hitman?
Jesus: Your successor in the Duluth family, after you got out and became — this (gestures around). You know Jimmy — the sniper who blew you off your motorcycle in 1966 in Woodstock.
Bob: He hit the bike, man, not me. Sniper my ass.
Jesus: I’m going to need you to check your tone.
Bob: I’m sorry Lord. It’s just that he wasn’t even at 200 yards. He’s more like a potshot expert than a sniper. And my divorce is killing me. I just got off a world tour and my adrenal glands feel squeezed dry like little raisins. Think I’m coming down with something (sniffles). (more…)
Grandma’s Marathon 2023 Double: One More Time
Once again, Eric Strand and his crew run from the Grandma’s Marathon finish line to the start, then turn around and run the official marathon. They call it the “12th annual” though it’s technically the 11th, since the first was in 2012 and the run didn’t happen in 2020.
Dirty Knobs – “More Fire in More Places”
“More Fire in More Places” is the fourth release from the new Dirty Knobs album, Songs About Everything Dying Around Us, Including Us.
Smelt parade seeks new leader as founder retires
Run, Smelt, Run! Parade photo via Magic Smelt Puppet Troupe Facebook page.
Dressing up as a silver fish in late spring could become weird again. After eleven years of marches normalizing smelt fashion on the Lake Superior boardwalk, the annual Run, Smelt, Run! Parade could be making its final march on May 26. (more…)
The Slice: Naming Life Parade and Deep Fake Five
Cameron Mathews explains how the bands Life Parade and Deep Fake Five got their names.
In its series The Slice, PBS North presents short “slices of life” that capture the events and experiences that bring people together and speak to what it means to live up north.
The Will and the Way
Judy Gibbs introduced me to The Will and the Way series of books about the creation of a number of Duluth institutions. (more…)
Postcards from Passage Island Lighthouse at Isle Royale
This undated postcard, published by the E.C. Kropp Company, shows Passage Island Lighthouse and the rugged shore at Isle Royale on Lake Superior. (more…)
Sarah Seidelmann and Her Spirit Guides
Sarah Seidelman in her studio.
Sarah Seidelmann is one of the four Arrowhead regional artists selected for the Grand Marais Art Colony Studio 21 Gallery this summer. She premiers her work at her exhibit, Making Love Visible beginning with the June 1 opening event. The show is on display through June 29. (more…)
PDD Geoguessr Challenge #18: Duluth’s Sister Cities – Thunder Bay, Canada
Thunder Bay, Canada. Photo based on an interpretation of aerial imagery by Microsoft Flight Simulator.
The last of the sister cities in this series is the first. Thunder Bay was the original sister city of Duluth, a relationship that formally began in 1980. While the Twin Ports is the largest metropolitan area on Lake Superior, Thunder Bay is the largest city, with a population of 110,000. (more…)
Bob Dylan on Duluth and Minnesota
Some Duluthians think Bob Dylan hates Duluth and Minnesota. What has Bob Dylan actually said?
I’d heard rumors Dylan was a Duluth hater, but then I read the liner notes to his 1974 album Planet Waves, where he wrote: “Duluth! Duluth — where Baudelaire Lived/& Goya cashed in his Chips, where Joshua brought/the house down!” These are not the words of someone who hates Duluth. These words lionize the city in terms of literature and mythology. A song on the album mentions Duluth too. From “Something There is About You“: “Thought I’d shaken the wonder/And the phantoms of my youth/Rainy days on the great lakes/Walkin’ the hills of old Duluth.” Duluth as a city of wonder and phantoms: who among us cannot relate?
Growing up in Hibbing, Dylan had family in Duluth and Superior. As a teen he went to Minneapolis more and more, and that became his jumping-off point to the world. But the Northland never left him. From his autobiography Chronicles, Volume One (2004 edition), one reads many references to Duluth, Hibbing, Minneapolis, and Minnesota as a whole. (more…)
Homegrown Music Festival 2024 Photo Slideshow
This year was the third in row that I lugged my heavy camera around during the Homegrown Music Festival and attempted to be a photographer. Above are the 86 best photos I could muster. (more…)