hancock
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Letter From Home: “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah And A White Pine, Too” 3/30/26
There are those days in life when you must stop and slow down, recognizing that what is playing out is truly wonderful. Not because you are on vacation or won the lottery. As the day is put into perspective, all the events are rather ordinary. Yet putting them together, and taking nothing for granted, they… Continue reading
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Dean Richards: A Chicago Voice We Counted On
On this blustery Saturday, when a heavy coat is needed when walking outside, I sit at my desk to write what I hope will be a warm column about Dean Richards. This is one of those pieces that are from a list of topics needing a comment or two, but get left behind, given the… Continue reading
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Wisconsin-Born Legendary “Voice Of Agriculture”, Orion Samuelson, Dies At 91
Legendary WGN Radio farm broadcaster Orion Samuelson passed away Monday at the age of 91. Known as the “Voice of Agriculture,” his life is most worthy of recalling. Samuelson was born on a dairy farm in Ontario, Wisconsin, where a leg disease left him for a time nearly crippled as a teenager. He would take classes for six… Continue reading
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Redgranite Library Funding Shortage Rightly Rankles Locals
Concerns over budget cuts at the Redgranite Library in Waushara County have created much conversation and disgust in recent weeks, Library board members voiced their concerns over the unexplained and deep $11,000 cut, nearly 21% of last year’s funding amount. It need not be explained to my readers that the library is an essential resource… Continue reading
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One Man Really Harmed The Washington Post
Is Richard Nixon’s revenge finally being realized at The Washington Post? Politicos can debate that, but one thing seems beyond dispute: Jeff Bezos has been the worst thing to happen to that once‑grand newspaper. The decline has become so stark that Michael Calderone now writes that Bezos has gone “from Washington Post savior to executioner.”… Continue reading
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Letter From Home: Heartstopper And Hancock 1/23/26
Last fall, at Barnes & Noble, thanks to a large display near an entrance to the bookstore, I first became aware of Alice Oseman, and the Heartstopper series. Several books of her work were prominently displayed, and I spent a few minutes reading a bit and exploring the overall tone and mission of them. Heartstopper… Continue reading
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Letter From Home: “They All Want To Be A Christmas Tree!” 12/19/25
Though our home on the Madison isthmus was built in 1892 with one large white pine from the northern reaches of Wisconsin, we have never had a white pine Christmas tree. But when I was a young man, that variety was the only one ever to be decorated for Christmas in the apartments where I… Continue reading
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New Doty Land Podcast: Christmastime In Hancock During Depression Years 1929-1932
A fire that destroys a large portion of Hancock’s Main Street, the career of Stanley Hamilton, the 33-year tailoring job of Gus Lowandowski who builds a house on S. Lake Street, the tragic death of Frank Sigourney, what is playing at the Hancock Theatre, a Booth family wedding, the trial of Elmer Huckins, local sports… Continue reading
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The Old Farmer’s Almanac Still Shapes Us
For all the chaos and turbulence that blast their way into our lives, some constant mainstays continually comfort us and remind us that not everything needs to be upended. A few weeks ago, James and I bought the latest edition of The Old Farmer’s Almanac, that humble, yellow-jacketed companion of what is described as a… Continue reading
