Books
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Exhaustion From Hypermasculinity In (Ted Bell) Books
I was reading a book in the parking area at the Middleton Post Office this afternoon as James ran some boxes in for mailing. I was 300 pages into Ted Bell’s second Alex Hawke book, Assassin, and abruptly closed it and threw it in the back seat. I had come close to calling it a… 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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Stuart Kaminsky: Inspector Rostnikov Series Has Characters Striving For Moral, Ethical, Humane Outcomes
This week, the last two books in the Inspector Rostnikov series by Stuart Kaminsky arrived from Amazon. As I took them from the package, I wondered what suspense they would hold. Over the next few months, they will land in my hands, and then there will be no more to anticipate. I was crowdsourcing in… Continue reading
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Letter From Home: “Turning Pages In The Sun” 2/15/26
There’s a particular kind of joy that arrives the moment winter finally loosens its grip. That is what happened this weekend in places around Wisconsin. It’s not loud or dramatic. It’s quiet, like the soft sound of a book page turning. Sitting for the first time this year at the table and chairs on our… Continue reading
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Nation Cannot Survive At Shallow End Of Swimming Pool
Somewhere between rereading The Imperial Presidency by Arthur Schlesinger and the daily newspapers, I have been trying to place the lessons of the past into the constant absurdity and irrationality of the present. I am not sure I am making headway in my thinking, but I want to share where I am as of today.… 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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What Must Be Done To Face Our Current Crisis In America?
While reading the newspapers today, I thought about a book I had read decades ago by Arthur Schlesinger. I read it in my 20s while in Door County, a decade after it was published. The Imperial Presidency was written following the twin debacles of Vietnam and Watergate, with an emphasis on what should be the… Continue reading
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Charles Michelson: The Man Who Saw Hoover Clearly, Lesson For Trump Years
I want to write this column about a newspaperman who understood the times in which he lived and then worked to report on what it meant for the people. He also revolutionized political marketing as the first party official dedicated to media outreach. When reading 1929 by Andrew Ross Sorkin, which contains many memorable personalities,… Continue reading
Caffeinated Politics 