By Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette: LOVING THE WIND “How can you call yourself a Kansan if you don’t love the wind?” Dan Markowitz accused me when I ran into him at the Java Cat. “Um,” I stammered. “Too much of a good thing?” In a recent column, I …
Tracy’s Hometown
Wyatt Earp statue, downtown Dodge City. Mary Spurgeon, sculptor TRACY’S HOMETOWN If Tracy and I had grown up in the same town during the same time period, I’ll bet we would have been childhood friends. A few weeks ago, I traveled with Tracy Simmons to her hometown of Dodge City for an overnight visit. She …
In the Presence of Trees
Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette: IN THE PRESENCE OF TREES An abundance of shade, a concert stage, the state’s largest southern magnolia, and an independent young cat named Twiggy. Those are just a few of the things that you’ll find at the Bartlett Arboretum in Belle Plaine. This Sumner …
Explorer Research Voyage
Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette: 2012 Kansas Notable Book Award winners EXPLORER RESEARCH VOYAGE Sometimes the evening news from the Statehouse discourages me. I hope for and expect better things for Kansas than are sometimes decided for us. I had been feeling down, so I was delighted recently to …
Kansas Talking Books
Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette: KANSAS TALKING BOOKS I recently spent a number of hours in a recording studio. No, I wasn’t singing – nobody wants to hear that. I recorded my book “Flyover People” for Kansas Talking Books. It was a fun process and I was glad to be …
The Afterlives of Trees
Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette: THE AFTERLIVES OF TREES On a wooden porch deck at Lake Wabaunsee, I sat in the shade of burr oaks and locusts, redbuds and hackberry trees. The canopy of leaves, a lake breeze, and a lack of concrete made this place feel about 20 degrees …
The Divorce Girl – a Review
Coming July 7 to a bookstore near you: The Divorce Girl by Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg. The ‘70s was a decade of station wagons, “All in the Family,” and polyester. And while some of us are glad that leisure suits have disappeared from the scene, readers of a certain age might get a bit nostalgic when returning …
The First But Not the Last
Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette: THE FIRST BUT NOT THE LAST Father’s Day is next Sunday. I’ve done the math, and this year I’m coming up one dad short. But hey, that’s just the way it is. All of us have suffered a loss of some kind, and as …
Kelley Hunt!
Kelley Hunt and her band rocked the Granada Theatre this evening in Emporia. Yeow! Raised in Emporia, she played for an appreciative hometown crowd. Tonight’s performance was a benefit for the Emporia Arts Center and the Granada Theatre. Kelley always just blows the audience away with her voice, her keyboard skills and her energy. She …
Mary White
KSN in Wichita featured a nice story on Mary White this evening. The Emporia Gazette’s editor, Chris White Walker, was interviewed as was Beverley Buller of Newton who wrote “A Prairie Peter Pan,” a book about Mary White. Watch it here. ***
Poet Lariat
In the Flint Hills Discovery Center there are several computer screens and visitors can hear local residents and experts talk about various subjects. Above is Ron Wilson, a cowboy poet, and he talks about being poet lariat.