By David Beeson, from way over the ocean in England, wrote a lovely review of my Flyover People book: In praise of praise for a place called home. However flat. **** ***
A Letter/Review from Paul Fiebich
I met Paul Fiebich on April 2, 2011, in Chase County, at the 80th anniversary commemoration of the plane crash that killed famed Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne. Paul and I were seatmates, I believe, on a borrowed school bus, and along with a couple dozen others, we bounced over a “road” in a …
Anticipation
Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette: ANTICIPATION For several days this winter when I walked through the door of the post office, I thought, “Maybe it’s here today.” I had ordered a bracelet online from a Hesston business called The Rusted Chain, and was awaiting the bracelet’s arrival. The anticipation …
It’s Kansas Day
*** Celebrate Kansas Day, buy a Kansas book! May I suggest… A collection of 80 essays about the Kansas experience: Flyover People – Life on the Ground in a Rectangular State. I write about the wind and the weather and the seasons. I write about people and places, about growing up in a small town. …
Travelers to Tanzania
Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette: Lion in the wild, Tanzania – photo by Jim Griggs TRAVELERS TO TANZANIA “We got charged by an elephant, but it was a false charge. A couple guys asked me, ‘How do you know it’s not a real charge?’ And I said, ‘Because the vehicle …
‘Dog of the Afterworld’
Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette: ‘DOG OF THE AFTERWORLD’ I’m keeping my eye out these days for handsome Russian assassins. I had never considered the possibility of one roaming freely around Kansas until I read my brother’s newly released first novel, “Dog of the Afterworld.” His story is a …
A Rainy Monday
Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette: Deer head, Java Cat Coffee House, Emporia A RAINY MONDAY At the Java Cat, a woman in her 20s sits down with a book and I’m curious as to what she’s reading. Fiction? Non-fiction? The sky is dim this particular day, the overhead bulb has …
Adventures in Reading
Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette: ADVENTURES IN READING One day this month, the Miracle Café in Reading posted a Facebook message announcing that strawberry-rhubarb pie was available that day. I reposted their note, and within a few minutes friends Greg Jordan and Lisa Soller suggested I meet them in Reading …
Art in the City
Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette: ART IN THE CITY “Mom! Mom!” I heard a boy’s voice yelling from the sidewalk in front of my house. I looked out the door and saw a boy who was 8 or 9 scramble to get on his bicycle. He continued to shout …
Three New Books
Hey everyone – This week I learned about new books by three author friends. A book I just started reading and am enjoying is Mystery at Snake River Bridge by Richard Uhlig. Originally from Herington, Rick Uhlig now lives and writes in New York. He hasn’t really left Kansas – his young adult fiction books, this …
‘Dragging Wyatt Earp’
Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette: ‘DRAGGING WYATT EARP’ “Returning home is like that. The future gets left behind, a piano dumped on a stark prairie. Suddenly you’re left with nothing but your life and the past. You have returned. Full circle. Everything else is just a blur.” Those are the …