This collection encompasses 50-plus years of interviews, readings, speeches, and reports on the vibrant literary scene in Minnesota. Not only home to giants F. Scott Fitzgerald and Sinclair Lewis, our state has an array of incredible contemporary poets, novelists, and playwrights. Their words make up majority of this collection.
Repeatedly being named the “Most Literate City in the United States,” the Twin Cities has played host to numerous visiting national writers via book tours, festivals, and lectures. Many recordings of these are also included.
This project was funded by the National Historical Publications & Records Commission.
December 20, 1999 - The city of Saint Paul and Central High School are the settings for Stanley Gordon West's new novel, Finding Laura Buggs. This is the Saint Paul native's second self-published novel. Both books feature characters loosely based on West's friends in the Central High class of 1950. West lives in Montana now. He tells Minnesota Public Radio's Mike Edgerly the idea for Finding Laura Buggs came to him while driving the long interstate from the Twin Cities to his home in Bozeman.
December 21, 1999 - A look at Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol and how it's shaped our view of Christmas and charity. Features a 1940 version of A Christmas Carol featuring Lionel Barrymore as Ebenezer Scrooge. Our review of A Christmas Carol was written and produced by John Rabe, with assistance from Kara Fiegenschuh. It included selections from To Charles, With Love, a special production created and produced by Bridget Carpenter, the NEA-PCG playwright in residence of the Guthrie Theatre. We heard My Carol by Doris Baizley, read by Sue Scott; and excerpts of Octoclaus by Eric Ehn, read by Dan Gorenstein; and A Christmas Golem by David Grimm, read by Steve Yoakam.
December 22, 1999 - That's author Jim Lenfestey reading from his book The Urban Coyote: Howlings on Family, Community, and the Search for Peace and Quiet. The book is a compilation of columns and essays he's written for a community newspaper in Minneapolis.
December 23, 1999 - Christmas gatherings are the stuff of family memories. Some people remember these through photographs, others through journals. Six generations of family history are gathered in British author Sallyann Murphey's new book, The Metcalfe Family Album. Resembling a scrapbook, it's actually part fact, part fiction. It includes pressed flowers, family photos, recipes, and letters supposedly gathered at Christmas by the family matriarchs. Minnesota's Public Radio's Stephanie Curtis talked with Sallyann Murphey about how she collected real stories from letters and journals to create the book.
December 24, 1999 - Rabbi Harold Kushner's speech on how to make a difference with the rest of your life. Rabbi Kushner was in the Twin Cities this fall to give a lecture on What to Do With the Rest of Your Life. Rabbi Kushner is the author of the best seller, Why Bad Things Happen to Good People. He is also in wide demand as a lecturer and this fall, he spoke at the Academy for Faith Exploration, an educational outreach program sponsered by the Wayzata Community Church.
December 24, 1999 - This weekend, Christians around the world will once again hear the story of the Virgin Mary...a humble peasant woman who became the mother of God. Mary is perhaps one of the best-known figures in the Bible. But for many Christians, she is nearly invisible the rest of the liturgical year. That was the case for Kathleen Norris, who grew up in Methodist and Congregational churches. Norris, who is a poet from South Dakota, rediscovered Mary during a visit to a Benedictine abby 15 years ago. Mary's image seemed to be present everywhere. Norris, found the experience comforting and peaceful. In her new book "Meditations on Mary", Norris re-examines our assumptions about Mary in a series of personal essays.
December 24, 1999 - Splendid Table host Lynne Rossetto Kasper talks about the history of fruitcake, and the idea of sending it to others.
December 28, 1999 - Neil Haugerud, author of Jailhouse Stories: Memories of a Small Town Sheriff, discusses his book. It is published by the University of Minnesota Press.
January 3, 2000 - A speech about the impact of the global economy, by Benjamin Barber, director of the Walt Whitman Center for the Culture and Politics of Democracy at Rutgers University. He is the author of the best-seller Jihad versus McWorld.
January 4, 2000 - A Commonwealth Club speech by Dr. Robert Butler, President of the International Longevity Center in New York City. His speech is titled, "The Wonderful New World of Longevity: Celebration or Calamity." Author of Why Survive: Being Old in America.