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.
June 6, 2006 - There's a piece of paradise in northeastern Minnesota. It's called the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCA). Admirers credit the book "The Singing Wilderness," published in 1956, as part of the inspiration for creating the wilderness area; and they credit author Sigurd Olson for putting into words the reasons humans need wilderness. However, his views inflamed critics who feared Olson and other wilderness advocates worried more about habitat than humans.
June 14, 2006 - As Minnesotans prepare to say farewell to spring, Minnesota Public Radio's favorite weatherman stops by to discuss Minnesota's weather, past and present. Part 1 of 2Mark Seeley: Meteorologist and climatologist at the University of Minnesota. Seeley is the author of the "Minnesota Weather Almanac."
June 14, 2006 - As Minnesotans prepare to say farewell to spring, Minnesota Public Radio's favorite weatherman stops by to discuss Minnesota's weather, past and present. Part 2 of 2Mark Seeley: Meteorologist and climatologist at the University of Minnesota. Seeley is the author of the "Minnesota Weather Almanac."
June 18, 2006 - An Ely legend has died. "Jackpine" Bob Cary is dead at the age of 84. Cary is a long time writer with the Ely Echo newspaper. He was a talented illustrator and author of 17 books. Duluth News Tribune outdoor writer, Sam Cook, worked beside Cary at the Echo. Cook recalls Cary always working on the next book. He says Cary's writings were as diverse as his interests.
June 18, 2006 - "Jackpine" Bob Cary of Ely has died. Cary died at the age of 84 after a long fight with cancer. Sam Cook is now an outdoor writer for the Duluth News Tribune. Cook remembers Bob Cary from the days when Cook was the new reporter at the Ely Echo and Bob Cary was the Managing Editor.
June 19, 2006 - A giant figure is gone from Ely. Bob Cary lost his battle with cancer. To some, Cary was better known as "Jackpine" Bob - editor, author, columnist and story teller.
June 20, 2006 - Historian Robert Dallek says it's not so much a president's actions that make him memorable, it's his words. Dallek discussed the power of John F. Kennedy's words in a recent appearance at the Kennedy Library in Boston.
June 22, 2006 - The new Guthrie Theater opens this weekend. After over forty years on Vineland Place in Minneapolis, The Guthrie has moved to the banks of the Mississippi and into the international spotlight. The new, blue building, designed by French architect Jean Nouvel, sits on the riverfront in downtown Minneapolis. To celebrate its new home, the theater will host a weekend full of events.
June 27, 2006 - Acclaimed local author Sandra Benitez has come out with a new book, but you won't be able to find it in any book store. Benitez, who has earned nearly two dozen honors for her work, including a Minnesota Book Award, struggled to find a publisher for her new memoir, "Bag Lady." The book recounts her battle with a form of Irritable Bowel Disease and the surgery that changed her life. Concerned that the book would be a hard sell, publishers passed on it. So, Benitez and her husband published the memior themselves.
June 29, 2006 - Speaking in St. Cloud Wednesday, David Broder, the Washington Post's national political correspondent, said that the baby boomers have proved to be bad at governing the United States. Broder says boomer politicians are too focused at re-fighting the battles of the past. Given at League of Minnesota Cities conference.