May 28, 2001 - If you're on your way back from a long weekend at the lake- a little sad thinking about the work week ahead- don't despair, your trip to the northwoods isn't over yet. Minnesota author Douglas Wood is out with a new book about an island on sprawling Rainy lake near the Canadian border. Wood owns the island, and the small cabin a local craftsman built there in 1925. Woods book, "Fawn Island," is a collection of essays that explores how the wilderness retreat has shaped Wood's innermost thoughts and his view of the larger world.
May 29, 2001 - The final Pen Pals lecture series featuring Wisconsin author Jane Hamilton. Two of her books The Book of Ruth and A Map of the World were Oprah books.
June 1, 2001 - Northeastern Minnesota outdoorswoman and resort owner Justine Kerfoot died yesterday in Grand Marais. She was ninty-five. In the northwoods of Minnesota, everybody knows the name Justine Kerfoot. Her family bought the Gunflint Lodge nearly 70 years ago. Her 70 years worth of stories: the time she fell through the ice with her dog team; the time she lassoed a moose calf; the time her little son dropped a kitten down the outhouse - those stories are collected in her books, "Woman of the Boundary Waters and Gunflint".
June 4, 2001 - As the Minnesota Twins hold a 1/2 game lead in the American League Central and prepare for a series against the Cleveland Indians, Morning Edition’s Cathy Wurzer talks with sports commentator LaVelle Neal about what the rest of season may hold for the Twins.
June 5, 2001 - MPR’s Bill Catlin reports on the “Gay Index.” The vigorous debate over Minnesota's economic future in a high tech world has featured a variety of prescriptions for prosperity -- like using tax dollars to invest in Minnesota start-ups, and more state spending on high tech research. Now, some controversial new research from Carnegie-Mellon University suggests cities that want to promote high tech industry should make themselves attractive to gay men.
June 5, 2001 - MPR's William Wilcoxen reports on The Minnesota Twins making St. Paul's Joe Mauer the first pick in Major League Baseball's 2001 draft of amateur players. Mauer is a three-sport star at Cretin-Derham Hall High School, who is ranked among the best athletes the Twin Cities have ever produced.
June 6, 2001 - In the US Senate, Democrats are in control today for the first time in seven years. The switch means Minnesota Senators Paul Wellstone and Mark Dayton move from working in the minority... to the majority. The switch is a result of Vermont Senator Jim Jefford's decision to leave the Republicans, and declare himself an Independent. Joining us on the line to talk about the switch and what it means for Minnesota is Senator Mark Dayton.
June 6, 2001 - Morning Edition’s Cathy Wurzer interviews Terry Ryan, Minnesota Twins general manager, about the team’s selection of Cretin-Durham Hall catcher Joe Mauer as the first overall pick in the baseball draft.
June 7, 2001 - Hubert Humphrey's former press secretary Norman Sherman told the audience at today's Mondale lecture that Humphrey's personality played a key role in his success as a Senator. Sherman remembered how Humphrey instructed his staff to be nice to their political opponents - key Southern senators angry at Humphrey for his support of civil rights.
June 7, 2001 - MPR presents a report entitled Postcard From A Lynching, which looks at the history of a 1920 murder of three Black men in Duluth by a local mob. It’s a history that many in Duluth tried to forget… but others fought to bring the horrific lynching to light in the community and bring dignity to the slain men. [Content Warning: some content, language, and statements used in this story may be triggering to listeners]