December 16, 1999 - It's been nearly a year and a half since nature photographer Nadine Blacklock and her dog Paddles were killed in a head-on car crash along the North Shore. Before she died, Nadine had been working with her husband Craig to re-issue their popular collection of photographs of the Quetico-Superior wilderness called, Border Country. The Blacklocks wanted to re-work their photos using new digital technology to make them sharper, brighter and more colorful. After Nadine's death, Craig took over the project and has just released the new, improved Border Country. He says looking over the old photos brought back many memories.
December 15, 1999 - It's been nearly a year and a half since nature photographer Nadine Blacklock and her dog Paddles were killed in a head-on car crash along the North Shore. Before she died, Nadine had been working with her husband Craig to re-issue their popular collection of photographs of the Quetico-Superior wilderness called, Border Country. The Blacklocks wanted to re-work their photos using new digital technology to make them sharper, brighter and more colorful. After Nadine's death, Craig took over the project and has just released the new, improved Border Country. He says looking over the old photos brought back many memories.
December 13, 1999 - For patients sitting through hours of chemotherapy or family members waiting for a loved one to come out of radiation, there are the usual distractions - old magazines, the newspaper or television. But there isn't much to feed the soul, especially for those who haven't come to terms with the disease. Karin Miller is hoping to change that. Two years ago, her husband Thom was diagnosed with cancer. He was 36 and had a tumor the size of a football in his abdomen. Karen began writing poetry to get through the difficult months of his treatment. She suspected others touched by cancer might be doing the same thing, so she founded the Cancer Poetry Project. Through a Web site and other publicity, Miller is soliciting poetry for an anthology that she hopes will be published next year.
December 6, 1999 - Four people were arrested today in connection with two suspected methamphetamine labs. Police discovered one in St. Paul last night following a fire at a building on West Seventh Street. And in Wright County today, two men were arrested after a hunter came across their meth lab. The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension estimates most of the meth consumed in Minnesota is imported from the southwestern United States and Mexico. But the number of local labs is growing, and the number of busts has roughly doubled every year since the mid-1990's. Tim O'Malley is a special agent in charge at the BCA. He says a disproportionate number of labs are still found in rural areas, where it's generally easier to conceal the smells and toxic waste associated with a lab.
December 3, 1999 - Minnesota author Frederick Manfred was so dedicated to his creative calling that despite writing 33 books, he was frequently broke. The critically acclaimed author of Lord Grizzly, The Golden Bowl, and This is the Year died in 1994. While he was good at getting his books published, he was not as adept at negotiating his pay. In her new memoir, Frederick Manfred: A Daughter Remembers, Freya Manfred says her father didn't have a lot growing up and in some ways it's surprising he went on to become a respected literary force.
November 29, 1999 - To close out the millennium, Minnesota Public Radio's All Things Considered presents a look back at Minnesota life in 1900 via a 12-part series, entitled “A Minnesota Century.” This segment is the story of Fredrick McGhee, a civil-rights advocate and Minnesota's first black lawyer, who left an important local and national legacy.
November 8, 1999 - Since the discovery of British mountaineer George Mallory on the icy north face of Mount Everest in May, the world has learned a bit more about what happened on his fateful climb back in 1924. But still, the biggest question remains unanswered. Did Mallory and his partner Andrew Irvine make it to the summit? If they did, they would have accomplished the feat decades before Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. Everest climber Eric Simonson organized the team that set out to find Mallory this spring. He's just released a book about the expedition called "Ghosts of Everest." Simonson says the sketchy information he and other climbers have had over the years fueled their imagination and hope that Mallory made it.
November 4, 1999 - MPR’s Lorna Benson interviews gay poet Mark Doty about his book “Firebird: A Memoir.” Doty reads a selection from the book, recalling how the lyrics to Petula Clark's song "Downtown" gave him hope.
November 2, 1999 - St. Paul is just one of four cities where voters are being asked to approve new sports facilities. Neil deMause is a critic of publicly funded stadiums and the author of the book "Field of Schemes." He's paying careful attention to stadium proposals across the country.
November 1, 1999 - Three-time Pulitzer prize-winning playwright Edward Albee is in the Twin Cities tonight to discuss the state of American theater. Albee's "A Delicate Balance", "Seascape", and "Three Tall Women" all won Pulitzer prizes. He is also the author of the critically acclaimed and equally criticized "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. Despite his own success and many honors, Albee has had a difficult time getting his plays on Broadway, something that hasn't stopped the playwright from staging his work elsewhere in the county and abroad.