Ohio’s Backyard Scientist
"Would that thou couldst last for aye,
Merry, ever-merry May!"
William D. Gallagher (the forgotten Ohio poet)
BURNED-OVER DISTRICT, NY--The clouds of April have scattered, so look...
Ray Bradbury of Illinois
BURNED-OVER DISTRICT, NY---"Here comes the summer!" as the Undertones rejoiced. The Muckdogs' home opener is next Friday, and two days later the sun makes the...
Gumbo as Soul Craft
When I read “Shop Class As Soulcraft,” I initially felt like a twerp. I’m the guy who was raised in the country by a...
An FPR Symposium: Shop Class as Soul Craft, by Matthew...
During the course of this entire week, FPR will devote its main pages to a symposium on the recent book Shop Class as Soul...
Lookin’ Out My Back Door; Or Sounds From Boo Radley’s Porch
BURNED-OVER DISTRICT, NY---Caleb has proposed this beautiful rendition of “Our Town” by Iris DeMent as the Front Porch theme song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FikZwgj89HI
(Anyone not moved by it...
Voices Against Progress: What I Learned from Genovese, Lasch, and Bradford
The following is excerpted from Paul Gottfried's Encounters: My Life with Nixon, Marcuse, and Other Friends and Teachers, recently published by ISI Books.
I met...
Elmer Kelton, RIP
BURNED--OVER DISTRICT, NY---Elmer Kelton, the superb Texas novelist, died Saturday. In 2006 I visited Mr. Kelton in his San Angelo home; herewith, via the...
Nowheresville
This post is dangerously close to turf already claimed by Bill Kaufman and Jason Peters. But the appeal of Richard Russo is so strong...
Eric Miller on The Lost Cause of the Midwest
Devon, PA. If you have not encountered Eric Miller's savage indignation elsewhere, here is a fine place to start: his review of David S....
Dirt, Dollars, and Devices
Holland, MI. I confess: I hate farms. I hate everything about them. I hate the malodorous smells that take days to wash off. I...