By Caroline Fraser Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder recently won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Biography. And deservedly so. Caroline Fraser did a masterful job of researching and describing both the life and the times of Laura Ingalls Wilder. Fraser writes in the introduction that Wilder’s life was “a story that […]
Another assignment in my “Personal Legacy” writing course was to describe my major life work, followed by the advice I would give a young person seeking a career. Here’s what I wrote: My major life work is being a leader. It’s an unlikely calling for a bashful farm girl who didn’t talk to people and […]
CONCERT REVIEW – BRAD PAISLEY Brad Paisley came to Sioux Falls last Friday night. It was my first opportunity to see him in concert. I’ve been a fan of his since before I was introduced to him backstage at the Grand Ole Opry. That was probably in 2000. An internet search tells me he recorded […]
I recently took a “Personal Legacy” writing course, in which our lives were compared to trees with numerous branches. We were assigned to write about a branching point that changed our lives. This is what I wrote: The major branching point of my life occurred in 1972, when I joined the US Navy after college, […]
NEWS On his 83rd birthday, Bobby Bare received a surprise from the Grand Ole Opry. He was on the Opry stage April 7, singing during the segment hosted by Jeannie Seely, when Garth Brooks walked to the microphone. Garth invited him to officially rejoin the Opry family. “I’ve got to tell you that this is […]
By Lisa Unger “The last time I saw my husband . . .” is how Lisa Unger begins her literary thriller, Die For You. The protagonist is Isabel Raine, a best-selling author with a loving husband of five years. Marcus kisses her goodbye and heads to his New York City office, while she begins her […]
NEWS This year’s inductees into the Country Music Hall of Fame are Johnny Gimble, Dottie West, and Ricky Skaggs. They were announced March 27 at an event in the rotunda of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood were the hosts. Western Swing fiddler Johnny Gimble from Texas was […]
By Mimi Schwartz Mimi Schwartz grew up in the Queens borough of New York City, the first American-born child of German-Jewish immigrants who escaped in 1936 from Hitler’s Germany. She is now an award-winning author and professor emerita in the writing program at Stockton University. When History Is Personal is her collection of 25 essays, […]
By John Fogerty with Jimmy McDonough I became a fan of John Fogerty while listening to him reading his autobiography on audio CD in my car. Fortunate Son: My Life, My Music was written in 2015 with the assistance of Jimmy McDonough. Although of course I’m familiar with many Credence Clearwater Revival songs, and I’d […]
NEWS Ronnie Prophet (1937-2018) Ronald Lawrence Victor Prophet, a native of Calumet, Quebec, died March 2 at age 80, following cardiac and kidney failure. Ronnie Prophet charted 23 singles during his 60-year career. He immigrated to the U.S. in 1966, playing in Memphis and Nashville. There is a Ronnie Prophet Waiting Room at St. Jude’s […]