Hiroshima, Japan

Mina writes: How did I spend my summer vacation? With my husband and sons in Hiroshima, Japan for the anniversary of the Atomic Bombing, “Peace Day”. We shared the day with our Japanese hosts, the wonderful Nogamis, and 60,000 other Peaceful People from all over the world! That’s me in front of the A-Bomb Dome, … Read more

Valletta, Malta

Red Handed photo taken outside the Police Academy at Fort Saint Elmo in Valletta, Malta in July. Author(s) and Location: Charlie Maguire

The Beaufort Scale of Conflict

Number, Name—Identifiers; Description 0, Calm—Skin tone normal; Passive agreement, no apparent problems 1, Flap—Dirty looks cast Long periods of silence, punctuated by grunts 2, Squabble—Eyes narrow Widespread nitpicking, mild name-calling 3, Dust-up—Some color in the cheeks; Ungrounded accusations, small threat of physical contact 4, Spat—Clenched fists, jaw; Open name-calling, disagreement on facts 5, Row—Notable presence … Read more

Mother's Little Helper

Up to the 1960s, the apron served as a potent symbol of American womanhood. These lovingly adorned little swatches of cloth represented comfort and security and perfectly browned pot roasts. Then the women’s movement came along and the frills fell away. Since then, aprons have mostly been utilitarian and unisex, of the “Kiss the Cook” … Read more

Happy Halloween

Here’s Barb Pratt of Minneapolis taking a little rest on her van trip with Alan Kahn (also of Minneapolis) in upstate New York—–yum!! What a pie it made!! Author(s) and Location: Barb Pratt

What’s in a Name?

I greatly appreciated the thoughtfully written article on the Outdoor Scripture Sign Crusade [“The Ruin,” by Joe Hart, September]. Kudos to Hart for gracefully rendering the sincerity of his subject’s Christian faith. Mr. Hart’s personal theological commitments, however, seem marred by some muddled thinking. While he admits to having “a kind of rueful respect for … Read more

Minnesota Mosques

In your October cover story, “We Live Here,” you wrote about the new mosque being built in Rochester. Your writer said, “When complete, it will be the first new mosque ever constructed in Minnesota.” I would like to let you know that this is not true. There has been a new mosque built in Richfield, … Read more

Pad and Pallette

Congratulations on your article about University Grove [Sweet Spot, October]. Your large photo of the building with colorful panels is a two-story library addition to a fifties Close house now owned by professors Helen Foster and Fred Cooper. The firm’s “Wolfe House” next door (now owned by Dudley Riggs and his wife) featured panels with … Read more

The Long Decline

I read with amusement the hand-wringing implicit in the article “Newspapers in Turmoil” by Brian Lambert [October]. What is noteworthy is that this is newsworthy at all. I have been avoiding the likes of the Star Tribune and the Pioneer Press since 1985, when I first moved to Minneapolis. Even by the standards of American … Read more

Forests in Turmoil

In regard to the article in your October edition “Newspapers in Turmoil,” if daily newspapers are in trouble, first and foremost they should be in trouble for destroying old-growth Canadian forests. Most newsprint used in the U.S. comes from Canada, and ninety percent of all logging in Canada is done with clear-cutting. Newsprint, which is … Read more