Letter

St. Paddy, Please

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Pleeeease!!! It’s St. PADDY’S Day, (as in Padraig) not St. PATTY’S Day (as in Patricia). Or else, just call it St. Patrick’s Day. Author(s) and Location: Martha LeDuc, St. Paul Letter Type: Letter

Closed Down

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I thought I heard, via MPR, that The Rake is closing it’s doors. Too bad! Thanks for all the great stories and your sense of humor. I’ll be watching for the next venue [which you’re looking at online]. Author(s) and Location: Mary Jo Schmith, Front Ave. Pottery, St. Paul Letter Type: Letter

Self-Deprecating Fun

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I really enjoy reading Todd Smith’s article. His self-depricating humor is always fun. Author(s) and Location: Mark DeYoung, Minneapolis Letter Type: Letter

Workingman’s Blues

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I read Tom Bartel’s article “Discounting the Value of Work” (February). I would like to comment on it:I have worked for over forty years in the baking trade, with a lot of six-day weeks and Sundays. I also worked twenty years as a part-time janitor for a church. In the coming election, I hope we … Read more

Love the Sinner

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I enjoyed my niece’s observations on “evangelicals” (“Do You Really Believe?” February) and attended the church she speaks of in Phillipsburg, Missouri. when I was her age. I don’t recall a fervor for a literal interpretation of the Bible particularly espoused, but I know many of the church members there did have those views. I … Read more

Against a wall

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Lowell Pickett might want to downplay the Dakota’s beginnings at Bandana Square (“Planet Pickett,” February), but for many of us the club’s move was the lamented end of a lovely era And not just due to the loss of that family feeling, either. The Bandana site was cozy and intimate, with nary a bad seat … Read more

The Rakish Pause

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Last fall Erik Bergling made a pilgrimage to the jungles of Vietnam to visit the army base where his father served during the war. Needless to say, his devotion is admirable. But so, too, is his curiosity. This photo he sent us shows him across former enemy lines, where he took a moment to peruse … Read more

Fanfare for Food Fight

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[A response to various blog posts about Mpls./St. Paul Magazine food critic Andrew Zimmern: "Ode to a Sycophant," "Zimmern’s Complaint," and "A Bone to Pick with Andrew Zimmern." See also "I, Too, Have a Bone to Pick with Andrew Zimmern."] Just read the whole three-tiered back and forth! Love it. Laughed my ass off. Am … Read more

All Hail Hicks

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I had to write and let you know how much I enjoyed Dylan Hicks’s short story in your December issue ["1984 Dodge Ram Roadtrek II – $4500"]. It was like reading a combination of S.J. Perelman and Steve Rushin. Thanks for making the holiday brighter! Author(s) and Location: Amy Scott, St. Paul Letter Type: Letter

We Go Well with Turkey and Pancakes!

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Pine City native Jake Olson picked up The Rake while visiting Minnesota over the holidays. Back in his adopted home of Adana, the bustling city that is Turkey’s fifth largest, Olson served up our magazine (and maple syrup from Mora, MN’s Sapsucker Farms) to a Turkish friend on his balcony. Apparently, that view of the … Read more