Dan Slager was a wide-eyed college graduate when he moved in 1989 from his home state of Michigan to Manhattan with a futon tied to his car and “a sense that New York was where you went if you were interested in literary books.” He landed a job as an editorial assistant at William Morrow … Read more
Melody Gilbert has always considered herself a global citizen of sorts, having worked in television and film everywhere from Wisconsin to Romania. But in 2001, her sportswriter husband Mark Wollemann landed a job at the Star Tribune, and the couple settled down in Minneapolis. That was when her work as a documentary filmmaker started to … Read more
One way or another every local television news outfit hypes itself as Your News Leader. What they mean by this, of course, since only one station can be the actual leader, is that the kids in their PR departments have found creative ways to twist Nielsen numbers to make it appear as though they have … Read more
Take a piece of paper and write on one side: “The statement on the other side of this page is untrue.” Then turn the piece of paper over and write the same thing on the other side. Then apply for a tenure-track position in a university philosophy department, where they will tell you that this … Read more
Despite the fact that March often brings the year’s biggest snows, I cling optimistically to an idyllic vision of spring. The sun coaxes me into a daydream involving windswept hills fresh with fragrant clover, buds bursting forth, and butterflies dancing their jagged jig while the goats and I frolic in a bracing breeze. The goats … Read more
Once upon a time, say fifteen years ago, portraits of chief executive officers had much in common with oil paintings of George Washington or Robert E. Lee. There was a man (they were pretty much all men), shot from a slightly low angle so as to amplify his stateliness and power, with his hand on … Read more
I live in Minneapolis, the fiftieth state in the union, known far and wide as the “Moon Crater State” and “Green Grocer to the World.” There are more than one thousand lakes in Minneapolis, and herds of bearded reindeer in the North Country. I’m sorry—Minnesota is the fiftieth state in the union, etc. Minneapolis is … Read more
Actors on The Young and the Restless wore them while embracing Bianca, Bailey, or Bambi, and then convincing the ladies to sneak off and make love in the janitor’s closet. Older cousins wore them to weddings, with girlfriends attached to their arms like weights at the gym. As a scrawny, suburban Ohioan pre-teen who couldn’t … Read more
The St. Paul Cultural Garden, an installation of seven poetry-inscribed sculptures, isn’t easy to find. There is no signage or parking, and it’s on the way to virtually nowhere. The tiny plot of anonymous green space, perched one hundred feet above the Mississippi River atop a municipal parking ramp, is hemmed off from the rest … Read more
“Eveningwear made comfortable”: Those are the operative words this season for Katherine Gerdes, the twenty-five-year-old designer best known for her appearance on Project Runway. The artist has successfully parlayed that exposure into businesses offering custom fashion and ready-to-wear, both of which bear the signature of Gerdes’ casual aesthetic. The avid snowboarder requires a loose fit … Read more