Northern Exposure
Last Friday evening WTIP http://www.wtip.org/ in Grand Marais, Minnesota interviewed me about the Best 150 Minnesota Books blog. It was great fun and made me long for a visit north. Two things came up in the interview that might be worth mentioning. First, they asked me about the wiki that I started, to identify fictitious Minnesota towns and the real towns on which they are based. http://pseudonymousminnesota.pbwiki.com/. If you are interested in Minnesota fiction this may amuse you, but more importantly I need your help identifying these Minnesota places. Second, host Ann Possis claimed that Canoeing with the Cree by Eric Sevareid was her favorite book. How can you not love a woman who appreciates such a guys-growing-up-on-an-outdoor-adventure book? Thanks Ann.
Patrick Coleman, Acquisitions Librarian
May 15th, 2008 at 10:27 am
Guy or gal, how can you not love Sevareid’s tale?
I’d like to think “Canoeing with the Cree” taps a more universal experience. And I would assume that Ms. Possis identifies, as I do, with that experience - regardless of gender!
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May 15th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
I have been reading lately about the different reading habits that men and women have. “Canoeing with the Cree” would, according to these studies have at least three strikes against it for a female purchaser. And yet you must be right, Jane, since every woman in my life seems to love this book. Thanks.
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May 16th, 2008 at 10:47 pm
“Canoeing with the Cree” is powerful, but Sevareid’s “Not So Wild A Dream” is even better. Admittedly it taps into a Dakota birthplace and Velva sensibility…but Eric will always be a Minnesotan to me. It’s regrettable he might not be remembered as a Minnesotan even though his claim is comparable to another hero of mine, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and others.
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May 23rd, 2008 at 1:08 pm
Dave, Yes “Not So…” is a very powerful book supporting Tom Brokaw’s notion of a “Greatest Generation”. My only complaint with the later book is how Sevareid dismissed his canoe adventure as just a silly thing that kids did. I guess it must have/would have seemed insignificant after World War II. Pat
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June 25th, 2008 at 10:24 am
I’m moving to Northernapolis!
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