February 26 marks the centenary of Grand Canyon National Park, its designation issuing from the pen of President Woodrow Wilson in 1919. Coincidentally, the Grand Canyon’s great champion, ex-president Theodore Roosevelt — who had named the canyon a national monument…
If you are a graying Baby Boomer like me, you might remember a comedy troupe from the 1970s called “Firesign Theater.” They had their origin in FM “progressive” radio (KPFK-Los Angeles, 1966). The ensemble put out some two dozen comedy…
“In our time the destiny of man presents its meaning in political terms.” — Thomas Mann I haven’t been to the movies in months. I passed on Dunkirk after reading a few reviews that told me that it lacked historical context….
In August, 1910, a huge fire burned three million acres (destroying whole towns and taking 87 lives) in Washington state, Idaho, Montana, and adjacent Canada. This has come down to us as “The Big Burn,” the title of a 2009…
I’m a volunteer at my local public library in a small town in Idaho. I sort through donations of books, move furniture, take out the trash, shovel the walks in winter, and do other minor chores that don’t require much…
On a recent journey to visit my family in upstate New York, I took a side trip to Waterbury, Vermont. From 1986 to 1990 I was on the staff of Vermont State Hospital (VSH) there (an experience I wrote about…
Montana is one of those Western states with quirky electoral preferences and a history of splitting tickets. Small but divided Congressional delegations, governors in the opposing party at odds with state legislature majorities, deep red rural counties and bright blue…
In May’s Idaho Democratic gubernatorial primary, 38-year-old Paulette Jordan prevailed over A.J. Balukoff, a perennial Democratic candidate and two-time loser. Jordan is a Native American and member of Idaho’s Coeur d’Alene tribe, who served as a two-term state legislator and…
“In our time the destiny of man presents its meaning in political terms.” — Thomas Mann I haven’t been to the movies in months. I passed on Dunkirk after reading a few reviews that told me that it lacked historical context….