Quick hits: E15 'Stop the Stall' campaign; popcorn history; Connecticut's bid to attract first responders; Tolkien for men

Rural Voices USA photo

When the congressional Rural Domestic Energy Council failed to meet its Feb. 15 deadline to pass year-round E15 legislation, Rural Voices USA began targeted billboard campaigns in Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska and Wisconsin. WisPolitics-State Affairs reports, "The billboards, part of a six-figure multi-channel pressure campaign, are now live on digital boards. . . .The campaign targets districts represented by Republican champions of E15 legislation who have been unable to move the bill through congressional leadership." Allowing E15 year-round would help corn farmers secure a reliable, domestic income that isn't subject to export volatility.

March has arrived, but in many parts of the U.S., the snow hasn't left. In fact, there are still piles and piles of it everywhere. Victoria Hoffmann of the Christian Science Monitor wondered where a city like Boston, which received more than 5 feet of snow this winter, put all their snow. The answer: Snow farms. "My search led me on a journey to places in Boston I’ve never ventured before. Boston is operating 14 snow farms this year, the first time in years that a mayor ordered that many to be opened."

At first, U.S. movie theaters didn't want to sell 'the noisy
snack.' (Photo by M. Ingvordsen, Unsplash)

Heading to the movies didn't always include a bucket of popcorn. "At first, theater owners wanted nothing to do with the noisy snack. But then came the Great Depression," reports Heidi Mitchell of The Wall Street Journal. "The appeal was obvious: It was cheap, fast and theatrical. Families popped it over wood stoves; peddlers sold it in paper cones at circuses. . . .A whiff of fresh corn could draw a crowd quicker than any barker’s repetitive shout." Read about popcorn's history in the U.S. here.

In a bid to attract more first responders, Connecticut plans to offer recruits a range of incentives. Gov. Ned Lamont's bill, H.B. 5046, "would waive tuition to the state’s public colleges and universities for people who have worked as police officers for at least five years and for people who have served as paid or volunteer firefighters for at least five years," reports Emilia Otte of the CT Mirror. "The bill also authorizes the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority to create a mortgage assistance program for police officers and firefighters."

J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy has taken millions of readers on what is arguably the most epic rural adventure -- to Mordor and back again. And while the tales of Bilbo and Frodo remain strikingly popular, they continue to have a more dramatic appeal for men. "Both Tolkien’s cosmic vision of Middle-earth and the many genuine heroes that populate his work likely make for an attractive combination in the eyes of many a meaning-starved young man," writes Peter Biles for The Dispatch. "As I wrote for The Dispatch a few months ago, boys don’t just automatically become good men in a vacuum; they need role models. Manhood must be carefully nurtured. . ."

The Great Florida Cattle Drive celebrates the Sunshine State's ranching heritage.
(Great Florida Cattle Drive photo)

When it comes to cowboys and cattle, most Americans tend to think of the West, but in early America, Florida was where the cattle and the cowboys traveled together. In a tribute to the state's history, "nearly 300 people and 300 head of cattle traveled a century back in time for the 5th iteration of the Great Florida Cattle Drive," reports Isaac Eger for National Geographic. Over six days and six nights the drive became "a living history reenactment where hundreds of riders on horseback walk, trot, canter, and gallop through 54 miles of pristine Florida country that is now part of the Florida Wildlife Corridor." Read about their adventure here.

Former 'city dweller' explores rural-urban divide in new graphic novel

Mahadavian reflects on rural life and the rural-urban 
divide in his new novel, This Country. (Yonder photo) 

In his new graphic novel, cartoonist Navied Mahadavian reflects on rural life, the rural-urban divide and the political divisions between “city dwellers” and “rural folk,” Myat Theingi of The Daily Yonder reported.

Searching for affordable living and what Mahadavian described as the “allure of possibility,” he and his wife moved to rural Idaho from the San Francisco Bay area.

Despite some unpleasant encounters due to his race, his interactions with people in the town opened his eyes to the emotions and pride of people who live in rural places, the complexities of their political beliefs, and their reasons for distrusting people who come from the city.

“So, after reading my book, I hope that city dwellers will gain some insights into rural life and vice versa. I also hope they see that there are divisions and different cultures. But there are also friendships that I forge, that show that it is possible to bridge those divides in a meaningful and lasting way,” Mahadavian said in an interview with Theingi.

Quick hits: Appalachian brooms; soap science; school lunches on tour; summer train traveling; escaping the heat

Cynthia Main makes handmade brooms, Appalachian style.
(Sunhouse Craft photo via the Yonder)

When a talented crafter with an entrepreneurial bent got busy making handmade brooms, a new sustainable business in Appalachia was born. "Rural arts programs helped Eastern Kentucky maker Cynthia Main develop Sunhouse Craft, a sustainable business with an Appalachian sense of place," reports Kim Kobersmith of The Daily Yonder. "Main is driven by sustainability and community. With larger revenues, she can pay her small staff a living wage and offer her restored historic storefront as a community gathering space, while moving closer to her goal of developing a 100% local supply chain."

Pioneering women of the 1800s spent grueling hours over a fire making soap every spring. Sounds horrible, but soap itself is somewhat of a miracle. "The discovery of soap dates back approximately 5,000 years, to the ancient city of Babylon in what is today the country of Iraq," writes Paul E. Richardson for The Conversation. "Although billions of people use soap every day, most don’t know how it works. As a professor of chemistry, I can explain the science of soap. . . Soap molecules come together and surround the grime on your hands. The water-loving heads of the soap molecules are on the surface, with the water-fearing tails inside the micelle. This structure traps the dirt, and running water washes it all away."

 

Philadelphia children eating a 'three-cent dinner' at school.
(Science History Institute photo via Smithsonian)

Since the late 1800s, Americans have been arguing over kids' school lunches, but beyond the controversies, the topic offers an interesting look at the U.S. diet. "A new exhibition in Philadelphia spotlights the evolution of American nutritional health through a unique lens: the school cafeteria," reports Sonja Anderson for Smithsonian magazine. "Medical inspections revealed that schoolchildren were malnourished. Many had scurvy or rickets, diseases caused by vitamin deficiencies. . . . Philadelphia and Boston became two of the first cities to offer meals to public school students in 1894. According to a statement from the museum, the exhibition features a tiny aluminum token from 1909, which a Philadelphia child would have used to purchase a 'penny lunch' at school."

A California Zephyr trip is chockablock with scenic
views. (Amtrak photo)

Summer is a time for growing gardens, hiking, swimming, dodging mosquitoes, slathering on sunscreen, and, if you're lucky, taking a long vacation. "Here's how one writer used the $500 Amtrak rail pass to criss-cross the U.S. over the course of one month," writes McConnell Quinn for Condé Nast Traveler. "Unlike planes, where everyone stays in their bubble, trains are oddly social — a rotating cast of characters and glimpses into lives I’d never otherwise encounter. With the USA Rail Pass, I crossed the country three times in 30 days. . . I watched the Pacific creep into view on the Coast Starlight, rode the California Zephyr through the Rockies at sunset, and drifted to sleep somewhere in Texas on the Sunset Limited."

July's heat is surely coming, and for those of us with limited air conditioning options, planning where you will go to keep from baking -- beyond grocery store freezer aisles -- is a priority. One of the all-time favorite spots for escaping heat and humidity is movie theaters. AMC theaters must know they are part of some people's melting prevention plans because "beginning July 9, the movie theater chain will offer 50% off adult movie tickets on Wednesdays for those part of the AMC Stubs rewards program," reports Ramishah Maruf of CNN News. 

Summer is also a time for great reads. It could be on a beach, by the pool, in the grass with your horse or any number of amazing places to chill out and read. Not sure which book to kick off your summer escape? Try one from this list of books that will be made or have already been released as 2025 movies. Wilson Wong of The New York Times writes, "Here are some of the thrillers, romances, sci-fi page turners and detective novels coming soon to a screen near you. This is a running list. Check back for more updates as the year goes on."

"The first novella in the Murderbot Diaries series, 'All Systems Red,' follows a security android that secretly hacks its own operating system, allowing it to think and act independently," Wong writes. "But when an expedition goes strangely awry, resulting in several scientists’ deaths, the robot must help the humans in its own unit unravel the mystery before a similar tragedy befalls them." Murderbot premiered on Apple TV+ on May 16.

Quick hits: Hop on a historic train; new farming trilogy; free immigration resources for journalists; Big Foot sightings

Cumbres & Toltec Railroad riders enjoy being 'lifted'
137 feet high on the High Cascade Creek Trestle.

As summertime vacation beckons, consider boarding a historical train and chugging through parts of North America you've never explored. "Railroads revolutionized transportation in North America, permanently accelerating the pace of travel across the continent," reports Michael Harmon of The New York Times. "Today, many of those railroad tracks host an assortment of historic excursion trains, inviting riders to slow down and enjoy a grand day out." The Skunk Train, the Potomac Eagle Scenic Railroad, and The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad are all spectacular picks.

When young people leave home, they often see life through the lens of their upbringing. For author Jane Brox, that lens is generations of family farming in Dracut, Mass. Brox added a third book to complete her trilogy, In the Merrimack Valley, which celebrates early immigrant dreams, farm routines that enrich daily life, and all that is gained and lost when young adults set out into the world. Danny Heitman for The Wall Street Journal writes, “Brox created a multipart work that is more broadly about the nature of origins — what we might owe to the places where we started. Even and, perhaps, especially when we leave them."

Reversing a previous decision, the Trump administration "temporarily reinstated dozens of fired federal workers who help screen coal miners for black lung, a deadly and incurable disease caused by inhaling toxic coal dust," reports Maxine Joselow of The Washington Post. "The screening program offers contracts to radiologists across the country who are certified to evaluate X-rays for black lung. It also employs epidemiologists who recently concluded that 1 in 5 longtime coal miners in Central Appalachia has black lung — the highest level recorded in 25 years."

The Immigration Reporting Legal Guide is a free resource developed by The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press to help journalists navigate coverage of the complex web of federal and state entities that make up the American immigration system. The guide divides the topic into three parts: Immigration-related public records, how to access immigration proceedings and and details about journalists' rights to observe and record immigration enforcement officers on the ground. The guide is available in English and Spanish. There's also an extensive collection of free legal resources.

Spring and summer can be glorious times for hiking, fishing and taking nature walks. But sometimes, uninvited buzzing guests such as wasps and yellow jackets come along on warmer-weather adventures and sting humans -- often for unexplained reasons. And while no anti-sting plan is foolproof, Ashley Leath of Country Living has a few suggestions.

• Don't swat at wasps. Swatting tells a wasp to release pheromones that will trigger other nearby wasps to see you as a threat, exactly what you don’t want to happen.
• To prevent wasp nest building, try putting up a fake wasp nest. Wasps are territorial and don't like waspy neighbors.
• Don't remove a large yellow jacket nest on your own. They can sting more than once. Call a professional.
• To remove a smaller yellow jacket nest, read here.

Mysterious, massive and yet strangely elusive, Big Foot remains a North American legend with hundreds of sightings by locals, tourists and scouts paired with an equal number of people who are outspokenly skeptical Sasquatch exists. Beyond the argument, a separate exploration has formed which asks why some people want to believe that strange and unlikely creatures lurk just out of plain site. Sarah Melotte of The Daily Yonder writes, "I’m more interested in exploring why mysterious wildlife inspires obsession and fanaticism, and what it says about the American environmental psyche."

     
         Map by Sarah Melotte, The Daily Yonder, from Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization data

Quick hits: A 'new' Robert Frost poem; the penny's top advocate; the little farmer from the Super Bowl ad

The newly discovered poem by Robert Frost was written
in Amherst, Massachusetts, in 1918. (Adobe Stock photo)

Laced with nature, deep and succinct -- Robert Frost's poems are a rich read. And it so happens, there's a previously unpublished poem by Frost to enjoy, reports Jay Parini for The New Yorker. "I opened “Nothing New” and saw at once that it was indeed something new. It was originally inscribed inside a copy of Frost’s second collection. . . that was found in a retired educator’s home library. . . It’s a good poem, short and aphoristic, from a period when Frost, writing at the height of his powers, had a special affection for poems of this kind: brief, rueful, tight, focused."

Taking truckloads of books to rural hither and thither after Hurricane Helene became this traveling librarian's mission. "In the 1930s, women employed by the Works Progress Administration rode pack horses through the mountains of eastern Kentucky, bringing books to rural residents in hard-to-reach places," reports Anya Petrone Slepyan of The Daily Yonder. "Nearly a century later, Kirsten Crawford Turner is carrying on that tradition, with the help of a truck and a U-Haul rather than a horse and saddle bags." Turner told Slepyan, "It started with one box of books on my porch. Now I have thousands." 

Weller would like to give every American
a penny for their thoughts. (A.S. photo)

 

Almost everyone despises pennies. "Except this guy," writes Joseph Pisani of The Wall Street Journal. "Mark Weller has been on a roll for three decades, arguing for the one-cent coin’s existence every chance he gets. When the penny is slighted in newspapers, it’s Weller who writes letters to the editor." Weller runs a pro-penny group and he keeps Congress abreast of all the benefits the penny affords. "He’s been to Capitol Hill countless times to convince Congress to keep the penny, which the U.S. Mint has been producing since 1793."

Fake meat is made of plants, which people are encouraged to eat. But it's also an ultra-processed food, which people should avoid. What's the low-down? Alice Callahan of The New York Times reports, "Here’s what we do — and don’t — know. . . . While it’s clear that eating red meat and processed meat is associated with health risks like heart disease, some types of cancer and earlier death, we really don’t yet know how fake-meat alternatives might affect our health in the long term."

Else M. Rike still uses a calculator
to do taxes. (Adobe Stock photo)

Even if you love your job, would you do it if you lived to be 100? Probably not. But that's not true for everyone. "Else M. Rike will be 101 years old on March 24 but doesn’t expect to take a day off to celebrate. She will be too busy preparing tax returns," reports James R. Hagerty for The Wall Street Journal. "Active tax professionals over 90 years old are rare but can be found here and there. . . .William D. Brew, who lives in Henderson, Nev., and will be 102 in March, continues to prepare taxes for a handful of clients. . . Wes Cobb, 94, a retired IRS agent in Keene, N.H., invites clients to spread out their tax materials on his kitchen table."

She's the Little Potato Farmer who could. She's also a little famous after a Super Bowl ad spotlighted her family's potato farm, which grows potatoes for Lay's potato chips. Her father, Jeremy Pavelski, is a fifth-generation farmer from Hancock, Wisconsin, reports Tyne Morgan of Farm Journal. "The Super Bowl commercial . . . was inspired by Pavelski’s story, after he hosted a farm tour for Frito Lay one day." Morgan adds, "The group was especially touched by Pavelski’s 7-year-old daughter, who is passionate about the potatoes her family produces."

Growing up on a junkyard helped this sculpture artist learn how to 'find beauty in the overlooked'

Book cover jacket of Jeffie Brewer's newly released book Joy Machine  (K.Co Press graphic)

Growing up on a junkyard may sound depressing, but for Jeffrey or "Jeffie" Brewer, an East Texas native sculpture artist, his childhood days living among discarded things helped him develop his quirky, playful artistic style. He shares some of his artistic wisdom and childhood experiences with Olivia Weeks of The Daily Yonder. A condensed version of their Q&A is shared below.

Weeks: Tell me about yourself — who are you, what do you do, and where do you live?

Brewer: I’m just an artist specializing in colorful, silly, sometimes thoughtful sculptures that bring a touch of playfulness to public spaces, private homes, galleries, and museums. I live and work in East Texas, where I make things out of metal, often inspired by my childhood, the natural world, and whatever is rattling around in my brain at any given moment.

Weeks: Can you tell me about your town, Nacogdoches, and maybe a little about East Texas in general?

Brewer: Nacogdoches and East Texas in general have a character all their own – there’s something deeply rooted, raw, and nostalgic about the place. It’s home to lush, dense forests, rolling fields that stretch endlessly, and a lot of Texas history. The area has a quiet charm that speaks to a slower way of life, full of folks who are deeply connected to this place. . . . At my core, I am a redneck, with a thin veneer of culture and worldliness.

Weeks: In your book, Joy Machine, you write about growing up on a junkyard, and about how formative it was to your work. What were those early artistic explorations like? Did they all start with other people’s junk?

Jeffie Brewer's art brings a sense of playfulness into spaces.
(Photo by David Kimling via The Daily Yonder)

Brewer: Growing up in the junkyard taught me to find beauty in the overlooked, to take pieces from the past and either repurpose them or simply collect them. It was more a place for learning about industrial tools and working with my hands than a place for making art, per se. . . . The junkyard offered a space to destroy and rebuild, almost like a lens to see the world through. It gave me skills and memories that would later shape my understanding of what art could and would be.

Weeks: You seem to have always been into monsters and animals and creatures of all kinds — I’m thinking of your lovely 'Burds.' Where does that come from? And what’s your relationship like to the characters? Do they have personalities to you?

Brewer: Animals, creatures, and whimsical shapes have always fascinated me – they offer such freedom for imagination. 'Burds,' and other characters, let me play with personality, form, and storytelling. I see each creature as having its own charm and quirks, and in many ways, they become real to me, carrying a personality as I work on them.

Jeffie Brewer's book, Joy Machine, was released this month from K.Co Press.

In a surprising move, giant publisher Penguin Random House is actively fighting book bans

A wall of banned Penguin Random House books.
(Photo by Nate Langston Palmer, WSJ)

When it comes to fighting book bans, book publishers have hugged the sidelines and quietly funded industry groups that champion First Amendment rights. But for one publishing giant, stepping into the book boxing ring has meant standing up for free speech and its authors, reports Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg of The Wall Street Journal. Penguin Random House "now fully embraces the fight against book bans, entering a sensitive debate that is playing out in school boards and statehouses across the country. At risk: potentially alienating a large chunk of customers on an issue at the crux of culture wars that have polarized the nation in ways not seen in decades."

Those who push for book bans often "believe they are targeting titles that are pornographic or otherwise inappropriate for young people," Trachtenberg writes. "The publisher's stance is that teachers, librarians and school administrators, as expert educators, already make decisions about what is appropriate for young readers, and should be left to do their jobs. . . . Despite the risks, Penguin Random House's leadership said that failing to act had moral and financial costs."

To that end, Penguin Random House has used its media might to resist bans, educate consumers and share "censored" content. "Penguin Random House has started hosting anti-book-banning events, giving away several thousand copies of its most-frequently banned titles," Trachtenberg reports. "School boards and school districts removed more than 1,500 book titles from an assortment of publishers from public school classrooms and libraries in the 12 months through June 2023, according to a recent study by PEN America, a literary and free-speech organization that has been vocal in opposing bans."

Trachtenberg reports, "When Dan Novack, Penguin Random House's associate general counsel, learned the law firm Ballard Spahr was working on a book-banning lawsuit against Escambia County School District in Florida with PEN America, he called an attorney there and asked, 'Can we get in? . . . In an early victory, a federal judge ruled the plaintiffs in the Florida case can pursue their lawsuit on First Amendment grounds."

Taking a hard line against book bans has opened Penguin Random House to deeper probes by media and well-funded book ban advocates. Despite the added scrutiny, the company's leadership feels their position supports educators. Penguin Random House CEO Nihar Malaviya told Trachtenberg: "There is always the potential for people to misinterpret our actions. We aren't pushing anything on anyone. We're supporting the experts who make decisions about books."

Loyal Jones, interpreter of Appalachian culture, dies at 95

Loyal Jones

Loyal Jones, whose Kentucky pastor called him "the indefatigable and beloved interpreter of Appalachian life and culture," died Saturday morning in Black Mountain, N.C. He was 95.

The author and co-author of several books and dozens of published articles about Appalachian culture, people and humor, Jones wrote about the resiliency of mountain people and their culture and said the region should be judged by its own values—family, land, and traditionalism—rather than mainstream values of accumulation, wealth and power, said Ron Eller, former director of the Appalachian Center at the University of Kentucky.

When he received the top award from the East Kentucky Leadership Foundation in 2017, Jones said, "We have a viable culture here. We have a lot of problems, but we have a lot of people with great values."

Jones, a native of western North Carolina, held degrees from the University of North Carolina and Kentucky's Berea College, where he ran its Appalachian center in 1970-93. It is named for him. Jones "had been diagnosed with cancer, and earlier this year had decided that he didn’t wish to continue treatment," center Director Chris Green, who is editing Jones's memoirs, said on Appalnet, the list-serve for Appalachian academics, whose discipline Jones helped create. "Despite this, he kept up correspondence, worked on his memoir, and was only occasionally down with his afflictions."

The Rev. Kent Gilbert, pastor of Union Church in Berea, wrote, "He loved good dry and wry humor, music of all kinds, a lively conversation, and was a craftsman, musician, and an appreciator of the arts in every form. Truly a man of many talents! A fierce champion for those whom the world had handed a bad hand, he worked hard against the causes of poverty and injustice. If he had impatience with anything it was the too-evident arrogant hypocrisy of politicians who said much but did little to improve other’s lives."

George Brosi, another Appalachian academic who lived in the same retirement community as Jones, wrote on Appalnet, "Nobody devoted more of their life to Appalachia than Loyal Jones, and he contributed as much as anyone to Appalachian studies. He set the tone for our field with humor, grace, integrity, erudition, and wisdom."

Saturday is "Let Freedom Read Day," and organizers are promoting efforts to defend library books from censorship

Public libraries should have materials for everyone in the community, but with the increase in book bans, it can feel like the freedom to find "your thing" to read could be pulled from the shelf.

Tomorrow, Oct. 7, is Let Freedom Read Day. In the spirit of civic engagement, advocacy groups are asking Americans to stand up for library staff, educators, writers, publishers and booksellers who make the wide variety of books available to readers.

The organizers of Banned Books Week promote several ways for people to support the efforts:

Call a decision maker: Call school and library administrators, school board and library board members, city councilpersons, and elected representatives to ask them to support the right to read a variety of books. Find and Contact Elected Officials (usa.gov)

Support an advocacy organization: The Banned Books Week Coalition includes organizations that fight against efforts to ban books. Learn more about the members of the Coalition here.

Buy a "banned" book: Censorship doesn’t just harm libraries and schools; it also impacts writers, publishers and booksellers. Writers have had school visits canceled. Publishers and booksellers are encountering more obstacles to working with schools and libraries. One way to support the people who make and sell books is to buy them.

Do you want to help others access banned books? You can donate the books you purchase to:

• Public and school libraries: Contact your local library or school to find out what they need and how to donate.
• Little Free Library: Use the free LFL mobile app to find a Little Free Library book-sharing box in your area.
• Fundraisers: Many public libraries have friends of the library groups that use donated books to raise money for the library.
• A banned book giveaway or bookmobile: Call your local bookstore to see if they may be hosting a giveaway or supporting a bookmobile. 

More ideas are here.

It's Banned Book Week, and First Amendment advocates push back by training citizens how to fight bans

Photo via PEN America

Banned Book Week is this week, and First Amendment advocates are pushing to stem the tide of books removed from library shelves. "In the last few years, there has been an unprecedented wave of book bans and censorship spurred by parents and conservative groups to target books that center the LGBTQ+ community, Black history and diverse stories," reports Ariana Figueroa of The Kentucky Lantern. "During the 2022-23 school year, book bans occurred in 153 districts across 33 states, according to the PEN America report."

According to PEN, 3,300 books were banned during the 2022-2023 school year, up 33% from the prior year. To counter the dramatic increase, PEN "launched online training for students to fight book bans, and more recently, teamed up with bestselling authors to fight against book bans in Florida and across the country," Figueroa writes. "Some of those authors include Judy Blume, Ruby Bridges, Suzanne Collins, Michael Connelly, Gillian Flynn, Amanda Gorman, Nikki Grimes, Daniel Handler, Khaled Hosseini, Casey McQuiston, James Patterson, Jodi Picoult and Nora Roberts, among others."

Lawmakers have also entered the fray, with some supporting bans and others criticizing bans as free speech violations. In September, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee "held a hearing to discuss the consequences of book bans, but senators ultimately decided it was not Congress' role to intervene," Figueroa reports. "The White House in June announced that the Department of Education Office for Civil Rights would appoint a coordinator to counter the massive wave of book bans across the country.. . . However, the department has not responded to multiple requests from States Newsroom asking about the hiring status of the new coordinator. . . . One state, Illinois, became the first state to pass a law outlawing the banning of books."

Moms for Liberty, an organization formed in 2021, is often the force behind many book bans, Figueroa explains. The group generally "'targets local school board meetings, school board members, administrators, and teachers to push right-wing policies,' as reported by Media Matters. Moms for Liberty has about 300 chapters across 47 states."

States and the number of books they have banned from July 2022 – June 2023 include:
Arkansas - 4 books; California - 1 book; Colorado - 8 books; Florida - 1,406 books; Georgia - 4 books;
Idaho - 25 books; Indiana - 3 books; Iowa - 6 books; Kansas - 7 books; Kentucky - 3 books; Maine - 13 books; Massachusetts - 1 book; Michigan - 39 books; Minnesota - 1 book; Missouri - 333 books; Nebraska - 6 books; New Hampshire - 1 book; New Jersey - 3 books; New York - 6 books; North Carolina - 58 books; North Dakota - 27 books; Oklahoma - 2 books; Oregon - 38 books; Pennsylvania -
186 books; South Carolina - 127 books; South Dakota - 2 books; Tennessee - 11 books; Texas - 625 books; Utah - 281 books; Virginia - 75 books; West Virginia - 2 books; Wisconsin - 43 books
Wyoming - 15 books

Opinion: Appointed county school board grants itself 'sole authority' over library content; some residents push back

A sign on a road in Hanover County, where a battle is underway over a
push for an elected school board. (Photo by Greg Sargent, Washington Post)

America is no stranger to censorship, with the first U.S. book ban dating back to 1637. Some counties, such as Hanover County, Virginia, have a long history of the practice, writes Greg Sargent in his opinion for The Washington Post. In 1966, its school board removed To Kill a Mockingbird from shelves, and this year, it "removed at least 20 books after granting itself sole authority over library content. Last spring, it renamed a school christened after a Black historical figure," but some residents are resisting the bans in what is shaping up to be "A nasty fight in a rural Virginia school district."

In response, the "Hanover Citizens for an Elected School Board" is campaigning to "take away county officials' power to appoint school board members, who are otherwise insulated from public accountability. Unelected boards are rooted in the state's Jim Crow past, as they were sometimes used to keep Black residents out," Sargent writes. "The case for an elected board in Hanover County, which stretches from Richmond's suburbs into outlying rural areas and backed Donald Trump in 2020 by 26 points, is strong. . . . It is one of only a dozen school boards in the state that are still appointed — and it's the largest among those."

"More residents started joining the push for elected boards last spring. First, the board voted to give itself sole authority over book-banning decisions for school libraries — and then promptly started nixing books from circulation, including several with LGBTQ+ themes," Sargent adds. "Liberal-leaning Kelly Merrill, a University of Richmond professor with a transgender teenager, said she was angered when the school board voted against accommodations for trans students."

"This saga goes back a century. At the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1901-1902, delegates shut down a proposal for elected school boards after opponents made clear they believed that would give too much 'negro' control over the schools. . . . In the 1950s, the General Assembly retaliated against Arlington County's board (the only one at the time that was permitted to elect members) by revoking that status in favor of appointments. This ratified the idea of appointed boards as a bulwark defending segregation," Sargent writes. 

Historian Peyton McCrary told Sargent, "Appointed boards were part and parcel of how the Jim Crow system operated in Virginia." Sargent adds, "In Hanover, liberals and even some conservatives are mindful of that dark past. This fall, if residents vote to give themselves the power to hold school board members accountable moving forward, it will be another step toward repudiating it."

The Color Purple book remains one of the most frequently challenged books more than 40 years after its release

In 2022, the ALA  documented over 1,200 attempts to ban or
restrict library materials. (Thought Catalog photo, Unsplash)

In 1982, Alice Walker's The Color Purple became a critically acclaimed bestseller. But alongside the accolades, the story stirred up enough controversy to became "one of the most challenged books in the nation, withstanding criticisms aimed at its depictions of race and sex, its portrayal of abuse and agony, and even its spelling and style," reports Erin Blakemore of National Geographic. The novel was praised for "its portrayals of both the brutality and sorrow of racism and sexual violence and its celebration of Black women. . . . Though educators recognized the book's potential as a teaching tool, some parents and community members objected to its presence in school curriculums and libraries.

"The first major attempt to ban the book occurred in 1984, when a parent petitioned against its use in an Oakland, California classroom," Blakemore writes. "In a 1985 essay, Walker recalled reading frequent updates on 'how the banning was coming along' and watching the book's sales skyrocket. . . Though the Oakland schools ultimately decided not to remove the book from classrooms, the book has consistently been challenged nationwide since its publication, repeatedly making it on the American Library Association's list of most frequently challenged books."

Why? "Walker's use of slang and profanity, the book's portrayal of brutal Black men, a same-sex encounter between the two main characters, and its depiction of sexual violence in its first pages," Blakemore explains. "'One can eat from a cafeteria or a dumpster…but one would hope those placed in charge of our children would have exercised better oversight,' wrote one parent in a characteristic 2013 challenge in Brunswick County, N.C. (The book has survived multiple attempted bans in the Brunswick County school district.)"

A decade later, the book still faces challenges, but it is not alone. "In 2022, the American Library Association documented over 1,200 attempts to ban or restrict library materials—double the number of challenges from the previous year—and most of which attempted to remove multiple titles from shelves," Blakemore adds. "The Color Purple . . . was removed from library shelves in Florida's Indian County School District at the request of a parent group that objected to 156 of the books on school shelves, claiming the books contain everything from pornography to critical race theory."

The movie adaptation of The Color Purple musical is set for release in December, and once again, the book will be in the public spotlight. "Only time will tell if the movie will spark more challenges—but for now, the legacy of a book one 1982 reviewer called 'indelibly affecting' is secure," Blakemore writes. "To date, the book has sold over 5 million copies."

Demon Copperhead author Barbara Kingsolver talks about the opioid epidemic and Appalachia's difficulty with it

Barbara Kingsolver

Barbara Kingsolver says she intended her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Demon Copperhead to be her "great Appalachian novel" that told the story of how the opioid epidemic has ravaged the region, and its impact on children.

Ezra Klein of The New York Times interviewed Kingsolver, who grew up in Nicholas County, for his podcast, "The Ezra Klein Show." The Times transcribed the interview. It is wide-ranging, but a big chunk has her telling Klein how the opioid epidemic has impacted a whole generation of children who have become orphans and are being raised by grandparents and the foster system — and getting the bulk of their social services at school.

 

"We have a generation of orphans coming up through our schools," Kingsolver said, adding later, "There’s so many more kids in need than there are social networks to catch them — but the caseworkers are so overloaded and so pathetically underpaid. . . . This is something that I think the world needs to know about, this country — voters — need to know about. We need to know how this epidemic has left a generation of innocents that nobody’s taking decent care of. . . . These kids have been left behind. Our burdened public school systems are being asked to raise these kids." 

Klein and Kingsolver also talked about how Central Appalachia was targeted by Purdue Pharma with a drug that was so addictive and with doctors who were told otherwise. "This was done to them," Kingsolver said of her neighbors in southwest Virginia and southeastern Kentucky. "Nobody wants to be addicted."

 

Kingsolver also talked about the stigma associated with addiction and how people have been brainwashed to think it is a moral failing, instead of the brain disease that it is. 

"We have been trained, culturally trained, to think of addiction in this way, as a personal failing that needs to be punished. Incarceration does not cure addiction any more than it cures cancer. Addiction is a disease," she said. "It’s impossible to describe how terrible this disease is, not just the dope sickness of it but the fact that your entire life has to become just a really difficult, hard work in process of, every morning, getting your means, getting your fix, getting through another day. And nobody wants to live like that." 

Kingsolver told Klein that she hopes her novel will help people have more compassion and think of people with addiction as having a disease and to get rid of the idea that you don't treat a person with addiction until they "hit bottom." 

"That’s how we treat the disease of addiction. And it’s incredibly inhumane. And effective treatment will only happen after we switch over from putting this in the hands of the police and the prisons to medical workers who can meet addicted people where they live and offer them the first steps of clean needles and fentanyl test strips so that they won’t die in the weeks that it will take for them logistically, physically, emotionally, to get to the beginnings of treatment," she said. 

And to those who maintain a moral objection to such "harm reduction" programs, she said, "It’s as if people feel that addicted people deserve to die. Imagine if we looked at any other disease that way."

News-media roundup: Miss. Basin Ag & Water Desk to add 10 more reporters; Calif. paper was 'tortured plaything' . . .

The Walton Family Foundation is giving the Missouri School of Journalism $2.47 million over the next three years to expand the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk, a network of journalists that covers agriculture, water and environmental issues in the basin and makes articles free to publish. The foundation's additional support will fund a second cohort of 10 journalists starting next summer, through a partnership with Report for America. They will get training from the J-school and the Society of Environmental Journalists. Associate Professor Sara Shipley Hiles, the desk's executive director, said it wants a wider range of newsrooms. Applications from newsrooms are due Sept. 18.

James Rainey of the Los Angeles Times tells how billionaire Wendy McCaw made a "tortured plaything" of the Santa Barbara News-Press, which closed July 21. The closure "leaves Santa Barbara with a few online news sources and a solid alternative weekly, the Independent," the Times reports. "But those outlets collectively do not employ the number of journalists who once powered the News-Press."

Ken Tingley, retired editor of The Post-Star in Glens Falls, N.Y., has published The Last American Editor, Vol. 2, a collection of 90 stories and columns that "explore particular themes or periods of a person’s life that best represent Small-Town America," says his come-on.

She read 1,001 books and found the 'real America'

Esri map, from Esri, TomTom, Dept. of Commerce,
Census Bureau data

In 1968, Simon and Garfunkel released their song "America." Simon's lyrics wistfully recount his 5-day cross-country road trip longing for a way to explain America. The song is a pursuit of what it means to be American. But there are many ways to find America. . . .What about reading your way through American books to explain America? Susan Straight recounts her 5-year reading travels, "A map of 1,001 novels to show us where to find the real America," in her opinion for the Los Angeles Times.

"The idea for this 'library of America'  was born in 2016, when the news and the elections told of a country being irrevocably divided by politics, by ideas of red and blue, by arguments over who is American and who is not. . . . For me, those arguments ignored the vast geography of our stories and novels, the ways people search for belonging, leave home or stay, and how every state is really many places. Those arguments also ignored our common dreams, fears, challenges, hopes and everyday experiences, which unite us, regardless of where we live. I wanted to show that the places of American fiction can’t be divided into blue or red states. . . .

I made 1,001 books my goal, just as Scheherazade in The Arabian Nights told many stories to stay alive. Maybe these books can keep us going as we read about the places we or our parents came from, regions we don’t know, homes lived in decades or centuries ago, or homes made last year by someone new. Driftless, the region of Wisconsin in David Rhodes’ work, is a timeless evocation of a remote place that led me west, where two books set hundreds of years apart in Montana — James Welch’s Fools Crow and Stephen Graham Jones’ The Only Good Indians—kept me awake all night. Rereading Willa Cather in Nebraska took me to Pickard County Atlas by Chris Harding Thornton, a beautiful echo of homelands. In my California, the Central Valley of Helena Maria Viramontes’ Under the Feet of Jesus leads into the L.A. of The Tattooed Soldier by Héctor Tobar and the Pala Reservation of Gordon Lee Johnson’s Bird Songs Don’t Lie.

Even fictional books have a home. "Working with the story maps team at Esri, I drew all over my paper map, seeing regions emerge in the novels for each state. We ended up with 11 regions, chosen for spines of mountain ranges, shared coastlines, and prairie expanses. To find exact locations to map for each novel, I found references in the books themselves; I read interviews with authors throughout decades of their writing, and often — my favorite way — I contacted them by email or through Instagram and asked where they felt the exact heart of their books might be — especially in fictional places."

All in all, Straight distilled America to 11 kingdoms. Here are some of her recommendations:

Pointed Firs, Granite Coves and Revolution

Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island

The stony coasts and harbors of Indigenous and pilgrim, heritage stories both dark and bright in rock-lined fields, cobblestone streets and onyx rivers, this region’s novels are classic, but I love the new voices as well. Every fall, I visit New Brunswick, the land of my stepfather, then drive south, seeing New England through these remarkable books.

Mountain Home and Hollows, Smokies and Ozarks

Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia and Pennsylvania

With a series of wooded spines, the swath of America dominated by ridges and valleys holds unique stories of resilience, isolation and family, secrets held for centuries and brave travels to save those loved and loyal to this place. This kind of home means deep reverence for tradition and yet great novels of children longing for new visions as well.

Blues and Bayous, Deltas and Coasts

Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Florida

One of the richest legacies of fiction is here in eddies and waves, the desperate fields and dark roads to freedom, the tenacity of centuries and the swirl of change brought by bravery. In the South, the story is life, captured from the air into great literature.

In the Heart of the Heart of the Country

Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio

I took this title from William Gass, whose rhythm repeats throughout this immense heartland, where I’ve been told secret histories that echo marvelous novels. I walk along cornfields where endless streams of blackbirds flow above, thinking that prairie turned to field, to town, to city, and yet the long-held heartaches and sly humor color this heartland.

High and Lonesome Songs: Prairies and Mountains

Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado and Nebraska

Yearly, I come here to hear stories from my long-gone grandmother’s people, secrets from Fraser mountains to desolate farmhouses in ghost towns like Purcell. These books immerse readers in centuries of beauty, movement and bone-hard work in this extraordinary place.

The essential geography of America in the books of my favorite contemporary writers is peopled by characters who speak Spanish, Tagalog, Vietnamese and more. They are filled with the vernaculars of place, where nothing is merely red or blue, solely political or always divided. This is, of course, true in life: Every neighborhood in America is a blending of stories that can’t be reduced to any single idea.