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What an education

The best formal education of my life came through two professors at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, when I was doing master’s work in creative writing and acting. Anne Greene and John Hawkins released me from the kind of secondary education boundaries created by the metaphorical mental handcuffs some paths of education place on budding students’ creative energy. My undergraduate at Iowa State in journalism was peppered with some intensely dedicated professors, Tom Emmerson and Bill Kunerth highest among them. But for sheer launching power, I remember not just the ...

Red and yellow, black and white …

Growing up in rural Iowa in the ’50s and ’60s I was not exposed to much diversity. Our small-town schools in those days were nearly all white. In kindergarten and first grade I had a classmate from England. Other than her accent, which I thought was cute, she was like the rest of us kids. A couple of years later a classmate who was also a neighbor was the son of a Native American mother and a white father. Sonny was a good friend and we had a lot of fun playing together. At my first full-time job I worked with a young Mexican lady. Maria was an excellent worker and I have ...

A perfect pain in the rear

Okay, I’m a senior citizen now and I’m mature enough to admit to my faults. My jaws crack noisily when I eat apples and I snarf down popcorn too quickly. I bore my family by repeating jokes and personal anecdotes and my Dutch stubbornness and German temper sometimes get in the way of human harmony. I preach “sermons” worthy of Billy Sunday when I get disgusted with someone or something and I have been known to have been too frugal. This list, unfortunately, goes on. The stain of original sin did not pass me by. One fault I have difficulty admitting, however, is the fault of ...

The Daily Freeman-Journal and Kendall Young Library are hosting two candidate forums

The Daily Freeman-Journal and Kendall Young Library are partnering to host two candidate forums relevant to the upcoming Webster City School Board and City Council of Webster City elections. These forums will take place at Kendall Young Library. The school board forum will be on Monday, October 27, from 6 to 8 p.m. The City Council of Webster City forum will be on Tuesday, October 28, 6 to 8 p.m. Moderating these events is Bill Shea, editor of The Messenger, Fort Dodge. The forums will follow the following format: First, each candidate will be allowed time to address the ...

The big plate glass window where it all started

Did you have a childhood experience that precipitated your eventual adult career? I did. I remember the experience vividly. My family had moved from the farm into a two-bedroom apartment on the main street of Ellsworth in early February 1953. I had just turned five and enjoyed playing with the other children who lived in the downtown area. There was Jackie whose parents ran the drug store, Larry whose father worked at the produce and several other kids, including Marla, whose parents ran the weekly newspaper. One day that spring I found myself standing in front of the Ellsworth ...

I used to be more exciting

On a recent Saturday night my wife went to bed around 8 p.m. and I planned on retiring for the evening around 10 p.m. We kissed each other goodnight and I was about to head for my recliner to watch a few more YouTube videos when I was struck by a sobering thought. “I was a lot more exciting on Saturday nights 60 years ago,” I told Julie. “What are you talking about?” she asked. So I began to explain. It was a busier than normal Saturday for us. In the morning I tagged along to a craft sale at a little country Methodist church not too far from our home. I went along ...