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 ...

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 ...

It is no secret that AI has captured the imagination of most of us. It has, in particular, captured the imagination of the media. The gist of the media’s wonder is: How can we use AI? Well, in the interest of answering that question, I launched an experiment. I asked AI what we can do ...

Sixty-five years ago one of the favorite things our mother would say to us was, “We’re going to Titonka (or to Wellsburg) Sunday.” Those were the Iowa communities where our grandparents lived. A trip to Wellsburg meant spending a Sunday with our maternal cousins and a trip to Titonka ...

Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kennedy received a tumultuous welcome this morning at Fort Dodge. Kennedy, who flew to Fort Dodge from Sioux City, on his way to the national plowing matches at Sioux Falls, S. D., was greeted by 25,000 people at the airport and in the business ...

Recently I ran into a childhood friend who is a lifelong (and successful) farmer. “How’s life in the big city?” he asked, referring to my home in the Des Moines suburbs. I get this query occasionally from rural friends, some of whom cannot imagine living in the city or suburbs. ...