I'd rather wear out than rust out!

Today I tagged along with Paul Ingram, the Midwest's most famous bookseller, to a reading by Mildred Armstrong Kalish of her memoir, Little Heathens. Millie's amazing. She's sharp as a tack, and has this great storytelling voice. She read to a group of about a dozen residents at Legacy Pointe, an assisted living facility in Iowa City. The room was filled to capacity -- mostly because of all the posh walkers everyone brought with them. Here's more about her book.

We make our own best parodies

I met this couple from St. Louis while working on a story about the American Gothic house in Eldon, IA for Iowa ArtScene. They had forgotten their camera and wanted to pose for a parody a la the Grant Wood classic, so I took some digital shots of them and sent them via email. Dorothy was so surprised that she sent me a thank you gift -- thank you cards (I think the irony might have been unintended). But the big surprise was yet to come. She and her husband, who is from Wales, ended up on the cover of the latest ArtScene. You can read the story by clicking on the cover.