Category: Literary Journalism
-
Peace Through Pieces
An avid hunter and seller of antiques for more than four decades, 84-year-old Bob Swisher no longer buys anything he can’t lift. He also no longer strips and refinishes furniture. Yet like his great old finds in still another store, Swisher is durable; he understands what personal restoration means.
-
Paper Power: How Lists and Homework Can Spark Laughs and Fond Memories
Bill Keaggy likes his grocery lists, and I like old scratch paper. See how the two intermix in “Paper Power: How Lists and Homework Can Spark Humor and Memories.”
-
A Special Summer Bash in Gibson City
.38 Special brought its meat-and-potatoes rock and roll to Gibson City, Illinois, for a show alongside opening band Winger from the hair metal era.
-
A Dog Formerly Known as Sue, and Her Sister Sally
After being apart for eight years, two cute dog sisters, Sally and Sue, reunite.
-
Dr. J. Luke Wood: The Scholar Boxer
The desire to lose weight and racial battle fatigue inspired Dr. J. Luke Wood to take up boxing. Now he’s aiming to move up in the sport.
-
Mark ‘Shades’ Hartstein’s Last Roll of the Dice
Meet Mark “Shades” Hartstein, a well-known chef who has worked in 27 kitchens in 27 years. This kitchen is his last roll of the dice.
-
Rage for a Reason
Music-loving individuals like Baub Alred, who is featured in this story, have kept the community-run WEFT radio station going all these years. Volunteers like him come and go, but they have given this radio station a forever feel in C-U. I’m glad I got to catch the action in the studio one night in January…
-
Cassette Comeback
Cassettes were making a sales comeback in 2017. Join Brian Dunn as he shops at Exile on Main St. in Champaign to find a few gems.
-
‘Sam’s Hobby’: A Preview
One of my final literary journalism stories I wrote as I was finishing up graduate school in 2016 was on my brother-in-law Sam Logan. He had a photo project in mind, so I asked if I could feature him and he said yes.
-
Dog Devotion
Meet these Greyhound dogs, ex-racers who have retained their sleek, skinny look and bound about on stilts for legs. If they ever got loose outside of a fenced yard, they would disregard the calls to come back.