Zack Stamp’s 2021 memoir, Things as I Remember Them, provides insights to the inner workings of state government. Political junkies and anyone who worked in and around state government over the past several decades will recognize many familiar names peppered throughout his entertaining stories. Stamp worked inside state government for nearly 40 years. He worked […]
Books
Posted inArts & Culture
From Rochester to the world stage
When Ray Bruzan of Rochester researched a previous book, published in 2017, he discovered that an internationally known violinist had been born in Rochester in 1887. He had never before heard of Louis Persinger; to help others know of this amazing virtuoso, Bruzan wrote a children’s book, The Violinist of Rockychester. Now, Bruzan has published […]
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Punks on the prairie
What do you do when you want to be part of a music scene, but you live in a small Midwestern city or town, where most culture is slow to filter through? You build it yourself. That’s what the book Punks in Peoria: Making a Scene in the American Heartland, published in June by University […]
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House divided
Hear the name “Lincoln” and you see the man splitting rails, say, or on a debate platform towering over Stephen A. Douglas. Few recall the soon-to-be president being shooed out the front door of his house in a hail of potatoes. But that image of Lincoln was as valid as the others, as we learn […]
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C.T. Vivian was “in the action”
C.T. Vivian entered Macomb High School in 1938. “I never thought of using the term ‘institutional racism’ to describe the place,” he wrote in his posthumous memoir. “This wasn’t because such racism didn’t exist. Rather, I just didn’t know there was a term to describe what I experienced.” The book – titled, It’s in the […]
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Brush up on baseball history
In February 2021 Major League Baseball returned to a semblance of normalcy as players once again traveled to spring training locations in Arizona and Florida. Players and fans returned to baseball as we remembered it before COVID swept the world. This year marks a complete 162-game season, the normal playoff and World Series format and […]
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Springfield’s back yard
Is there any other place that figures so centrally in the social, recreational and erotic life of so many Springfieldians from so many backgrounds? A summer evening with a fishing line in the water, listening to the waves lapping on the old dam steps. Watching the moon rise over the water with a lover. Paddling […]
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It’s a long way from Guyana to Springfield
June Wood Agamah moved to Springfield in 1995 with her husband, Dr. Edem Agamah, and their three young daughters. It’s a long way from her Guyana homeland – where she was called Caryl. Edem was born in Ghana. Frequently Americans assume they are from the same country. They were born nearly 4,000 miles and an […]
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Compass Zooming Book Club
Every Thursday night around 93 children sign onto one of three Zooms happening simultaneously to participate in a book club. This is a new addition to Club Compass, one of the programs under the umbrella of Compass for Kids. In any other year, students in first through fifth grades would be meeting in person at […]
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The library that Dolly built
For several years there has been a waiting list in Sangamon County for children to receive free books through Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library (DPIL), a program that helps get children ready for kindergarten, beginning at birth. This week United Way, which administers the program, announces that an anonymous donor has come forward with a donation […]
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Reverence for the office, respect for its power, awareness of the responsibility
A Promised Land is the first volume of Barack Obama’s presidential memoir. Although it’s 700 pages long, it is highly engaging and easy to read. The memoir is a fascinating reflection on significant events that dominated the news leading up to and during Obama’s first term. Obama takes readers on a deep dive into the […]
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A community that reads together grows together
After a year of struggling through the pandemic, it couldn’t be a better time for a community-wide, uplifting initiative. Get ready for the Big Read. Lab Girl, a compelling memoir by scientist Hope Jahren, is the book selected for the Big Read Sangamon County. Reading, nature, science, art and discovery will all come alive through […]
