Springfield native Martha Miller, a retired composition instructor who taught at Lincoln Land, is a versatile writer. She has written several novels, as well as reviews, articles and a column about her life. Her book of short stories, Tales from the Levee, explores the gay and lesbian community in Springfield from the mid-1960s into the […]
Books
Posted inArts & Culture
New fiction with true stories of true friends
Over several decades of living in the same legal community, fellow Springfield attorney George Heroux and I did not have very much professional contact. During my legal and judicial career, George was involved in legal education at the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education. Before coming to Springfield, he had a varied career as an […]
Posted inArts & Culture
A book of birds teaching words
Cinda Ackerman Klickna has seen a lot of bad grammar. She saw it as an English teacher. She sees it on social media. Hearing bad grammar is especially bothersome to Klickna – like fingernails on a chalkboard for those old enough to understand what that means. Klickna, of Rochester, writes for Illinois Times, wrote a […]
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The rise and fall of the Mormons’ new Zion
Prophets who offer a path to peace in this world and redemption in the next have never been rare in the U.S. They were never less rare than in the 1830s and 40s. The direction and pace of social change left many people uneasy in this world and yearning to find a better one with […]
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Governors after office
Sadly, when one thinks about Illinois’ former governors, legal problems and prison terms come to mind. In fact, however, quite a number of former governors continued to be useful and productive (and legal) after their terms in office. Few biographers have given any of their post-gubernatorial careers much attention though. Robert Hartley wanted to change […]
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After Lincoln left Springfield
On Feb. 11, 1861, when Abraham Lincoln stepped onto the train in Springfield for what would be a 13-day journey to the nation’s capital, America was “on the verge of a precipice,” as a French visitor observed. Ted Widmer tells the story of the grueling and dangerous journey in his masterful book, Lincoln on the […]
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The problem is policing
Vitale, Alex S. (2017). The end of policing. New York and London: Verso. Alex S. Vitale is professor of sociology at the City University of New York Brooklyn College and coordinator of the Policing and Social Justice Project there. Like George Floyd, he is a native of Houston. The End of Policing, published in 2017, […]
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Turow’s new court novel puts him back on top
The Last Trial, by Scott Turow. Grand Central Publishing, May 2020. Every reader has a guilty pleasure. For me it has always been courtroom fiction. Granted, this led me to frustration because I would read many courtroom novels only to become irritated over the author’s inaccuracies compared to the real-life courtrooms where I worked. This […]
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Living well in the world
Nature lovers are sure to enjoy The Eight Master Lessons of Nature: What Nature Teaches Us About Living Well in the World, by Gary Ferguson. So should anyone worried by the global coronavirus pandemic and the dramatic changes in our world. People often see humans as outside of nature, rather than fundamentally connected to it. […]
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What’s everybody reading?
During the weeks of staying home, hunkering down and keeping safe, people have binged on shows like “Tiger King,” created colorful paisley designs in adult coloring books, tried new recipes, exercised more and opened up a good book – or two or three. Reading is always the go-to activity no matter what is happening around […]
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U of I protests of the 1960s
Radicals in the Heartland: the 1960s Student Protest Movement at the University of Illinois by Michael V. Metz gives an insightful, well-documented analysis of events that shaped each year of the 1960s at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana campus. The account is juxtaposed against what was occurring nationwide regarding the Vietnam War, civil rights, freedom […]
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Roadside Americans
“I have hitchhiked a couple times. But that’s not why I wrote the book,” said Springfield native Jack Reid of his new book, Roadside Americans: The Rise and Fall of Hitchhiking in a Changing Nation. The nonfiction history was just featured on a list by Smithsonian Magazine of newly released titles to “read while you’re […]
