The guidebook for African American cookbooks
I love books. I love reading. I am a retired librarian, so I come by this trait honestly, thanks to my profession. I love to cook. As a result, I have a passion for cookbooks. I have a closet full of cookbooks; they are shelved two or three deep. No, they are not cataloged, but…
The modern gentleman
Clothing is more than just pieces of fabric that you wear – it is a means of self-expression. In men’s fashion, one of today’s most popular forms of this is the stylish windowpane pattern suit. “For the last five years or so that is the style everyone is looking for,” says Marc Maslauski, owner of…
Experts in our community
Contemporary blues guitarist David Lumsden from Springfield has been playing music since he was 10 years old, over 50 years ago. He has lived and traveled as a professional musician most of his adult life and has opened for bands such as Heart, Wayne Shepherd and The Allman Brothers Band. He is currently working on…
Resilient
Being the mother of an NBA player is exciting, but that’s not this ’60s baby’s only claim to fame. Linda Joyce Fields was born the sixth of eight children in Kansas City, Missouri. She grew up in a Black middle-class neighborhood. While the majority of families were working, two-parent households, these four brothers and three…
Helping grandchildren pay for college
Today’s students pay a hefty price for a college education. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) reports that between 1968 and 2019, tuition rates at four-year public institutions in the U.S. grew from $324 in 1968 to $10,232 in 2019 – an increase of 3,009 percent. With college expenses rising about 8 percent each…
Never get sick
Don’t snack. No grazing allowed. None. Eat only at mealtime. Fast between. We have more than enough vittles at meals to provide the energy we need, regardless of how active we are or what work we do. Snacking spikes the production of insulin, leading to insulin resistance, the precursor to chronic disease. Insulin is a…
Discover Decatur for some summer fun
Discover Decatur for some summer fun By Mary Bohlen Photos by Brent Bohlen Decatur gets a bad rap. Some travelers think of it as a place to pass on their way to Champaign-Urbana. Others know when they get close because of the distinctive soybean processing smell. Parts of the city, like plenty of others, need…
Memoir of an uncommon soldier, senator, mother
Tammy Duckworth, born to an American father and a Thai mother, lived in Bangkok, Phnom Penh, Singapore, Honolulu and Washington D.C., but when she drove through Illinois to study at Northern Illinois University, she said she felt she was “home.” Today, Illinois is still home, and she serves as the state’s U.S. senator, along with…
