Category Archives: Uncategorized

Three Short Shots

We Sinners by Hanna Pylväinen (2012. Picador. 978-1-250-3218-8) I saw that the author of this novel was selected by Finlandia National Foundation’s 2024 Lecturer of the Year. Because I’d not read any of her work and I have an interest in … Continue reading

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Brave Words for a Tattered World

A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings of Martin Luther King, Jr. Edited by James M. Washington (1986. Harper. ISBN 978-0-06-064691) I made a promise to myself, after attending the 2023 MLK Breakfast at the Copper Top Church in Duluth, to … Continue reading

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A Treasure …

                                                Erik Koskinen Interview MM:  Let’s start with your roots, where you were born, where you grew up? EK: My father was born in Helsinki and was adopted in Negaunee, Michigan as a young child. As an adult he traveled … Continue reading

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A Bit of Slog to Start

Nostromo by Joseph Conrad (2011. Tantor Audible. ISBN 978-1853261749) I’m a Conrad fan. Victory. Heart of Darkness, his short stories. I’ve read and loved them all. But I hadn’t heard of, much less listened to, Nostromo: A Tale of the Seaboard, until my … Continue reading

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Ten Suggestions to Make America Great Again

I’m a dyed-in-the-wool Liberal and proud of that label. So, take my musings with a grain of salt. Recently, I’ve been troubled by a segment of America continuing to support the former Occupant and his vision of the future for … Continue reading

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Facts Are Curious Things …

Recently, an old friend, whom I admire both for his wisdom and pragmatism, asked me to watch the documentary, The Fall of Minneapolis. After watching the first five minutes, wherein the intentions of the folks behind the film are made … Continue reading

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Another Interview

Here’s the unedited version of my interview in FAR with Finnish American author, Tim Jollymore. MM: Kiitos for doing this, Tim. Let’s start with your surname. Jollymore certainly doesn’t seem to be Finnish and yet, we run into each other at … Continue reading

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An Insider’s View

Tito: The Story from Inside by Milovan Djilas (1981. Phoenix. ISBN 1-84212-047-6) In my continuing research regarding my manuscript, Slovenci (The Slovenians), I picked up my second book by one of Josip Broz’s (Tito’s) understudies. Here, Djilas, writing after his fall from grace … Continue reading

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Finely Wrought

Surface Displacements by Sheila Packa (2022. Wildwood River Press. ISBN 978-1-947787-36-0 I woke to an acre of mayflies a lace of water lilies and weeds before and after nudges of waves coming to and from the island a cloud on … Continue reading

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A Bit Disjointed

Land Without Justice by Milovan Djilas (1958. Harcourt. ISBN 978-1-15-648117) Just so you know. I’m in the process of trying to write a second historical novel regarding Slovenia from the 1930s to present day. My first effort, The Legacy, was well … Continue reading

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