Election Day

My reading habits, in terms of genres, follow a pattern. First I go on a crime fiction spree and read detective novels until my brain starts mixing up the storylines. I switch over to classic literature and read a Steinbeck or a Twain, maybe a Cather or Stegner. I...

Driftless Books

When I go back to visit cities where I once lived, I often drop in on my old bookstores. In Madison, it is Paul’s Book Store. In the San Francisco Bay Area, it is City Lights. It also used to be Cody’s Books in Berkeley, but Cody’s has long since gone out of business....

Essays to My Daughter

My new book came out last week. I started writing it before I retired, which means I’ve been working on it for over six years. Still it remained fun right up until the end. With everything else I’ve ever written, I eventually reached a point when I wanted it to be...

Whitecaps on the Mississippi

Because the Upper Mississippi River includes a series of locks and dams, it is hard to tell how much the water levels are natural and how much they are controlled by the lock masters. In the spring, it is obvious the river is high due to snow melt, but otherwise the...

Handing Over the Reins

Had Grinnell offered a bachelors degree in environmental studies, Clare would have majored in environmental studies. Instead she majored in computer science with a concentration in environmental studies. Concentrations at Grinnell are similar to minors at most other...
Steven Simpson