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The Creative Joy of a Cold, Dead Winter
SCOTTISH CRIME NOVELIST VAL McDERMID has written more than thirty novels that together have sold more than nineteen million copies. Yet she clearly takes special pride from the speech she gave in a Masonic hall in the village of Bowhill, Scotland, o…
THE MINNESOTA SHOWS
🚨OVERTIME🚨
Happy Saturday! Is this un-liberation day? Is that what we’re calling the post-ruling pause on Trump’s unconstitutional tariffs? He seems intent on doubling down on it, and bold strategy! Let’s see if it pays off for him.
We’re back from Minnesota and our two sold out shows. It was amazing. Inspiring. Eye opening. Beautiful. Especially the snow on Wednesday. It came quickly but so did all of you. The house was packed both nights.
I really appreciated the conversations with Founders in the lobby before the show, and meeting folks in the aisles afterward. While packing up, it occurred to me that I could probably start a small Bulwark Reader Gift Museum at this point. (Though I’m not sure how I’d preserve the trail mixes, award-winning cookies, and other baked goods.)
I left with art, artisan chocolates, a minor league baseball hat, and an impressive supply of home-made Rebel Loon stickers and buttons.
Personally, I love the snow and it made the trip all the more beautiful, but I’d also like to come back again during baseball season in the spring. These trips always put the wind in my sails, but the generosity and hospitality were next level. Thank you all for making it special, friends old and new. Thank you for letting us be with you and see you, and for coming to spend time with us.
Basketball update… As March approaches, the Miami Redhawks remain undefeated at 26-0, and while my Saint Louis Billikens dropped one to Rhode Island, their comeback win over VCU came with a possible risk of suspension. The Madness is perhaps here early. (And we’ll have a bracket: stay tuned!)
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Will you share the conversation between Sam and the Columbia Heights superintendent? It was so moving. The whole evening was amazing. We’ll treasure meeting Bill and the rest of the gang. Thank you.
JVL, the work you all do is the best example of the true American spirit, I come here to find a better way to communicate and articulate my thoughts. I don’t have to like reality, I detest it, but it’s my obligation to be honest with myself and keep my eyes open, bear witness to the things done in our name, and never forget. I didn’t talk too much about “the situation” with people I know, I always call it “the solution”. Listening to the Minnesota show, I learned how conditioned I was to never speak about politics and religion, these are impolite topics of conversation. I now believe that this is why I feel so isolated and powerless. So, yesterday I had the courage to speak about “the situation” with my haircut lady, she’s so sweet, usually we talk about my hobby or her husband’s hobbies; this time I was enraged about the abduction of a family and kids by the state secret police, our SS, and we both were talking about this. She’s a devout Christian, I’m a former Catholic, now a nonbeliever, but we connected on the principle of love your neighbor. The situation is not right! We concluded that watching the news is so hard, painful, the news are terrible. But we cannot keep looking the other way, we can’t keep ignoring or pretending this is right, the pain feel watching the news is the prime indicator of our humanity, this rage can be our strength. And I muster the courage after listening and reflecting on what Sarah said in the Minnesota show. Thank you both and the whole team.