The Dubuque Shot Tower
Amazon
Preservation Iowa
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Monday, October 17, 2011
Transformed by the Journey: 150 Years of Luther College in Word and Image
Transformed by the Journey: 150 Years of Luther College in Word and Image
Waterloo Courier article
Luther College Bookstore
Train to Nowhere; Inside an Immigrant Death Investigation (Denison)
The non-fiction book, “Train to Nowhere; Inside an Immigrant Death Investigation,” was released in summer 2011.
Book description: Eleven undocumented immigrants are locked inside a baking railcar by smugglers and left to die a horrific death when no one comes to release them as promised. The railcar rolls on to the farming community of Denison, Iowa, where newspaper and television reporters descend after the bodies are discovered, all seeking the story behind the deaths. Train to Nowhere, part crime story and part immigration perspective, is an intimate portrait of those connected to the 2002 railcar deaths of eleven Central Americans and Mexicans. This piece of investigative reporting provides the full story, focusing largely on one victim’s New York brother, a longtime immigration agent assigned to the subsequent criminal investigation, and a train conductor imprisoned for working with the smugglers. It breaks away from the standard immigration story in fully examining this wide range of viewpoints. Train to Nowhere is an amazing piece of investigative reporting that examines tough facets of the immigration problem the United States faces today and in doing so, examines the very heart of human nature itself.
Written by Colleen Bradford Krantz and published by Ice Cube Press, it is available on Amazon.com or at www.IceCubePress.com. It is also carried by Ingram, as well as Baker & Taylor. She also wrote and co-produced a 2010 public television documentary of the same name.
Reviews and articles:
Minneapolis Star-Tribune - http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/books/124438539.html
Des Moines Register - http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20101001/NEWS03/10010346/Munson-Adel-writer-refuses-give-up-11-victims
Seattle Post Intelligencer - http://www.seattlepi.com/lifestyle/blogcritics/article/Book-Review-Train-to-Nowhere-Inside-an-2167660.php
Monday, October 10, 2011
The Fields of Fall (Iowa High School Football)
Across the state of Iowa there are towns where high school football is less a game and more a way of life. Bigger schools certainly have their traditions, but in some of Iowa’s smaller towns, football is the heartbeat of the community; a center of activity; an object of intense passion for both the school and the community as a whole. In these football epicenters the game has been turned into an art form, young men who excel at it become local heroes, and winning is second nature—but never taken for granted.
Not only are the young men in these towns learning the game of football, they are being taught valuable life lessons that will pay dividends long after their playing days are over. By teaching their players how to work effectively as a team and the importance of dedication, sacrifice and discipline, coaches are primarily concerned with developing the character of their players—and thus winning football games becomes the result.
The Fields of Fall follows several of the best known football dynasties in Iowa—as well as some lesser known programs—for an entire year. The book is an enlightening and entertaining ride through the 2010 season; dissecting the teams’ philosophies on football, education and life in general; and telling the stories of the people and the communities that make high school football in Iowa so special. The Fields of Fall captures the emotional power of the game as it details the teams’ journeys through a season of incredible highs and corresponding lows—and describes the sheer fun that everyone surrounding the game was having.
Not only are the young men in these towns learning the game of football, they are being taught valuable life lessons that will pay dividends long after their playing days are over. By teaching their players how to work effectively as a team and the importance of dedication, sacrifice and discipline, coaches are primarily concerned with developing the character of their players—and thus winning football games becomes the result.
The Fields of Fall follows several of the best known football dynasties in Iowa—as well as some lesser known programs—for an entire year. The book is an enlightening and entertaining ride through the 2010 season; dissecting the teams’ philosophies on football, education and life in general; and telling the stories of the people and the communities that make high school football in Iowa so special. The Fields of Fall captures the emotional power of the game as it details the teams’ journeys through a season of incredible highs and corresponding lows—and describes the sheer fun that everyone surrounding the game was having.
Amazon
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Midland Branch in Iowa (Chicago North Western Railroad)
What child lucky enough to have lived in the era was not struck by the awesome size, power and mystery of a steam locomotive going to distant locations? Although the locations for the Midland were not so distant, given the time and the exuberance of the country, the Iowa Midland was a significant force in the "growing up" of a small section of eastern Iowa. To the uninitiated who wonder how trains happened to go through so many towns to the railroad aficionados who realize that the towns actually grew around the railroads, the story of railroads and their impact on America at this dynamic time in our countries history is absorbing. The Iowa Midland possessed all the elements of the railroad boom but on a scale that is easy for the reader to relate to and follow. The book relates the story told time and time again all across the country about how the railroad had such an incredible impact on the development of our country and brought it into the 20th century.
Amazon
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
African Americans of Des Moines and Polk County
African Americans of Des Moines and Polk County
Arcadia Publishing
Amazon
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