A brief rant on Garrison Keillor and the Writers’ Almanac (Yes, I’m that much of an NPR nerd)

Every time I hear the Writers’ Almanac on NPR I’m left frustrated.

I am a fan of the short program. How many places can you be exposed to all of the following items in just a few minutes?

  • poetry! In Nature! That isn’t a limerick!
  • learn that George Plimpton took down RFK’s assassin.
  • That it’s the birthday of the Apple II computer. Today’s Mac’s come with one million times more memory!
  • That Adam Smith, the Wealth of Nations “Invisible Hand of capitalism” guy was raised by gypsies and he believed in taxes!

And all of that and more was in a single episode.

So yes, I’m a fan until the very end. By that I mean, it’s the end of the…

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There is no “next project”

I’ll spend an hour on stage sharing the stories of the factory workers and farmers I’ve met on my travels. Then the question always comes:

“What’s your next project?”

It’s a legitimate question. It’s one that I might ask an author after hearing them speak. But here’s the thing: for me, there is no next project. I feel that having a “next project” implies that I write a book, dust off my hands, and turn my back on that book to focus on the next shiny thing.

I can’t do that. I write about real people with real lives and real families. People who’ve shared their stories with me so I could share them with others.

Some of these stories I’ve told hundreds of times over…

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Winthrop University adopts EATING as Common Read!

Yes! I get to corrupt more freshmen! My evil plan to make people give a damn continues.

Winthrop University made the announcement in April:

ROCK HILL, S.C. – Winthrop University’s 2014-15 Common Book author will be a familiar name for much of the campus community. The selected reading is a second book, “Where Am I Eating,? by author Kelsey Timmerman. Winthrop’s previous Common Book was Timmerman’s “Where Am I Wearing?”


University College Dean Gloria Jones said she and members of Winthrop’s Common Book Committee wanted a book that focused on an issue of global concern. This year’s selection was food.
The book…

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