The title of my substack site is “My Integrated Life.” Above is the interview I recently conducted with editors of Rootstalk, where my writing was first solicited by publication founder Jon Andelson.
We met through CultureALL, a Des Moines-based organization dedicated to elevating society by sharing the cultural richness of Iowa. CultureALL Executive Director Sherry Gupta has been a tireless leader in this regard. Working with them led to meeting Grinnell College professors Jon Andelson and Mark Baechtel.
John and Mark created Rootstalk as an online, multi-media, interdisciplinary journal. It is published in conjunction with the Center for Prairie Studies at Grinnell College. Students, alumni, staff, and faculty of the College have all been involved in creating Rootstalk. Andelson and Baechtel will give you the particulars themselves as you listen.
The last thing on my mind in 2019 was writing a memoir, but after thinking about my life in “chapters,” a yearlong collaborative process of writing, (and rewriting) resulted in what some of you have already read starting here.
Time now to join a two-episode conversation already in progress, on how Rootstalk came to be and how Jon was present at the creation of My Integrated Life.
Jon and Mark, like Monica Leo, are members of what you’ll come to know as my personal League of Extraordinary Iowans.
Another big thanks to Julie Gammack. I hope everyone reading this will reach out to support other independent writers and journalists listed below who comprise the IWC.
Iowa Writers’ Collaborative
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[Part 1] "Let our Location be our Text, our Canvas, our Laboratory..."