Tony Dierckins on Jim Richardson: “Myth-Maker”
About today’s essay, I told editor Paul Lundgren, “I love the April 1 publication date. This essay pulls back the curtain on my hoaxy stories, yet immediately discredits itself with the date. Beautiful!”
On March 31, in conjunction with the Twin Ports Festival of History, Duluth historian Tony Dierckins gave the presentation “Duluth’s Greatest Myths.” I am pleased and proud he included my Perfect Duluth Day writing in a brief mention. He was kind enough to share the slides, below. They list some of my efforts and I have annotated them.
As I told Tony, I draw a distinction between my fiction and my myth-making “essays.” Both are set in Duluth. But for instance “The Alworth Incident” presents as non-fiction, but quickly reveals itself to be a screwball superhero origin story. Maybe it could become a rumor, but it is not designed to be believed per se. However my “myth-making” material, such as Lake Inferior: The Underground Lake Beneath Lake Superior, is specifically designed to live on as urban legend. These myths have “tells” but readers may miss them. Also, I have tailored the stories so Duluthians want them to be true. Lundgren called them “Duluth fan fiction,” naming the new genre. Allowing me to publish them as “essays” aided the crime. They were also tagged as “Hoaxes – Fake News – Satire – Folklore.” (more…)
Religion, Science, under the Stars
In late-mid April, a Vatican astronomer will visit Duluth. (I used to refer to him as “the Vatican Astronomer,” but I have learned that there are a dozen Vatican astronomers, that is, astronomers employed by the Vatican at the Vatican Observatory.) (more…)
Damien – “Damien”
Duluth band Damien has released its debut music video. And it’s all for you.
Heart of Gartman
Embedded above is the trailer for the documentary Heart of Gartman: A Portrait of Marc Gartman, produced and directed by Jerree Small. The movie screens tonight at Zeitgeist Zinema during the “Stories of Lake Superior” segment of the Minnesota Film Festival. (more…)
Northern Nights, Starry Skies
This PBS North documentary follows photographer Travis Novitsky as he explores the heavens as seen from Voyageurs National Park, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and Quetico Provincial Park, which together comprise the world’s largest designated Dark Sky sanctuary.
Duluth’s beatnik coffee house had short life in 1960
Late in 1960, University of Minnesota Duluth student Bert Frink opened a beatnik coffee shop in Duluth called Bert’s Bit. It didn’t last long. (more…)
Postcard from a Section of the Duluth Harbor and Railroad Yards
This postcard, published by the Henricksen Agency of Duluth circa 1930, shows the Duluth waterfront, railroad yards and Aerial Lift Bridge.
Press releases supporting Giant Colossal Statues of Bob Dylan
The Committee for Building Giant Colossal Statues of Bob Dylan is pleased about the following press releases from the Building Trades and Essential Health:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MN Trades and Building Council Endorses Plan to Build 12 Giant Colossal Statues of Bob Dylan
[Duluth, MN] – The Minnesota Trades and Building Council (MTBC) is proud to announce its full support for the construction of 12 giant colossal statues of Bob Dylan.
The MTBC believes that this project will bring significant economic benefits to the local community, and we look forward to working with the Committee for Building Giant Colossal Statues of Bob Dylan to make this project a reality.
PDD Quiz: March 2023
Another month of 2023 is in the books; how much of it do you remember? Quiz on to find out!
An April Fool-ish quiz comes your way on April 16; submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at aklawite@d.umn.edu by April 10. (more…)
Giant Colossal Bob Dylan Statue Finalists
Location: The horizon, in the shipping lanes. Material: Reinforced treated concrete with steel superstructure. Height (above the waterline): 300 feet. Ships will have to navigate around this stunning monument.
The Committee for Building Giant Colossal Statues of Bob Dylan (formerly the Committee for Building a Giant Colossal Statue of Bob Dylan) is pleased to announce its 12 finalists! Thanks to a generous anonymous donation, ALL of the statues in this post will be built in the next five years. Thank you to our state regulators who approved this project, and congratulations, Duluth! (more…)
Ode to Spirit Mountain
Standing at the top I see the river in the distance far below
In between this mountainside is covered in a heavy coat of snow
My poles are in my hands and my favorite purple skis are on my feet
My mouth begins to water like it’s waiting for the taste of something sweet
Slipping from the edge I feel a smile slowly slide across my face
‘Cause skiing down this mountain is the closest that I’ll ever come to grace
I wrote this little ditty years ago after a day of skiing at Spirit Mountain. (more…)
Selective Focus: The Green Monster of March
Instagram is once again aglow with photos of the northern lights in and around Duluth. (more…)
New harbor commission seeks to buy Madeline Island Ferry Line
Minnesota Public Radio reports the town of LaPointe has formed a harbor commission is negotiating with the owners of the Madeline Island Ferry Line to purchase the business and transfer its assets to public ownership.
The Committee for Building a Giant Colossal Statue of Bob Dylan
Video: Duluth State of the City Address 2023
Via PACT-TV, Duluth Mayor Emily Larson outlines priorities for Duluth with her State of the City address, which she gave on March 22 at the West Theatre.
Mayor Larson’s remarks begin at the 20:30 mark in the video.
Video Archive: UMD Women’s Hockey Championship Threepeat
Twenty years ago today — March 23, 2003 — the University of Minnesota Duluth won it’s third consecutive NCAA Women’s Hockey Frozen Four championship defeating Harvard 4-3 in double overtime at the DECC Arena. The news footage embedded above is from KBJR-TV.
Selective Focus: Wintery PDDs
Select photos from Instagram spanning mid-February to mid-March 2023, all hashtagged with the name of a certain website. #perfectduluthday (more…)
Superior Siren – “Love Poem”
Laura Sellner of Superior Siren directs this new music video, produced by Illy Killy with cinematography by Chris Linder. The video was shot in Duluth at the Oliver G. Traphagen House and Jade Fountain Cocktail Lounge.
The song “Love Poem” is from the 2021 solo EP Kill Your Darlings.
The Slice: Duluth Fiber Guild’s 50th Anniversary Show
The Duluth Fiber Guild‘s 50th anniversary installation, Janet Meaney and 50 Years of Fiber Art, is on display at the Tweed Museum of Art through May 21. (more…)
I wrote Bob Saget’s last movie and it’s coming to Duluth
Twelve years ago I wrote a movie called Killing Daniel. Two years after I wrote it, I optioned it to Darius Films in Toronto, Canada. At the time I had no idea it would take a decade before it would be finished. In that time the script went through more rewrites than I can count, numerous actors signed on and departed from the project, and we lost the original director and were director-less for quite some time. (more…)
Ripped at Frozen Man in 2003
[Editor’s note: For this week’s essay we’ve once again pulled out a relic from the archive of Slim Goodbuzz, who served as Duluth’s “booze connoisseur” from 1999 to 2009. Twenty years ago the Sultan of Sot wrote the article below for the March 19, 2003 issue of the Ripsaw newspaper.]
One reason to be nice to your bartender is that she will likely throw a party some day, and you will want to be invited. See, bartenders are good at throwing parties because … well, they’re bartenders. They have connections to all the good drinkers, and they know who the big-time assholes are. This allows them to “cast” their parties.
The party I’m going to tonight is called “Frozen Man.” I won’t provide too many details, like the name of the host, the date or the location, because I want to be invited back next year. I will tell you that Frozen Man is held in the Duluth Township, just outside of Howdy-Dotyville, where a good bonfire/campout/drinkfest can go down without someone creating an ordinance to stop it.
The concept of Frozen Man is to drink alcohol around a fire when it’s really cold out. There are various activities and rituals and surprises throughout the night, but the main purpose is to see how much cold your body can endure before you either die, go home crying or prove you are more powerful than nature itself. (more…)
The Great Lakes Aurora Hunters
This Twin Cities Public Television segment follows a group of photographers chasing the Northern Lights in Minnesota.
Bonnie Shea: Duluth’s first female hockey player
The University of Minnesota Duluth’s public relations and marketing department presents the story of Bonnie Shea, Duluth’s first female hockey player. Read more about Bonnie at news.d.umn.edu.
Mostly auto-colorized photos of Duluth and Northern Minnesota
During the pandemic, I colorized six early Duluth photos, which was absurdly time consuming but seemed like as good of a way as any to spend some evenings inside. A friend of mine recently informed me that Adobe Photoshop now has a tool that will colorize photos automatically with far better results than my drawing over pixels method. He was somewhat correct. (more…)
Duluth Monitor on the London East Townhomes
Regularly, I am ecstatic to live in a city whose politics so smoothly reflects my values. And regularly, the Duluth Monitor reveals that, when it comes to its regulatory authority over developers utilizing the limited resources of space and property, my city lets me down, always choosing to side with people with money.