Readers and writers: Picture books, memoirs and poetry fill these niches
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Today we gather books that don’t fit into any category or are niche publications that will appeal to a specific group, although who knows when a quiet book might trigger a change in someone’s life?
PICTURE BOOKS
“Duluth’s Grand Old Architecture: 1870-1940“: by Tony Dierckins and Maryanne C. Norton (Zenith City Press, $60)
Buildings, houses, bridges and landmarks in the Port City have a long and interesting past, and this lavishly-illustrated, oversized coffee table book tells all about them with use of photos and sketches of some of the oldest buildings that have been torn down as well as contemporary ones.
It begins with an exploration of the city’s historic architecture, including the 1856 Jefferson House hotel, the first commercial building in Duluth, and the 1858 post office, the first municipal building constructed in the city. A section on educational edifices — schools, colleges, and universities — will bring back memories for all the Duluth folks who moved to the Cities. The Resplendent Residences chapter features photos of the gabled, turreted, ornate 19th-century mansions in the style of some along St. Paul’s Summit Avenue.
Dierckins, a St. Paul native, has written or co-written more than two dozen books, including “Lost Duluth” and “Glensheen: The Official Guide.” He received the Duluth Depot Foundation’s Historic Preservation and Interpretation Award in 2012. Maryanne Norton, who died in 2018, left research papers she’d been working on for another book, and Dierckins vowed to finish that project. Norton was assistant director of the St. Louis County Historical Society and spent her retirement volunteering at the Duluth Public Library.
“What Makes Saint Anthony Village”: by S.A. Scott (Whispering Bluff Books, no price listed).
You don’t have to know where St. Anthony Village is to enjoy this photo-filled, oversized paperback, crammed with tidbits about the place locals call The Village, including its beginnings, businesses, festivals, places to live and community activities. The book was published in 2020 as a limited edition celebrating the city’s 75th anniversary. St. Anthony is unusual because its 2.35 square miles span Ramsey and Hennepin counties. There are 9,000-plus residents and they seem to love their community.
MEMOIR
“Swinging on the Garden Gate“: by Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew (Skinner House Books, $18)
Subtitled “A Memoir of Bisexuality and Spirit,” this is a reissue of a book published in 2021. Andrew, who teaches creative writing at Wisdom Ways Center for Spirituality in St. Paul, shares her long and sometimes difficult journey to coming to know bisexuality as an embodied manifestation of divinity. After reconciling her United Methodist faith with her sexuality, she realizes her body and sexuality are holy. Her publisher, an imprint of the Unitarian Universalist Association, says: “Andrew brings a distinctly queer feminist lens to Christian teachings and answers the question innumerable young people have posed to her over the years: ‘Is it possible to be both queer and spiritual?”
“Cretin ’61: A Class Memoir“: by Joe Delmont (Delmont Books, $9.99)
For those who don’t know about St. Paul-based Cretin high school, the author defines it on the cover as “A Christian Brothers, All-Boys Military School” that has now merged with Derham Hall high school for girls.
Delmont’s book began during the class’s 60th reunion when the conversation often turned to “do you remember…?” The author writes that his book “is a history of Cretin’s important milestones, and at the same time, it’s a snapshot of a unique time in American education and American society — a time that no longer exists … It was a time at Cretin of mandatory military training and man-to-man physical discipline run by Christian Brothers where the consequences of an unacceptable act were immediate and stinging.”
Delmont’s memories include the culture of Cretin, founded in 1871, as well as traditions, the crack drill squad, sports, and the personalities of some of the most interesting Christian Brothers, as well as mixers and formal dances with girls from other schools. Anyone who was in any high school in Minnesota in the late 1950s will recognize the teen world Delmont describes.
The author is an award-winning journalist who has written for several national business publications and was a reporter and business-finance editor for the St. Paul Dispatch-Pioneer Press (in the days when there were morning and afternoon editions of the newspaper). For information, email joe@delmontbooks.com or visit delmontbooks.com.
“dumb dumb dumb: My Mother’s Book Reviews“: by Mary Jo Pehl (Redhawk Publications, $18)
Pehl is a writer and actor on the TV show “Mystery Science Theater 3000,” and a comedian and storyteller who lives in the Twin Cities. In this amusing memoir, the star is her mother, Dorothy McNamara Pehl. When Dorothy died in 2014, Mary Jo found a box of cards on which her mother wrote book reviews during 15 years of reading. Besides being a voracious reader, she was a collector of clothing, kitchen gadgets, snow globes and other stuff from Goodwill and garage sales.
Dorothy’s short, to-the-point book reviews are eye-opening for long-winded professional critics. Here’s her take on “The Fourth Hand” by John Irving: “usually like his stuff but thought this was kind of dumb.” And “Shop Girl” by Steve Martin: “Only 130 pages, started out better + slowly got kind of old.” But she also enjoyed some books, like “Postcards” by E. Annie Proulx: “Very good. Loyal Blood murders his lover by accident + disappears.”
These reviews are dropped into Mary Jo’s memories about life with her parents, who lived in the Twin Cities. She’s written a wonderful blend of her mother’s take on contemporary literature and growing up in Minnesota. Order at tinyurl.com/MaryJoPehl.
“Mariachi! Running Off to Mexico“: by Faye Berger (Kirk House Publishing, $17.95)
You’re ready to retire and you’re interested in purchasing beach property in Mexico. Is this what you want? Faye Berger offers an 11-point quiz to help you decide in “Mariachi” based on her experiences and subtitled “Beckoning Advice on Beach Property, Retirement, and Crossing Borders.”
Part memoir, part travelogue and part philosophy about living well in your later years, this thoughtful and interesting book by an author who lives nine months a year in Minneapolis and three months in Manzanillo, Mexico, explores aspects of moving to Mexico, from making the decision through growing accustomed to the different tempo of life, specifics on condo living there such as etiquette and how to find a handyperson, the sociology of Mexico and the light and dark sides of living south of the border. Berger has been traveling to Mexico for more than 30 years and is a proponent of “positive aging,” Her book “Finding Foxholes,” was selected for the Renville County One Book/One County reading program.
JUST FOR FUN
“Spunky Grandmas and Other Amusing Characters“: by Ken Mogren, illustrated by Joella Goyette (MSI Press, $16.95)
Don’t be turned off by the unlovely grandma on the cover of this collection of more than 100 mini-stories about comical human behavior, written as sonnets, by a first-time author from Winona, as is the illustrator. Inside, it’s funny.
“I hesitate to use the S word (sonnet), lest it bring back panful memories of struggling in school to understand what renowned, dead poets were talking about,” Mogren writes. “These are not like those. If you aren’t befuddled by the poetry of Dr. Seuss and Mother Goose, you’ll do just fine with these.”
Mogren’s topics in 22 chapters range from Kid Stuff to Geezers, Quirky women, Animals Who Drink, Rednecks, Creepy Guys, As Seen on TV and Misfits. Here’s an example from GroundHog Day:
“Two groundhog guys, half snockered in a bar,
Had been discussing Punxsutawney Phil.
They didn’t like their species’ biggest star
And questioned his prognosticating skill…”
