PUBLIC
HISTORY
Aging on the Run: Activist World Travel blog, November 2023-Present
My life partner and I met in Minneapolis in 1982, when we were activists in solidarity with El Salvador. David became a Minneapolis Public School Social Worker, I earned a doctorate, and taught college history. We lived in South Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, where we...
Surprises in Belgrade, Serbia
Our plane from Rome to Belgrade, Serbia,, was three hours late. The Serbian government had shut down its airport to rehearse for its upcoming military parade. Despite the ominous delay, I enjoyed the flight. It was a cloudless day. We saw the contours of both Italian...
Local Global Switzerland.
When we were in Sarajevo, a politician said he wanted Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH ) to be like Switzerland. I thought that was ambitious. In our global Capitalist system, Switzerland is where world leaders solve a "problem" like Bosnia. But he was not referring to...
Latvia: Enchantment and the Weight of History
Whenever the pine recalls the olden days, a few tears still push their way through the pine’s bark in the shape of the drops of resin Latvian folktale ....The tradition of all dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brains of the living". Karl Marx, ...
Bosnia and Herzegovina: “The Power Lies with the People.”
Multicultural Sarajevo A melodic chant drowned the raucous sounds of Old Town in Sarajevo. We sat in black wooden chairs facing the chancel in the Serbian Orthodox Museum. A couple crossed themselves in front of holy images. Two women—young,...
The Sound of Silence: Jeju Island, South Korea
White waves, green water, and black volcanic rock, stirred by high wind. The view was wild, but inside the Jeju coffee shop, all was calm. A Korean ballad played softly. I was alone. My partner in this Aging on the Run venture was grocery shopping, leaving me...
Order, Chaos and the Desire to be Free: Egypt.
For the ancient Egyptians, the universe was composed of dualities: fertile and barren, life and death, order and chaos. Andrew Humphreys, Cairo and the Nile, Eyewitness Travel. 2009. A new museum has been built to showcase Egypt's ancient...
Icelandic Winds
Iceland is a land of ghosts and ghouls, sea monsters, and an earth that howls. It is an island of volcanoes and fjords, endless flat petrified lava fields, green valleys, black, white, and grey mountains, outdoor swimming pools, and salted fish. It is also a land of...
People’s Living History of Northern Ireland
To understand the Troubles of Northern Ireland one must remove the veils of religion, ethnicity, and even nationalism, and begin with economy, which means learning about the unique properties of the flax plant and the geography of the North Channel. The Political...
A Good Tourist in Oslo?
Every adventure should include a messenger who provides the lesson of your visit. Oslo is on a hill. From the central train station, it climbs steadily. Four miles up is Frogner Park— a grand stretch of green. Advancing to the pinnacle, we passed a mass of bronze,...