Sunday Columnist Roundup
your Iowa Writers' Collaborative at work
Welcome! Since our post last week, we have added over 100 new subscribers to this roundup column. Thanks to you for sharing the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative with others; our last post racked up 3000+ views. Our columnists also report a significant bump in their subscribers, so this little movement is growing.
As a subscriber to the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative column, you receive this roundup of all our members who posted a column this week. We encourage you to explore all 26 writers and find those you’d like to subscribe to individually so you get their work when it is first posted. You do not have to pay to subscribe to any of them; however, if you do, it is very much appreciated.
The Iowa Writers’ Collaborative, and this online platform called Substack, connect readers directly to writers, free of advertising. In an era where local media organizations are cutting commentary, we believe there is a real need for this kind of content delivered to a local audience.
Our newest Iowa Writers’ Collaborative member is Jane Nguyen. The opening sentence of her first column sets the table for what she promises to deliver: heartwarming stories you won’t likely see elsewhere in Iowa. Please welcome Jane, and subscribe if you want to be the first to read her future pieces.
Suppose you haven’t discovered Cheryl Tevis’ Unfinished Business column. In that case, her post this week will give you a sense of how the hot-button issue of eminent domain is impacting rural landowners.
On Friday, our man in Washington, D.C., reflected upon that day of infamy, January 6th, 2021. Barry Piatt:
Pat Kinney, whose byline was a fixture in the Waterloo Courier for decades, features a story this week about a Waterloo native taking the ‘next step’ from the basketball court to Hollywood’s red carpet. Kinney joined us on December 20, and is a big ‘get’ in our mission to provide quality content from around the state. Please welcome, Pat:
To underscore the importance of commentary from around the state, please read Ed Tibbetts's column this week about a little-noticed earmark:
Buried in the 4,100-page, $1.7 trillion spending plan is $1,265,625 for a flood mitigation project in Davenport, Iowa.
Few people probably noticed it, but some folks in Davenport did.
And we count on Ed Tibbetts to notice these things, as he had for decades, first a political reporter and then as an editorial page editor for the Quad City Times.
Count on Fern and Joe for a few laughs.
Fern: I wish you wouldn’t read David Sedaris essays in bed. You keep laughing, and I have to keep asking what’s so funny.
FERN AND JOE
Here’s a rundown from those of the remaining Iowa Writers’ Collaborative members who have published a column this week in alphabetical order:
LAURA BELIN
DAVE BUSIEK
ART CULLEN
SUZANNA dE BACA
BETH HOFFMAN
JULIE GAMMACK
ROBERT LEONARD
JOHN NAUGHTON
MARY SWANDER
CHUCK OFFENBURGER
Iowa Boy Chuck Offenburger is using his new column to say farewell to one of his Greene County neighbors, “a classic Iowan, Stephen Molle,” who died on New Year’s Day at 97. Molle was a farmer, veteran, family man, friend to all, and one of Iowa’s oldest elected officials, serving as a township trustee until he was 95. He was a lifelong learner, a veritable renaissance man.
Chuck Offenburger: Iowa Boy Chuck Offenburger, Jefferson and Des Moines
Do you like what you see? Share this column with those you think might find it interesting.
Here is our list of members in alphabetical order.
How do I join your list of Iowa writers?