Winning (?), Salute to Brian Wilson, Tractors, Music, and Strictly Personal Stuff
...27 posts from around Iowa you won't want to miss
Welcome to the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative Flipside edition. From a Muppet mystery uncovered by Finney’s finest (spoiler: Gonzo’s got a side hustle) to a tear-jerking tribute to Father’s Day that spans baseball fields and blooming California hillsides, this roundup is packed with soul, grit, and unexpected joy. We’ve got Substackers digging through 130-year-old farm journals, serenading Brian Wilson, tracing Juneteenth in Ottumwa, and profiling tractorcades, therapists, and rock legends. And yes—someone is definitely dancing under a pink moon while collecting phone numbers like it’s 1997.
This is the Iowa you don’t see on postcards. It’s where Vietnamese immigrants open nail salons and inspire former first ladies, and where aging musicians and writers join forces to fight hunger with guitars. It’s spiritual, satirical, poetic, personal—and relentlessly human. Whether you're here for laughs, heartbreak, inspiration, or a soundtrack for your next big leap, these 26 stories from the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative are proof that the middle of the map is full of stories worth shouting from the rooftops (or at least sharing in your inbox). Dive in. You’ll come up changed.
Music
Sarah Scull
From Padres games to Pet Sounds, Sarah Scull reflects on how Brian Wilson’s writing and music shaped her idea of love, and gave her a timeless soundtrack that carried her from California to Iowa.
🔗 Read it here
Chip Albright
Songwriter Chip Albright reflects on his time as a caregiver this Father's Day and profiles Ling Yu Hsiao, a musical therapist he met during that time.
🔗 Read it here
Chip Albright
Father's Day weekend has Chip Albright thinking about his caregiving experience for his father-in-law and the power of music therapy for those in need with a profile of Iowa Music Therapist, Ling Yu Hsiao.
🔗 Read it here
Wini Moranville
IWC member Wini Moranville and Chip Albright will be performing with two other musicians on Sunday, June 22 as part of "Musicians Against Hunger: A Guitar Circle Picnic." Everyone's invited!
🔗 Read it here
John Naughton
Brian Wilson and Sly Stone became giants of music in the 1960s. Their songs continue influencing today's sounds, John Naughton explains.
🔗 Read it here
Kathryn Severing Fox
Kathryn attended a performance by Alison Krause, and it stirred up a lot of thoughts and feelings. And, a song.
Strictly Personal
Michael Judge
“America is scary.” That’s a sentence I pray my son never hears again. In this sobering and deeply personal reflection, Michael Judge grapples with the state of the nation—and the kind of future we’re handing to our children.
🔗 Read it here
Sarah Scull
What does it mean to truly see and serve others? This Father’s Day essay begins with a blooming hillside in Carlsbad, California, and unfolds into a daughter’s reflection on labor, immigration, and the quiet “field work” of a father whose actions speak louder than words.
🔗 Read it here
Alison McGaughey
On picking up phone numbers almost everywhere I go — and making sure not to miss the magic in front of me.
🔗 Read it here
Connie Taylor
There’s No Crying in Baseball…Not when you’re immersed in the joyfulness of a little league game on a summer’s evening...
🔗 Read it here
Diversity in the Heartland, Podcast
Rachelle Chase
In Reading with Rachelle, author Rachelle Chase shares thoughts on Juneteenth and invites everyone to the FREE 4th Annual Ottumwa Juneteenth Celebration.
🔗 Read it here
Black Iowa News
Juneteenth is a day of celebration and Black Iowa News has information about a poetry slam to be held in Des Moines’ Xbx Live venue on June 19.
Sports
Jane Burns
Jane Burns hasn't yet planned a vacation for this year, so she's been pondering her Women's Sports Bucket List to maybe guide a future trip. Or two. Or three...
🔗 Read it here
Craig DeVrieze
Craig DeVrieze is sharing a chapter per day of his history of the John Deere Classic in advance of this year's event. Subscribe and feel the Magic.
🔗 Read it here
Humor
Daniel P. Finney
The crack investigative team at Finney’s 5 has revealed the fate of the Muppets after Disney World closed their attraction.
🔗 Read it here
Vicki Minor
Who Left the Dog Treats Out?
🔗 Read it here
Around Iowa
Rick Morain
How a 1919 cross-country military convoy helped cement the paving of the Lincoln Highway across Greene County.
🔗 Read it here
Joan Zwagerman
Living in a small town allows one to easily see what's going on and take part in it. Saturday, June 14 was a full day of activity in Storm Lake.
🔗 Read it here
Darcy Maulsby
Delve into a surprising, hand-written account of farming in west-central Iowa 130 years ago.
🔗 Read it here
Jeff Morrison
The Great Eastern Iowa Tractorcade rolled through southeast Iowa last week, and Jeff Morrison covered its stop in Washington.
🔗 Read it here
Julie Gammack
Julie started a new column on Substack as a way to keep those interested in her Okoboji Writers’ and Songwriters’ Retreat up to date. Here is the list of speakers so far.
Spiritual
Debra Engle
What if winning didn't depend on how things turn out?
🔗 Read it here
Business
Tej Dhawan
It is time Iowa recognized and embraced a significant and transformative invention on its ISU campus—the computer.
🔗 Read it here
Travel
Mary Swander (Buggy Land)
An ancient ritual plays out in Ireland on the sacred site of Omey Island.
🔗 Read it here
Art Cullen
Art is on the road with documentary filmmaker Jerry Risius, trying to find out what grinds Iowa’s gears.
Poetry
Kelsey Bigelow
The sky photographs clearer when you’re in it than when you observe it from below. But we all end up waiting in the airport waiting for the clarity and courage to take our right, next flight.
🔗 Read it here
Human Interest (interviews)
Christie Vilsack
A touching reunion story about longtime friends—one an immigrant, one a teacher—and the quiet dignity of building a life in America.
🔗 Read it here
Vicki Minor
Family Diagnosis Alters the Focus of a Children’s Book.
🔗 Read it here
Fern Kupfer and Joe Geha
Fern and Joe reminisce over thirty-five years.
🔗 Read it here
Party, Meet Our Community of Writers
We are throwing a shindig in Winterset on July 26, and our paid subscribers (to any member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative or this roundup) are invited. For details, click on this RSVP form:
Saturday, July 26
3 to 5 pm: private screening of "Storm Lake" documentary film at the Iowa Theater, free to IWC writers and all PAID subscribers, followed by Q&A with guest of honor Art Cullen, moderated by Julie Gammack. Free popcorn, paid concessions. (Non-paid subscribers and public members can attend for $20.)
5:30 to 7 pm: Robust appetizers with a cash bar will be served at The Winterset Livery (an event space once a horse livery, just off the square), which is open free to paid subscribers. Non-paid subscribers who paid to attend the movie are also welcome to attend the after-party.
Come! We have a terrific community and want you all to meet one another!