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‘After My Brother Sam’ is a sequel, but you can start here

And just like that, everything fell into your lap. That’s what happens sometimes, you know. A situation’s fine, everything’s working out when suddenly, it’s all your responsibility, your problem. It’s on you now, but maybe, as in the new book, “After My Brother Sam” by James Lincoln Collier, someone else will ultimately pay for that mess. It cost a lot of money for a headstone but Tim told his mother that getting one was something they had to do. Putting a marker on his older brother Sam’s grave was all that was left, and it made Tim burn with anger. Yes, he had ...

No mush in ‘Four Thousand Paws’ — it’s an adventure story

There aren’t many things worse than unintentionally sliding on the ice. You know it’s going to happen before it does, and that makes it worse. You slip, recombobulate, whirl your arms and adjust, them boom, down you go anyhow. Slipping on ice is not fun, never mind driving on it — unless, of course your ride doesn’t glide on gasoline. Unless, as in the new book “Four Thousand Paws” by Lee Morgan, it runs on salmon and dog chow. We take travel for granted. It’s easy to jump in a car and go, forgetting that for centuries, Alaska’s Indigenous people used sleds to travel ...

Car wash fundraiser Aug. 5

Kick Back for Kids car wash fundraiser is 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Aug. 5 at Optic Ink, 1210 First Ave. N. All proceeds will go to help kids with school supplies.

Attention country music lovers: ‘Her Country’ is the book for you

Fingers on the second, third, and fourth strings. Placed correctly, that’s how you make a chord on the guitar; the joke is that you only need to know three out of five chords to sing country music. Get ‘em right, and you could be a star — unless you’re a woman and then, as in “Her ...

Summer is time for outdoor concerts

LAKE VIEW —After recently being recognized as Iowa’s 2019 “Outstanding Event” by the Iowa Tourism Office and Travel Federation of Iowa, the Stone Pier Summer Concert Series is once again ready to rock the boats this summer on Black Hawk Lake. In its ninth season, the concert series returns with a five show schedule featuring a diverse group of artists. The series’ lineup has always included rising stars on the country and indie Americana scene and this year is no different. Mike and the Moonpies from Austin, Texas, are making a stop at the Stone Pier stage on their 2019 ...

Downtown is alive with the sound of music

There might be one fair question to ask about the new space occupied by the Fort Dodge Fine Arts Association at 921 Central Ave. in the Permanent Collections Gallery. What exactly is it? The answer to that is a number of things: Gallery, studio, office, meeting space, gift shop, ...