'Overburden' tour reaches the gates of the Boundary Waters tonight

Moving away from political and economic topics (but not too far away), I remind you all of my community lecture in Ely this evening. At 7 p.m. in the CL104 lecture hall of Vermilion Community College I will give a brief lecture and reading from my new book "Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron Range." I will be speaking to members of Pam Brunfelt's history class, but the event is free and open to the public. Afterward I'll sign books. I'll be trolling around Ely beforehand to do some small drop ins on local media and Lisa's Upstairs Bookstore at Piragis Northwoods.

The book is a humorous and heartfelt look at the Iron Range I've known, loved and questioned my whole life. Unlike history books or "chamber of commerce" books I strive for honesty and a new outlook on an area that recently learned that the end is not near, not yet anyway. We're getting good notices so far and sales have exceeded expectations. My target audience is Iron Rangers, former Iron Rangers, future Iron Rangers and all those mystified by the Range. Need a Christmas gift under $20? This is WAY better than the "Ove' Glove." In fact, you could also use the book to handle hot things if you really wanted to.