Articles by Steve Semken

The Day Our World Changed

Posted on March 2, 2011 by Steve Semken

The Day Our World Changed: Punahou ’52 Remembers Pearl Harbor. This collection of eighty-four stories is written by classmates of Punahou school in Hawai`i, who, although living in various places, were primary students on December 7, 1941, when Pearl Harbor was attacked. This day changed all their lives. These shared memories and vivid recollections […]

Homer Croy: Corn Country

Posted on March 2, 2011 by Steve Semken

A best-of collection by Homer Croy, Missouri’s prize-winning humorist, the United State’s first student of journalism, and the world’s first novelist to film his way around the globe. One part Mark Twain, and two parts Garrison Keillor, award-winning humorist and essayist Homer Croy was a man of many distinctions: “The first student of the first […]

When Foxes Wore Red Vests

Posted on March 2, 2011 by Steve Semken

Fevers, pneumonia, and alcohol soaked clothes? A few clues as to how and when Foxes wore red vests. For the full story check out the Sioux City Journal article. The deep values of place learned during childhood can extend to living an enriched, responsible, creative, and authentic life in adulthood. The lessons in this collection […]

What Cheer: A Love Story

Posted on March 2, 2011 by Steve Semken

What Cheer won the Silver Medal Award in Foreword Reviews 2010 Book of the Year Awards Part romantic comedy, part whodunit, part great American road trip, What Cheer asks a lover’s ageless questions: where, when, and with whom? Here’s a celebration of love sprung from perfectly surreal yet real places—What Cheer, Lost Nation, Story County. […]

Winterberries

Posted on March 1, 2011 by Steve Semken

In our seasons of darkness, when snow lays deep upon the land and winds blow cold, winterberries are a gift of hope. Coated in heavy ice, the bright red orbs shine as sparkling memories on the bare twisted stalk of age. These poems are reflections on the season and on life. They remind us to […]

Excellent Joy

Posted on March 1, 2011 by Steve Semken

Excellent Joy was a Silver Finalist Award Winner in Foreword Reviews’ Book of the Year Award A summer hit with a foreword by Frederick Kirschenmann “Michael R. Rosmann proves to be a unique breed of American …”–Foreword Reviews (July, 2011) Praised by the New York Times and President Bill Clinton, Michael Rosmann has appeared on […]

Native Soulmate

Posted on March 1, 2011 by Steve Semken

Author Zachary Michael Jack is tells about his real-life sequel to his fictional search for love in What Cheer: A Love Story. Native Soulmate reveals where and what his search for local love taught him about the Midwest. Love Fresh. Love Local. What happened during the author’s search for a bride this past year (What […]

The Spirit of Healing

Posted on March 1, 2011 by Steve Semken

A guide to better understand the world around you, through nutrition, medicine, and of course through the power of the plants all around us. A tradition-rich and practical guide. An educational guide to the power and use of plants and trees. If you have your plant identification down, that’s just the start, this guidebook is […]

Train To Nowhere

Posted on March 1, 2011 by Steve Semken

As Seen On Iowa Public Television! This event was widely covered by national news media, major television news networks as well as The New York Times and the Chicago Tribune. Now find out what really happened! Eleven undocumented immigrants are locked inside a baking railcar by smugglers and left to die a horrific death […]

An Endless Skyway

Posted on February 24, 2011 by Steve Semken

$21.95 | More Copies On Order Ted Kooser, former US Poet Laureate, on An Endless Sky: Poetry from the State Poets Laureate: “Each poet adds a unique style to the anthology and a unique slant on what it means to write … this book is made for everyone to roam and ramble within. Open these pages […]

Minds Changing … Still Here

Posted on September 3, 2010 by Steve Semken

By Nancy Adams-Cogan As an interfaith chaplain, Nancy has served 14 years in geriatric clinics at a university hospital in the Midwest. These poems reflect on her observations and situations during this time. As a trained chaplain, rather than a nurse, she brings the ability to listen to help patients and others. Using a framework […]