Category Archives: For Love of History

Kamala Harris Will Be Our Next President!

Posted on November 2, 2024 by sheilawill

I live in the Democratic bubble of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Ninety-nine percent of all political house signs are for Kamala Harris (I’ve only seen one Trump sign in front of a fancy mansion). In our neighborhood (above photo) A friend who … Continue reading →

Posted in America WTF?, Fight wimpiness, For Love of History, politics | Tagged 2024 Presidential Election, Democratic Minneapolis, Get-Out-The-Vote, Kamala Harris, misogyny, Roe v. Wade, Sanity vs. insanity, Trump's vulgarity | 2 Comments

A Pretty Good Road Trip

Posted on March 6, 2024 by sheilawill

I miss our Mallorca Drive winter abode, its front and back patios bordered by the Sonoran Desert, its prickly pear, sunny blossoming brittle bush, and regal saguaros at our doorstep. But here we are back in Minneapolis, bypassing Mason City, … Continue reading →

Posted in America WTF?, For Love of History, Nature Girl, Out West, travel | Tagged Charlie's Spic& Span, dinosaur life, Howard Zinn, Las Vegas, New Mexico, Sonoran Desert, The People's History of El Norto | 2 Comments

Book-Banning Befuddles Me

Posted on September 4, 2023 by sheilawill

In the Sept. 3 New York Times I read”This Summer, I Became the Book-BanningMonster of Iowa” by Bridgette Exman. A former high school English teacher, now the assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction for public schools in Mason City, Iowa, … Continue reading →

Posted in America WTF?, Fight wimpiness, For Love of History, politics, Read, Read, Read, The inconvenient truth about education | Tagged age-appropriate books, Bridgette Exman, curriculum development, Iowa parental rights law, parents rights, rebel against censorship | 2 Comments

Adults can still read what they want, right?

Posted on August 27, 2023 by sheilawill

Politicians are clamping down on freedom to learn in schools. Isn’t that why schools exist, or is it to promulgate parents rights bullshit? There’s no systemic racism in the United States, these politicians claim. Slavery taught the oppressed some beneficial … Continue reading →

Posted in America WTF?, Fight wimpiness, For Love of History, politics, Read, Read, Read, The inconvenient truth about education | Tagged Charles M. Blow, fear-mongering, freedom to learn, historical truths, parents rights, PEN America, public education in Florida, The Devil You Kniw | 2 Comments

Banning and Censoring Books is UnAmerican!

Posted on August 19, 2023 by sheilawill

I’m so dismayed by the banning and censoring of children’s books I’m going to recommend new titles as often as I have a few minutes: First is The Giver by Lois Lowry, published in 1993. One of my all-time favorites, … Continue reading →

Posted in America WTF?, Fight wimpiness, For Love of History, politics, Read, Read, Read | Tagged banned books, censorship, Eliminating history, Lois Lowry, Republican Party, The Giver, Truth in history | Leave a comment

Hugging Saguaros

Posted on January 28, 2023 by sheilawill

I love being in Tucson, where the saguaros welcome us on the edge of Gates Pass. The mornings have been chilly. But by noon the sun shines down on the back patio. A trickling waterfall soothes me with one of … Continue reading →

Posted in Bopping Around Tucson, For Love of History, Managing Minneapolis, Nature Girl, Old friends, Out West, politics, Spunky Writing Hints | Tagged alternative facts, Gates Pass, Hiking Tucson, historical truths, Phoneline Trail, Saguaros, The Signature of All Things | 4 Comments

Serving Up Democracy

Posted on December 7, 2022 by sheilawill

It’s the questions, Stupid! Back in Bill Clinton’s day it was “It’s the economy, Stupid! That’s not the case anymore. We’ve gotten ourselves mucked up with too much political hypocrisy, lies, and general incompetence. (Look at Herschel Walker, an incompetent … Continue reading →

Posted in America WTF?, Fight wimpiness, For Love of History, politics | Tagged Amy Goidman, asking questions, dinner conversation, Georgia runoff, Teach your children well | 4 Comments

International Menopause Day!

Posted on November 17, 2022 by sheilawill

Stunned as I listened to NPR the other day. Yes, It was International Menopause Day! Who woulda thunk it?! Corporation heads and business people lamented missed opportunities to help their employees traverse menopause — mood swings, hot flashes, and the … Continue reading →

Posted in Baby Boomers, Fight wimpiness, For Love of History, Mount Desert Island/Maine | Tagged dark chocolate, Dr. Christiane Northrup, menopause, Nancy Pelosi, NPR, OZ Bookstore, The Wisdom of Menopause, Vera B. Williams, women with possibilities | 2 Comments

Kansas, Oh Kansas!

Posted on August 4, 2022 by sheilawill

We’re steeped in Doublespeak. In the late 1970s I gave a talk at the Southwest Harbor Library on George Orwell’s “1984,” a prescient masterpiece that I’ve taught to high school students. Did I ever imagine that historical lies would become … Continue reading →

Posted in America WTF?, Fight wimpiness, For Love of History, politics, Read, Read, Read | Tagged 1984, doublespeak, Heather Cox Richardson, historical truths, Kansas, Southwest Harbor Library, Zinn History Project | 4 Comments

Book Power in Minneapolis

Posted on December 23, 2021 by sheilawill

Walking around Lake of the Isles last week I pulled my scarf up over my mouth. I’d never done that before but that’s how they do here. I’m starting to feel like a local, as my scarf blocked the cold … Continue reading →

Posted in Family Matters, Fight wimpiness, For Love of History, Managing Minneapolis | Tagged "The Sentence", Birchbark Books, indigenous people, lake of the isles, Louise Erdrich, Oz Books | 3 Comments