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MNHS Press Newsletter: November 28, 2023

Jaired Johnson Nov 28, 2023 11:26:00 AM

Publisher's Note

Esme Murphy interviews Patty Wetterling and Joy Baker at the MNHS Annual Meeting

November is the heart of book season at MNHS Press. We kicked off Native American Heritage Month on November 1 with an event at the Minnesota History Center featuring Voices from Pejuhutazizi authors Teresa Peterson and Walter LaBatte Jr. The press is collaborating with Understand Native Minnesota and the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community to provide free copies of Voices from Pejuhutazizi to K-12 educators throughout Minnesota. On November 14, Patty Wetterling and Joy Baker discussed Dear Jacob: A Mother’s Journey of Hope with reporter Esme Murphy as part of the program for the Minnesota Historical Society’s Membership Annual Meeting. Both events drew hundreds of people to the History Center, and featured book signings, catered menus, and open gallery exhibits.

New Releases

This November, two new books hit bookstore shelves.

On November 3, Peter Jesperson launched a national book tour to promote his newly released memoir, Euphoric Recall: A Half Century as a Music Fan, Producer, DJ, Record Executive, and Tastemaker.

Jesperson at Electric Fetus in Minneapolis

Taking an unconventional approach that is totally fitting for his subject, Peter has paired with former Replacements guitarist Tommy Stinson and his band Cowboys in the Campfire to combine music and conversation at locations across the country.

West Coast and East Coast visits to venues including Easy Street Records in Seattle and Rough Trade in NYC bracketed his book launch at Electric Fetus in Minneapolis on November 14, where he engaged in conversation with radio personality Mary Lucia in front of a sold-out crowd.

And on November 15, Travis Novitsky premiered Spirits Dancing: The Night Sky, Indigenous Knowledge, and Living Connections to the Cosmos, his book with Annette S. Lee, at Mill City Museum, against the backdrop of an exhibit of fifteen of his breathtaking photographs, which will be on display at the museum through the spring.

Check out the Spirits Dancing book trailer to see his photographs in motion!

Spirits Dancing: The Night Sky, Indigenous Knowledge, and Living Connections to the Cosmos

Photography by Travis Novitsky, Text by Annette S. Lee

An exploration of human connection to the aurora, the Milky Way, and the wonder of the universe above us, with gorgeous photographs by a master photographer.

Euphoric Recall: A Half Century as a Music Fan, Producer, DJ, Record Executive, and Tastemaker

Peter Jesperson, Foreword by David Fricke

“Here I thought I knew Peter quite well. But despite his being involved, in one way or another, with nearly every record I’ve done; and spending countless hours with him spinning records and holding court late into the night at his apartment; and traveling around the country with him for years in a beat-up Ford van with the stereo cranked all the way up—I found myself getting to know him on an entirely different level through this book. Peter’s reverence and enthusiasm for music from such an early age reminds me of the feelings I’ve had since I was twelve years old. It’s that inspiration that keeps tugging at me at all hours, day and night. We simply cannot live without it! This is why Peter’s story is so captivating. Congrats, me brother!” —Tommy Stinson, The Replacements

Events

Twin Cities Metro

12/1 6:00 pm, Patty Wetterling with Joy Baker, Dear Jacob, Barnes and Noble, 3230 Galleria, Edina, MN

12/2 10:30 am, Rose McGee, Can't Nobody Make a Sweet Potato Pie Like Our Mama!, Next Chapter Booksellers, St. Paul, MN

12/8 11:00 am to 1:00 pm, Peg Meier, Bring Warm Clothes, Minnesota History Center Museum Shop, St. Paul, MN

12/9 1:00 pm, Rose McGee, Can't Nobody Make a Sweet Potato Pie Like Our Mama!, Food Traditions, Mill City Museum, Minneapolis, MN

12/12 7:00 pm, Patty Wetterling, Dear Jacob, End in Mind, Westminster Presbyterian Church, Minneapolis, MN

12/13 6:00 pm, Travis Novitsky, Spirits Dancing, Bell Museum, St. Paul, MN

Greater Minnesota

11/30 5:00 to 7:00 pm, Patty Wetterling with Joy Baker, Dear Jacob, Modern Barnyard, St. Cloud, MN

12/2 11:00 am to 1:30 pm, Travis Novitsky, Spirits Dancing, Stone Harbor, Grand Marais, MN

12/5 6:30 pm, Patty Wetterling with Joy Baker, Dear Jacob, College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University, Collegeville, MN

12/8 6:30 pm, Travis Novitsky, Spirits Dancing, Cook County Dark Sky Festival, Grand Marais, MN

National

12/6 6:00 pm, Peter Jesperson, Euphoric Recall, Rough Trade, Rockefeller Center, New York, NY

12/7 6:00 pm, Peter Jesperson, Euphoric Recall, Main Street Music, Philadelphia, PA

12/9 Peter Jesperson, Euphoric Recall, POP–Emporium of Popular Culture, Providence, RI

In the Media

WCCO Saturday Morning, Spirits Dancing, Travis Novitsky

WCCO CBS NEWS, Euphoric Recall, Peter Jesperson

KMSP NEWS, Euphoric Recall, Peter Jesperson

Euphoric Recall by Peter Jesperson feature article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune

Dear Jacob by Patty Wetterling with Joy Baker in the Amber Advocate

Noteworthy

Above, Novitsky autographs copies of the book and posters featuring one of his photos.

From November 15, 2023, to April 7, 2024, Mill City Museum hosts the exhibit Spirits Dancing: Photographs of the Night Sky by Travis Novitsky. Featuring fifteen photographs selected from the book Spirits Dancing by Travis Novitsky with Annette S. Lee, the exhibit is located in the museum’s central Mill Commons, and is free and open to the public during regular museum hours.

Voices from Pejuhutazizi authors Teresa Peterson and Walter LaBatte Jr. spoke about their book and signed copies at the Minnesota History Center to commemorate the beginning of Native American Heritage Month.

New in MNopedia

Denomie, Jim (1955–2022)

Jim Denomie, one of Minnesota’s most significant and beloved visual artists, is best known for his large-scale narrative paintings. He used irony and humor to depict the political realities Native Americans face, including brutality and abuse, as well as his personal visions of eroticism, joy, grief, and spirituality. Denomie’s style is distinct and inimitable, especially in its use of color.

Vermilion Iron Range

The Vermilion Range, with its distinctive hard and high-grade iron ore deposits, looms large in the history of the mining industry in Minnesota. It was the first range to open (1884) and also the first to cease commercial mining operations (1967) due to changes in the steel-making process and the rise of cheaper-to-produce taconite on the nearby Mesabi Range. After mining ended, the area’s protected wilderness spaces—including the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness—took center stage in a new regional economy based on tourism and conservation.