Isthmus' Bill Lueders joined Erika Janik on Sunday at the Wisconsin Book Festival for a little dose of history. Janik was promoting her latest book A Short History of Wisconsin while Lueders was doing the same for his Watchdog: 25 Years of Muckraking and Rabblerousing.
Mayor Dave introduced them and the Janik gave her welcome. She described her book as "her interpretation" of Wisconsin history. Many people view Wisconsin as its tourist destinations like the Dells and House on the Rock and she said her book was, in part, a corrective to that impression as well as a way for Cheeseheads who just know very little about their state. Lueders then introduced his book. It's a collection of writing culled from throughout his career and from the many publications for which he has written. There are three sections or types of writing included: 1) opinion columns, 2) Investigative pieces, and 3) personal essays.
The pair then proceeded to alternate read selections from their books. Janik read about early European explorers, the original and high radical first draft of the state's constitution, hysteria surrounding World War I, Indian schools, and a section of the closing chapter. Lueders read some reflections on the 20th anniversary of the bombing of Sterling Hall, an opinion column written shortly after 9/11, a piece on the Wisconsin origins of open records laws, one on The Progressive magazine's 1979 fight to publish an article about hydrogen bombs, and lastly a web post written the night Obama was elected.
With the readings being done, the floor was opened to questions from the audience. Many were along the lines of "How did you get into X?" and "How did you research your book?" but there were three questions that I found particularly interesting.
The first was when Bill was asked how does he not become mean and cynical considering all the stuff he sees. He responded that he hasn't emerged unscathed. The Patty rape case was "emotionally destructive" to him and it corroded his psyche. He was intensely mad at the city and the DA for allowing what happened to unfold.
A gentleman who was not a native Wisconsonian and had lived here for only four years asked about his perceived schism between the college-educated and the non-college-educated. How do we right this? Erika explained about how this schism, as evidenced in the Madison vs. Milwaukee dichotomy, was very old. Bill offered that there has been tension between the northern and southern parts of the state throughout its history. No one really had an answer as to how to bring the sides together and reduce the tension. (Perhaps via art?) I don't have an answer either but I think that some of this tension has eased a bit as Milwaukee has reinvented itself amid the decline of its industrial base.
And lastly, not to toot my own horn, but I did request that the authors do a little prognostication. I asked Erika what challenges Wisconsin faces in the near future and Bill what challenges Madison faces in the near future. Erika responded that the state will have to address racial issues that haven't been fully resolved. Our Hispanic population is growing and there are still racial tensions with our relatively large Hmong population. Bill responded with "integration". Integration of all stripes – racial, class, conservative vs. liberal, urban vs. rural, etc.
They both hit on some good points, if being a little bit general. Race will surely be an issue. For instance, Hispanics are now a large presence on dairy farms here in Wisconsin. I'd be interested to know how these immigrants are being received up north where I used to live. When I moved there in 1987, blacks got plenty of stares at the mall and having long hair was unacceptable. (I know this as I had long hair.)
One issue not brought up, at least not specifically, was poverty. It's rising here in Madison and Milwaukee was recently revealed to be the 4th poorest city in the nation. This certainly doesn't bode well for us.
We'll just have to wait to see what the future holds.
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