Dear Readers:  Many of us are familiar with “The Music Man,” a hit Broadway musical later made into a  popular movie. In today’s column we’re going to meet Karen Ek, who could be called The Music Lady for her work in music education and encouraging music participation and appreciation in Ladysmith and Rusk County. Born […]

Dear Readers:  Each of us has our own individual way of looking at the world and what we believe to be the purpose of our existence. Our personal world view may be rooted in religion, science, philosophy or something unique to ourselves. Today we’re going to meet Lucinda Miller, a rising young writer from Rusk […]

Dear Readers: “Folk art” has been defined as “art originating among the common people of a nation or region . . . reflecting their traditional culture” and is usually both useful and decorative. In today’s column we’ll meet artist and teacher Mona Kochendorfer, an accomplished folk painter and interpreter of ethnic painting styles, particularly those […]

Dear Readers: People with total recall of names, dates, places, events and experiences, even long past, are said to have photographic memories. In today’s column we’ll meet Bryce Coggins, a local farmer and writer who uses his skill with words, remarkable memory and love for our area to present an entertaining and accurate picture of […]

Dear Readers:  Besides being artists, what do Vincent van Gogh, Grandma Moses and Henri Rousseau have in common?  The answer may surprise you:  they are all self-taught. A little “digging” shows a significant number of visual artists, musicians and photographers have carved out highly successful careers with little or no formal training.  Instead, they’ve acquired […]

Dear Readers: What makes a writer write? A painter paint? What makes anyone, amateur or professional, in any of the arts do what he or she does? The answers, of course, are many and varied, but among the most basic certainly must be that the person loves the chosen art form. In our column today, […]