Pushing the River, Repo Man (bike version), Days of Rage and more
A long overdue update
Dear Friends,
I hope you all are well, and looking forward to the holidays. It’s been a minute (actually, over a year) since I sent out an update. I was planning to get better at sending these, but seem to have failed. I realize you might be relieved.
Nonetheless, I do have a few new, and some less new, stories and other things out, in case you’re interested. I’ll go through them quickly:
NEW BOOK!
The big news is that I have a new book coming out in April of 2025 from the Minnesota Historical Society Press titled Pushing the River: An Epic Battle, a Lost History, a Near Death, and Other True Canoeing Stories. It’s a collection of canoeing stories woven together with a new, longer piece about the Paul Bunyan Canoe Derby, a 450-mile race down the Mississippi River last held in the 1940s and 1950s. If you want a preview, a short version was published in Minnesota History Magazine: The Lost History of the Paul Bunyan Canoe Derby
I hope it’s a fun read, and a good book to take on a canoe trip, or to have at your cabin, or to read when you wish you were at your cabin or taking a canoe trip. It also has an fantastic forward by Alex Hutchinson and was edited by legendary Ann Regan.
If you’re of a mind, you can pre-order it at Amazon, Magers & Quinn, Next Chapter, Powell’s, Bookshop.org or your local bookstore.
I’ll let you know when events start rolling.
AUDIO WALKING TOURS
It was a good year for audio tours, with new ones out in Duluth, St. Paul and Minneapolis. The tour I’m most proud of (which took a couple years of work) is Days of Rage, Nights of Fire: A History Tour of Midtown Minneapolis. It takes you from from George Floyd Square to the MPD’s Third Precinct, and walks through the events of the week of May 25, 2020. It has interviews with Carolyn Holbrook, Julie Ingebretson and others, as well as Shannon Gibney and Ed Bok Lee reading their poems. I hope it’s a document of that time that can help keep it alive.
NOTE: You can take these tours virtually with photos I took along the way, if you can’t make it to the location.
Next year I’ll have a few more out, including a (somewhat opinionated) walk through the Walker Sculpture Garden, a driving tour on the North Shore, and possibly more. Here are the recent additions:
Here are the rest:
In the Footsteps of Prince: Downtown Minneapolis Walking Tour
Minnehaha Falls Walking Tour: History and Heritage in Minneapolis’ Crown Jewel
Minneapolis River Walk: History Along the Mississippi
Mighty Mississippi: A Stroll Along Minneapolis’ River of History
Madison Tour: A Guide from Monona Terrace to Memorial Union Terrace
Bologna Walking Tour: A Guide to its Ancient and Recent History
Una Visita Guidata a Bologna: Un Percorso di Storia, Cucina, Geni Perduti e Rock
STORIES
Despite some stiff headwinds in publishing, I had a few stories out this year in Bicycling, bioGraphic, The Minnesota Conservation Volunteer, BBC Travel, Madison Magazine, and a beautiful new glossy magazine called North Home & Life. The standouts are this Bicycling Magazine story about Mike Pavlik, and a bioGraphic feature about the Rough Fish Revolution:
Repo Man: The Unlikely Hero Who Recovered More Than 200 Stolen Bikes in One American City (Bicycling Magazine—subscriber link here.)
The US city throwing an epic party for Prince on Purple Rain’s 40th anniverary (BBC Travel)
Minnesota's Best Hiking Trails (Explore Minnesota)
Wildfire in a Warming World: Minnesota is unlikely to see another Hinckley Fire anytime soon, but wildfire responders are staying prepared as the fire season lengthens and the climate changes. (Minnesota Conservation Volunteer)
Journey to the Weird Worlds of Sheboygan (Madison Magazine)
The Call of the River: Devin Brown was drawn to Minnesota by the Mississippi. Now she intends to follow it to the end (Minnesota Conservation Volunteer)
Trains of thought (AAA Travel)
NORTH HOME & LIFE MAGAZINE
Last year I worked with Tracy Ramsay, a Duluth realtor who was starting a magazine for the region called North Home and Life Magazine. I didn’t know where it was going, but offered to help. The end result turned out beautifully, and there will be more issues in 2025.
Here’s a story about the project from Rachel Hutton at the the Star Tribune: New real estate/lifestyle magazine features Duluth North highlights aspirational homes and luxurious experiences around Lake Superior
And here are some of the stories I did:
A Bear Walks into a Bar: On the great bear invasion of 1929
Minnesota Distilled: Phil Steger's love of the state led him to create the first whiskey made purely from Minnesota's land, water, and woods: On Brother Justus Whiskey
Home on the Range: They were looking for the perfect home. Instead, they decided to build it: On another house.
More here: https://www.northhomeandlife.com/north-stories
MARKETING:
Lastly, I’ve also been doing some marketing work for The Curious Agency and other places. If this looks like something you or your business could use, let me know! (Slightly more info here: https://www.clippings.me/frankbures)
This national convention switched from compost to reuse—and loved it.
Why are students flocking to Alexandria College? The lifestyle is just the start.
From a Bare-Bones Basement to the Best Space in the House
From corporate job to childcare business — why this local woman loves her new career
Till next year!
That’s it for now. Happy holidays, and I’ll hope to hear from you soon!
Frank
